James Desmond Ellison (born 19 September 1980) is an English

motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

. After two seasons (2017 with McCams and 2018 with Tag) on a Yamaha R1, Ellison expected to retire at the end of 2018, but in 2019 again competed in the

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and was once widely acknowledged as the p ...

series aboard a

BMW S1000RR BMW S1000RR is a race oriented sport bike initially made by BMW Motorrad to compete in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, that is now in commercial production. It was introduced in Munich in April 2008, and is powered by a four-cylinder eng ...

, before parting company with his team half-way through the season in August. He then joined another British Superbike team for the remainder of the 2019 season, starting from the September event at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

, on the ex-

Danny Kent Danny Ray Kent (born 25 November 1993) is an English motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2015 Moto3 World Championship. In doing so he became Great Britain's first Grand Prix solo motorcycle world champion since Barry Sheene in , as wel ...

machine, previously an ex-

Leon Camier Leon Stuart Camier (born 4 August 1986) is an English former solo motorcycle racer. For the 2021 season, Camier was announced as team manager for Honda World Superbike team, run under Honda Racing Corporation. After a long career in solo mot ...

2016 MV Agusta F4.Ellison joins Bike Devil MV Agusta for remainder of 2019
bikesportnews, 3 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019 After racing during 2013 with Milwaukee Yamaha run by Shaun Muir Racing in British Superbikes, for 2014 Ellison joined Lloyds British GBmoto team, and rode a

Kawasaki ZX-10R The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is a motorcycle in the Ninja sport bike series from the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki, the successor to the Ninja ZX-9R. It was originally released in 2004 and has been updated and revised throughout the years. It co ...

alongside veteran Chris Walker. Ellison is a double European Superstock champion, World Endurance champion and has previously participated in World Supersport,

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

, and the American AMA Superbike series. His brother

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

is a former motorcycle racer.

Career

Early career

Ellison started racing motorcycles at the age of 15, riding 80 cc machines. After racing in junior championships such as Superteen, he entered the European Superstock series in 1999, winning the title in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, he raced in the

Supersport World Championship The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 600 ...

, before winning the

Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) h ...

in 2003.

British Superbike Championship (2004)

For 2004, Ellison switched to the

. He rode a

Yamaha YZF-R1 The Yamaha YZF-R1, or simply R1, is a -class sports motorcycle made by Yamaha. It was first released in 1998, undergoing significant updates in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2018

for the privateer Jentin team. He finished 11th overall, and won the privateer cup for independent riders. As well as the

season, he received two wild-card entries in the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

, at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

and

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

. Notably, Ellison finished fifth in the second of two races at

. Towards the end of

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Ellison was asked to race for the WCM

team after their regular rider, Chris Burns, was injured. He finished 13th at

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, and the team signed him for the full 2005 season.

MotoGP World Championship (2005–2006)

James Ellison on Blata WCM 2005 Donington

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, he scored seven points whilst riding an underpowered bike, but impressed with his attitude and ability. For

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

he switched to the

Tech 3 Tech3 is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP class World Championship under the name Tech3 GasGas Factory Racing. They also compete in the Moto3 World Championship under the name Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the MotoE World Cup under the ...

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

team. At Philip Island he made history as the first rider to switch bikes mid-race, onto a bike with wet weather tyres. He later finished 16th and out of the points-scoring positions. He said that he was "disappointed" with the balance of the Yamaha M1 bike that season, and that his bike lacked a chassis modification to cure chatter, which the three other Yamaha riders had been riding.

AMA Superbike Championship (2007)

Ellison's contract with

Yamaha was not renewed for following season. He then made the move across the pond and raced in

AMA Superbike AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned ...

in the United States for the

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

team in 2007. He had a best finish of 5th at the wet Daytona circuit, in what was a difficult season in the AMA.

Return to British Superbike

Ellison returned to British Superbikes for 2008, with the Hydrex Bike Animal team He took his first ever BSB podium in race 2 of round 2 at

. After finishing the season with a podium finish at

on 12 October 2008, Ellison announced that he would be leaving the Hydrex Bike Animal team, and three days later, it was announced that Ellison has signed a contract with GSE Racing to ride their Yamaha YZF-R1 for the 2009 season. He took his first career win in round 3 of the series at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

. At the end of 2009, the title sponsor of GSE Racing, Wrigleys UK, opted not renew their backing of the team. After failing to find an alternative backer, GSE Racing pulled out of the championship, leaving Ellison without a ride for the 2010 British Superbike Championship. On 7 February, Ellison confirmed that he had agreed a contract with the Swan Honda team to ride in the 2010 championship. Ellison's season was closely documented in the film '' I, Superbiker''. The 2010 started promising when Ellison scored a win and a podium at the first two races at Brands Hatch, but he crashed and injured during the next round, missing the next three rounds. He won another race and finished the season in seventh place, missing the qualifying for the Showdown just for points. In 2011, Ellison with an Honda, raced part-time the championship and finished the season in 16th place, scoring a podium. In 2013, Ellison raced with a Yamaha and finished the season in a strong fourth place, scoring 589 points, 54 less than Champion

Alex Lowes Alexander Thomas Lowes (born 14 September 1990) is an English motorcycle racer. He signed in October 2019 for the Kawasaki Racing Team in Superbike World Championship as team-mate to multi-world champion Jonathan Rea. He competed in World Supe ...

, and winning three races. In 2014, Ellison joined Kawasaki and suffered an injury mid-season and he was forced to withdraw almost half of the season. He was anyway classified in 8th place and he scored some podiums also. In 2015, Ellison finished in third place, scoring 614 points and winning three races with the Kawasaki, 89 points less than Series Champion

Josh Brookes Joshua Brookes (born 28 April 1983 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional motorcycle road racing, road racer with experience of Superbike and Supersport racing, both domestically and internationally. In 2020, he raced in the ...

. In 2016, Ellison finished the championship once again in third place, with 610 points, 59 less than champion Shane Byrne. He won the last two races at the season finale at Brands Hatch. In 2017, Ellison finished the British Superbike Championship in ninth place, scoring 139 points, winning a race.

Retirement and Managerial Career

During 2018, Ellison rode with Anvil Hire Yamaha, intending to retire from competition at season-end, but signed with Smiths BMW Racing for 2019. After the Thruxton event in August it was announced they would part ways, after disappointing results with a total score of 23 points.Struggling James Ellison exits Smiths BMW
visordown, 5 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019 He then joined another British Superbike team for the remainder of the 2019 season, starting from the September event at

, on the ex-

machine, previously an ex-

2016 MV Agusta F4. Kent had been sacked in August, with

Gino Rea Gino Daniel Rea (born 18 September 1989) is an English motorcycle racer. In 2020 he competed in the FIM Endurance World Championship with Wojcik Racing Yamaha, finishing 4th in the World Championship Standings and joined the British Superbike ...

riding the same machine as a temporary replacement for one meeting at

Cadwell Park Cadwell Park is a motor racing circuit in Lincolnshire, England, south of Louth, owned and operated by MotorSport Vision, a business associated with former racing driver Jonathan Palmer. Sited on former parkland across a steep-sided valley wit ...

. In December 2021, Ellison was announced as team manager for Powerslide Catfoss Racing together with Hawk Racing in the British Superbike 2022 season.

Career statistics

1996– 125 Clubman's Champion 1998– CB 500 Champion 2000– European Superstock Champion – Honda 2001– European Superstock Champion – Suzuki 2003– World Endurance Champion 2003– 3rd in European Superstock 2003– 4th place Suzuka 8hr (1st in class) 2003– Cumbria Sports Personality of the year 2004– BSB Privateer's Champion 2009– BSB Championship 2nd 2010– BSB Rider's Cup Champion 2011– WSS Championship 7th 2012– MotoGP Championship 16th (4th CRT)

All-time statistics

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

*
Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, James 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Lancaster, Lancashire British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers British Superbike Championship riders Tech3 MotoGP riders Superbike World Championship riders Supersport World Championship riders FIM Superstock 1000 Cup riders MotoGP World Championship riders