By Carly Rathmell
July 27 2004

Sendo Ducati rider Dean Thomas managed to secure two eighth places at the ninth round of the Think! British Superbike Championship yesterday (18th July) at Mallory Park, Leicestershire.

Qualifying in seventh place for the two races, the 31-year-old Australian had his work cut out on the tight twisty Leicestershire circuit. Team Manager Enzo Di Clemente knew from the outset that it would be a fraught battle for the 998 Ducati, which is better suited to long, flowing tracks.

Thomas worked hard throughout the weekend to gain 18 healthy points, which secured sixth place in the overall championship standings. It was a confidence boost for Thomas, who has been denied two race finishes for the last couple of meetings.

Commenting, he said, “We knew we would struggle at such a tight circuit, as the Ducatis handle better on longer tracks. Aware it would be difficult here, we were prepared for battle when we arrived. There are not many passing places around Mallory and I wanted to try and defend eighth. The weather was unpredictable but we were lucky that it remained dry for the races on Sunday.

“We made a number of alterations to the bike to try and make it smoother out of the turns - this is where the Japanese manufacturers were making time up on every lap. The second race was a little off-putting. It was red flagged once and the pace car was out twice. We have to try and remain focused, but that takes up a lot of energy. We were using a hard compound tyre which lost heat very quickly, so I had to be careful not to open the throttle too soon to avoid being launched into orbit!”

Race one result
1 Reynolds, Suzuki, 26:15.170
2 Kagayama, Suzuki, 26:15.303
3 Smart, Kawasaki, 26:18.587
4 Kiyonari, Honda, 26:18.668
5 Haydon, Yamaha, 26:20.417
6 Rutter, Honda, 26:21.118
7 Emmett, Ducati, 26:27.743
8 Thomas, Ducati, 26:29.411
9 McGuinness, Kawasaki, 26:35.222
10 Hobbs, Suzuki, 26:43.396

Race two result
1 Smart, Kawasaki, 27:40.337
2 Reynolds, Suzuki, 27:42.269
3 Kiyonari, Honda, 27:42.945
4 Haydon, Yamaha, 27:43.446
5 Emmett, Ducati, 27:48.568
6 Hill, Yamaha, 27:49.379
7 Mason, Yamaha, 27:51.112
8 Thomas, Ducati, 27:51.838
9 McGuinness, Kawasaki, 27:51.900
10 Plater, Yamaha, 27:51.961

Championship points
1 Reynolds, 335
2 Rutter, 262
3 Smart, 240
4 Kagayama, 229
5 Emmett, 226
6 Thomas, 124
= Kiyonari, 124
8 Haydon, 111

Sendo’s next race meeting is at Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire, on the 15th of August. For more information see www.sendo.com and www.dienza.co.uk