Ellison’s not ready to switch off yet

NORTH motorcycle racers James Ellison and Dan Linfoot will be back in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship in 2019.

And despite Ellison’s claims that he would retire this year, the Cumbrian-born race ace has confirmed he will return for another shot at championship success after inking a deal with Smith’s Racing.

Now based full-time in Texas, Ellison will continue to fly in for each round and will line up alongside TT favourite Peter Hickman on a brand new BMW S1000RR.

The former MotoGP star had been on a one-year deal with TAG Racing and was poised to leave the sport at the end of this season. But from about September he began to make noises that he could be tempted to stay.

“I had an incredibly difficult 2018 season for various reasons, we had great pace but were lacking one key component that stopped me from getting the results which both myself and the TAG team were capable of,” he said.

“I figured it would be impossible to call 2018 my last season in BSB after having so many successful seasons fighting for the championship and it is just not in my nature to walk away knowing I can still fight for the BSB title given the right tools.

“The Smiths Racing BMW team has had another strong season and I’m delighted to be teaming up with Hicky again.

“We are really good friends off track but of course tough rivals on it and I believe we will push each other all year and work closely together to speed up the development of the all-new BMW S1000RR.”

Ellison will be replaced at the TAG team by North Yorkshire’s Dan Linfoot, who will switch to Yamaha power after several years with Honda.

It’s been a tough season for the Wetherby rider, who was forced to sit out much of the year with injury.

But now fully healed, the former showdown contender is excited for his new challenge and is keen to build on the work Ellison has done this year and try to get the machine running at the front.

“I’m really happy to have signed with TAG Racing, 2018 has been a disastrous season for me so it’s great to have agreed a deal for 2019 with a new team, providing a new challenge and a new feeling on a different bike,” he said.

“Hopefully we can have success this season and both get back to the results that we know we are both capable of.

“I’m looking forward to starting testing, I’ll hopefully get to ride the bike early into the new year but for now it is nice to know that I’m going to be part of the grid once again and I’ll be looking to build on some success I’ve had in previous seasons.

“I must thank Rob and the TAG Racing team for the opportunity, I’m really looking forward to getting started.”