Junior Supersport Round 2 Report

Qualifying for Round 2 of the HEL British Junior Supersport

Nathan-Ellis and the rest of the team arrived on Thursday to start getting prepared for Round 2 of the HEL British Junior Supersport at Donington Park. The races this weekend are taking place on the full track layout set in Leicestershire.

Some of the other competitors in the Supersport are busy with GCSE Exams which unfortunately meant no track time on the Friday, but plenty of time to get the bike prepared for the weekend.

Free practice started early on Saturday morning. Nathan-Ellis needed some time on the bike to get back up to speed as he hadn’t been on track since round 1 at Silverstone.

Practice was quickly followed by qualifying at lunchtime. It was obvious that slipstreaming would be needed to get a good time. Nathan-Ellis managed to record a 1:46.824 lap (and another within 0.003 seconds of that!) to take 14th place on the grid for the first race.

Nathan-Ellis felt like he got a great start to the race, and the lap charts back that up, showing him in 8th place by the end of lap one.

Donington Park - Round 2 - HEL British Junior Supersport

The battle was just getting going with Nathan-Ellis holding on to the second group of riders in the race. Unfortunately, the race was cut short by a red flag due to a rider falling at Coppice. Which meant that the final result for race 1 was 9th place.

Race 2 was early on the very warm Sunday morning. The team decided to try making some changes to the bike in search of more speed.

Nathan-Ellis made a good start and was on the edge of the top 10 early on. The tight racing resulted in Nathan-Ellis getting pushed wide into the Fogarty Esses on lap 2 and forcing him to miss the chicane.

After rejoining the track in 16 or 17th, he managed to fight back across the rest of the race to end in 12th place.

It seemed like the setup changes didn’t gain as much as the team had hoped. But the team did learn from them, and can hopefully use that knowledge for a better result next time out.

Lap 1 turn 1 - Donington Park - Round 2 - HEL British Junior Supersport

Nathan-Ellis said, “we decided to make some changes to my bike for race 2 but unfortunately didn’t really work out as we planned. But if you don’t try, you don’t know!”

It was not quite the result the team wanted for the weekend. Nathan-Ellis said, ”it’s not what I wanted and hoped for, but that’s racing for you. I have learned so much with the team. This was a good weekend overall with lots of learning to be had for my first year at this level.

Onwards and upwards now, getting ready for Knockhill. I would like to thank everybody within the team, the sponsors, and everyone who came to watch me.”

Nathan-Ellis gained another 12 points towards the championship from of the weekend. Not a bad result at all, but the whole team feel like there is much more to come.

British Junior Supersport Championship Standings after Round 2

PositionRiderPoints
1Lewis JONES (Kawasaki)94
2Finn SMART-WEEDEN (Kawasaki)81
3Jack KIRSCH (Kawasaki)76
4Kalvin KELLY (Kawasaki)64
5Jacob STEPHENSON (Kawasaki)59
6Lennon DOCHERTY (Kawasaki)50
7Calum BEACH (Kawasaki)36
8Chloe JONES (Kawasaki)31
9Jack SMITH (Kawasaki)30
10Lewis SMART (Kawasaki)26
11Adam BROWN (Kawasaki)26
12Joe ELLIS (Kawasaki)23
13Nathan-Ellis WARD (Kawasaki)17
14Maximus HARDY (Kawasaki)15
15Jamie HANKS-ELLIOTT (Kawasaki)10
16Rossi DOBSON (Kawasaki)8
17Abbz THOMAS (Kawasaki)7
18Denise DAL ZOTTO (Kawasaki)5
19Charlotte MARCUZZO (Kawasaki)3
20Jack KNIGHTS (Kawasaki)2
21Greg MARSHALL (Kawasaki)1

RACE 1 RESULTS

PositionNumberRiderTimeMPHBest
13Lewis JONES10:39.40683.811:45.471
267Jacob STEPHENSON10:39.86183.751:44.803
374Finn SMART-WEEDEN10:40.23783.71:45.275
47Jack KIRSCH10:41.02283.61:45.342
532Lewis SMART10:41.16983.581:45.593
690Kalvin KELLY10:41.50883.531:45.364
715Chloe JONES10:41.66983.511:45.607
823Joe ELLIS10:42.13783.451:44.896
931Nathan-Ellis WARD8:57.98482.961:46.115
1027Calum BEACH8:58.04582.951:46.099
118Denise DAL ZOTTO9:02.49482.271:46.861
1233Adam BROWN9:02.82882.221:46.152
1317Charlotte MARCUZZO9:03.19182.171:47.160
1416Jamie HANKS-ELLIOTT9:03.43582.131:46.743
1566Rossi DOBSON9:05.33081.851:47.188
1652Katie HAND9:06.98481.61:47.731
1771Maximus HARDY9:07.20781.571:47.697
186Jack KNIGHTS9:07.40881.541:47.668
1972Samuel MUNSON9:07.58981.511:47.601
2095Greg MARSHALL9:13.97680.571:48.030
2139Aaron MONK9:14.92480.431:48.671
2299James CLEARY9:14.95980.431:47.953
2375Aaron LILLY9:15.69980.321:49.016
2481Keo WALKER9:16.29280.231:48.797
2587Felix DORLING9:16.84080.151:48.907
269Will GRANT9:22.74879.311:50.681
2734Lissy WHITMORE9:29.66378.351:52.257
2861Freddy OAKLEY9:33.68477.81:49.129
2941Scarlett ROBINSON9:44.42976.371:54.963

RACE 2 RESULTS

PositionNumberNameTimeMPHBest
13Lewis JONES17:40.03684.341:44.905
27Jack KIRSCH17:40.41484.311:45.042
360Lennon DOCHERTY17:40.62184.291:45.096
474Finn SMART-WEEDEN17:41.21784.251:44.985
590Kalvin KELLY17:41.22484.241:45.037
644Jack SMITH17:41.79584.21:45.118
715Chloe JONES17:42.51584.141:45.206
832Lewis SMART17:53.62283.271:46.015
971Maximus HARDY17:54.93183.171:45.961
1033Adam BROWN17:55.12783.161:46.341
1116Jamie HANKS-ELLIOTT17:55.16783.151:46.186
1231Nathan-Ellis WARD17:55.26083.151:46.087
1388Abbz THOMAS17:55.37183.141:46.013
146Jack KNIGHTS17:55.52783.121:45.926
1595Greg MARSHALL17:56.47283.051:46.054
168Denise DAL ZOTTO17:59.59382.811:46.467
1752Katie HAND17:59.82282.791:46.459
1872Samuel MUNSON18:07.01982.251:47.097
1981Keo WALKER18:07.10182.241:47.071
209Will GRANT18:20.68581.221:48.828
2161Freddy OAKLEY18:22.31881.11:48.485
2280Rossi BROWN18:22.45781.091:48.614
2334Lissy WHITMORE18:37.03280.041:50.264
2441Scarlett ROBINSON19:02.57378.251:52.486

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