By Carly Rathmell
April 3 2005

27-year-old Dean Ellison had a nightmare weekend at the opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch Circuit, Kent. The Leicester based rider struggled with handling problems throughout the weekend, and changes were made to improve the situation - but to no avail. Ellison has not competed in the fierce British Superbike series since 2003, and the quality of riders, and the standard of racing, has changed dramatically in just a year. The pace is incredibly hot, and the races have certainly upped a gear in standards. Everyone out on track has had to raise their game. Brands Hatch Indy circuit always produces close racing, and qualifying times proved this on Sunday. Only 3.2 seconds separated pole position setter Leon Haslam from 35th position rider Nick Medd.

Ellison soon knew that he would have his work cut out, and the reality of it all was a harsh shock to the system. Riding for Jentin Yamaha in 2005, Ellison knows that the team is a good one - as they took his younger brother, James, to the Privateer Cup title in 2004. With only one bike at the moment, any problems that the team suffered could not be rectified quickly.

A crash in the early stages of the first qualifying session on Sunday saw Ellison hit a problem. Although thankfully not injured, he was forced to sit out the remaining minutes of the session, as his mechanics had to re-build his bike. In the second session, and due to lack of track time, Ellison only managed to settle for 29th position on the grid, and was faced with an uphill battle come race day.

In the first race the rider, originally from Kendal, could only salvage 22nd position and, with 26th position in the second race, Ellison was extremely disappointed. Commenting, “We’ve had a disastrous weekend. I’m still remaining confident, however, as I know once we get the bike right it will be very good. It’s so tough, as I was at least expecting to be top fifteen, and I was nowhere near. The team are working really hard to get things perfect for me, and we are hoping to get the bike on the dyno this week sometime to rectify the problems. I was struggling with the front forks and the Öhlins guys are doing all they can to sort out the issues. I’m hoping Thruxton will be a better weekend for us all.”

Race one results:
1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda)
2 Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati)
3 Glen Richards (Kawasaki)
4 Michael Rutter (Honda)
5 Sean Emmett (Yamaha)
6 Karl Harris (Honda)
7 Jeremy McWilliams (Honda)
8 Dean Thomas (Kawasaki)
9 John Reynolds (Suzuki)
10 Tommy Hill (Yamaha)

Race two results:
1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda)
2 Michael Rutter (Honda)
3 Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati)
4 Leon Haslam (Ducati)
5 Sean Emmett (Yamaha)
6 Karl Harris (Honda)
7 Glen Richards (Kawasaki)
8 Scott Smart (Suzuki)
9 John Reynolds (Suzuki)
10 Gary Mason (Honda)