By Carly Rathmell
August 17 2004

Dean Thomas on the Sendo Ducati qualified on the front row for the 10th round of the Think! British Superbike Championship at Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire. A very technical and bumpy track, it was always going to be a tight fought battle for the podium positions. Thomas had a fantastic qualifying session and placed himself quite happily in fourth place on the grid, which gave him a great opportunity to boost his Championship points. In the glorious sunshine the track conditions were perfect and after heavy rain throughout the week, the ideal conditions ensured there were no wet patches anywhere on the circuit.

Disaster struck for the 31-year-old Leeds based Aussie as the lights changed however and a burnt out clutch saw Thomas lift the front wheel and go from 4th to 12th by the first corner. He’d left himself with a lot of work to do and had to try to master his way back through the field. He managed to get the better of Yamaha riders Gary Mason and Tommy Hill, but ended up locked in a tight battle with MonsterMob Ducati rider Sean Emmett. Thomas was unable to get the better of the 999 rider and managed to salvage 8th place as he crossed the line at the end of the 22-lap race.

A much better start in the second race saw Thomas settling into third place on the entry to the first corner. This was not to be however, as Scott Smart and John Reynolds both passed the Sendo Ducati rider and pushed Thomas back to fifth. Yukio Kagayama suffered a heavy crash on the third lap of the race, handing Thomas a comfortable fourth place. He settled in to his own race and was running on consistent lap times. With a five-second advantage over Ryuichi Kiyonari, the Sendo ride only had to bring the bike home safely. Disaster struck on the penultimate lap however and Thomas’s bad luck continued when his 998 engine seized, forcing him to retire from the race and sacrifice a vital 13 points.

Thomas now is 7th equal in the Championship standings, tying with James Haydon on 132 points - 18 points less than 6th place man Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Commenting, Thomas said “I can’t believe my luck this year! Things don’t seem to be going the way I want them to. With crashes and mechanical breakdowns I haven’t suffered this much bad luck for a number of years!! I’m hoping things will turn around for me in the remaining races and that I can salvage a healthy Championship finish. We’re running on the 998 bikes which are now two years old, so we are fighting against the newer, more developed, Japanese bikes which is very difficult. I’m still managing to qualify well and I was running on the back of third placed man Reynolds during the second race today. A bit of luck at Cadwell in a few weeks time and I’d love to get that long overdue podium position.”

Race one result:

Michael Rutter (Honda) 30:10.136
Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +0.836;
Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +2.610;
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +3.963;
John Reynolds (Suzuki) +7.203;
James Haydon (Yamaha) +18.373;
Sean Emmett (Ducati) +21.033;
Dean Thomas (Sendo Ducati) +21.831;
Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +25.395;
John McGuinness (Kawasaki) +35.911

Race two result:

Michael Rutter (Honda) 30:08.942;
Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +1.991; 3.
John Reynolds (Suzuki) +2.912; 4.
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +11.722;
James Haydon (Yamaha) +16.491;
Gary Mason (Yamaha) +24.979;
John McGuinness (Kawasaki) +26.204;
Craig Coxhell (Honda) +27.568;
James Ellison (Yamaha) +37.061;
Steve Plater (Yamaha) +37.183;

Points after round ten:

1. Reynolds – 362;
2. Rutter – 312;
3. Smart – 276;
4. Kagayama – 249;
5. Emmett – 240;
6. Kiyonari – 150;
7. Thomas, Haydon – 132;
9. Hill – 105;
10. Mason – 95

For more information see www.sendo.com and www.dienza.co.uk