With glorious sunshine gracing the entire weekend, the ‘Big Brands Bash’ saw the JG Speedfit Kawasaki duo of James Ellison and James Westmoreland work steadily through free practice, finishing in seventh and ninth respectively. With the team improving with every session, the duo eased through the first qualifying session with Westy in fifth and Ellison seventh. Unfortunately for Westy, he was unable to find the same grip in the second session, securing 14th for the opening race. Progressing through to the final session, Ellison defied his two broken ribs to secure a second row start in sixth.

The opening race saw Ellison move up to fourth into Paddock Hill, while Westy was able to pass two riders to go 14th. In one of the most action packed races of the year, the pace car was deployed on lap 5 for the first time, closing up the gap Ellison and the leading group had built up. As the pace car pitted, Ellison remained fourth whilst Westy had moved up to tenth. A crash from Shane Byrne on lap 12 saw the pace car deployed again as Ellison moved to third and Westy ninth, positions they remained in until the chequered flag. Ellison’s third place marked a welcome return to the podium for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team.

With the grid positions for the second race determined by the fastest lap times in race one, both riders moved up the grid with Ellison heading row 2 in fourth and Westy in 12th. Again enjoying good starts, James held fourth whilst Westy leapt up to tenth. With the leading five riders embroiled in a tense game of follow the leader, a slight error from Ellison saw him run wide at Druids and slip back to fifth. Despite the error, he was able to recover to fourth by the flag – moving him up to third in the Championship. Having made some changes between races, Westy was unable to match his race one pace and slipped back to 14th at the flag.

Pleased to get his Championship back on track, James Ellison said “After the last two rounds, our aim here at Brands Hatch was to score some solid points so I’m really pleased to be walking away having made a return to the podium. The injury at Snetterton really set us back, and although we’ve had the pace despite that, we just haven’t managed to replicate it in the races – so a third and fourth here is really good and has seen us move back up to third in the Championship.

I am a little gutted not to have made a double podium, I felt I had the pace to do it again in race two but we made a very small change for the second race which although didn’t make the bike worse, it meant we didn’t make the step forward the guys in front did. For some reason we’ve had a bit of trouble with the front of the bike this weekend, the first time I’ve ever had that, so we’re going to take a look at the frame and forks in case it’s a legacy of the crash from Knockhill. Although I won’t be fully fit, I’ve got another two weeks until Thruxton so will definitely take another step forward and hopefully walk away with two podiums at the least!”

Having enjoyed another top ten finish this weekend, James Westmoreland said, “Although that second race wasn’t what we wanted, this has been another very positive weekend for us. We made a massive step forward at Knockhill and this honestly feels like the start of the season for me, with this weekend feeling like the second round.

Everything is beginning to click and feel good, but unfortunately we made some changes for the second race which just made it difficult to ride the bike. I can’t be disappointed with that though as we’re still learning. Out of the last four races we’ve had three top ten finishes so I’m definitely leaving here happy. I missed Thruxton last year so I’m looking forward to going back in two weeks, particularly as we’ve got some updates to try on the bike which will hopefully push us further forward.”

GBmoto Team Manager Mike Kane added, “This has been a good round for GBmoto, and we’ve definitely started our return to true form. It’s been a tough couple of rounds for James Ellison as he has battled with his rib injury, but despite riding here in a fair amount of pain he’s walked away having made it back on the podium and even moved back up to third in the Championship. His season is now certainly back on track and this weekend will undoubtedly boost his confidence as we move to Thruxton.

It was a disappointing second race for Westy, but he had a great showing in the opening race and we’re now seeing some real consistency in the terms of feedback from both riders. He has given us some really strong feedback after this weekend and he’s shown he’s more than capable of running in the top ten. We’re really hoping for a dry start to the weekend at Thruxton as we have a whole raft of updates to the chassis, as well as engine set ups to try that we hope will give us a bike capable of winning come Sunday!”