Ellison starts afresh in Middle East

James Ellison claims his MotoGP season starts in earnest this weekend in Qatar after his first race was ruined by bike problems.

The Englishman missed out on points at Jerez after trouble with his Tech-3 Yamaha, but he is confident he can put that right in Saturday’s Qatar Grand Prix.

“I had a technical problem during the race at Jerez, which prevented me pushing to my full potential,” he said.

“We tested at Jerez the next day and immediately I was consistently lapping two and a half seconds quicker.

“Following that test I am really looking forward to the race in Qatar, especially as we had a good winter test at the track.

“I was closer to my team-mate Carlos Checa’s times on race tyres than anywhere we have tested.

“Also, the bike has changed a lot since then to suit me and every time I go out on it I am feeling more confident.”

British hopes in Spain were further dashed when Welshman Chaz Davies struggled to 13th in the 250cc race.

Like Ellison, he also expects an improvement in the Middle East as he adjusts to his temporary bike.

Funding problems ruined his pre-season testing and the 19-year-old will be back on an Aprilia this weekend, standing in for the injured Taro Sekiguchi again.

“It has been a very frustrating time but at least I will be on the line in Qatar,” he said.

“Some more time on the bike should help us all. I needed the footrest lengthened and the lap time counter did not work at Jerez but we should sort all this out for this weekend.

“The team is great and with two days of practice we are hoping for a much better result.”

Davies’ points were the only ones heading back to Britain after the season opener as highly-rated schoolboy Bradley Smith just missed out.

The 15-year-old, from Oxfordshire, made an impressive grand prix debut with 17th place on a Repsol Honda and he is looking to build on that experience.

He said: “This will be a completely new experience for me and I am really looking forward to it.

“Like my debut at Jerez a couple of weeks ago, everything will be filling my head and it will be a case of starting all over again.

“I was pleased with the result at Jerez, although I could have done better.”