Ellison ends up on the podium at final round

James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda – partner of Carbonin in WSBK Supersport) saw a possible second turn into a still-satisfying third place at the Portimao circuit as he was unable to chase down race winner Chaz Davies (Yamaha) in the final laps, and was himself passed by eventual race and championship second place rider David Salom (Kawasaki) on the very last lap.

Ellison had qualified tenth on the grid for a race held in glorious conditions and he had to work his way forward from seventh at the end of lap one. Seventh was also his eventual championship classification after 12-rounds, with the highest ranked Honda rider of all being 2002 champion Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). In finishing 12th in the 20-lap race today, Fabien ended his season third overall and eight points behind Salom.

Race result: 3rd Championship position: 7th
“I really enjoyed that, but in the last couple of laps it was tough. We did put 25 laps on a front tyre in qualifying and practice to see if it would go the distance. We had to use the soft one so it wasn’t a tyre gamble, but it was pushing the front towards the end. I am happy with a podium end to the season and also with getting the fastest lap of the race – it shows what we can do.”