KENDAL motorcycle racer James Ellison is looking forward to competing on a level playing field against the factory teams on Sunday For once everybody starts from scratch in both the MotoGP and 250cc races at the brand-new circuit for the Grand Prix of Turkey in Istanbul.

It's a good chance for him to secure vital World Championship points.after the Kendal man battled hard for two MotoGP points, finishing 14th in Australia after a tough weekend on the Blata/WCM.

Ellison said: "It was a tough weekend in Australia with a couple of practice crashes but we ended up with some points.

"It will be very interesting going to Turkey because nobody has been to the circuit and hopefully that will give us the opportunity to score some more."

MotoGP's young pretenders lead the charge as American Nicky Hayden and Italian Marco Melandri are tied on points in their battle for second place going into the penultimate round of the 17 round Championship that has been dominated by Italian Valentino Rossi.

While Rossi, riding the Gauloises Yamaha, has 11 grand prix wins this year Hayden and Melandri head a tremendous battle for second place.