By Carly Rathmell
September 20 2004

Dean Thomas and the Sendo Ducati Dienza Performance squad secured a seventh and fifth place at the penultimate round of the Think! British Superbike Championship yesterday (12th September). As the season nearly ends, the top British Superbike riders descended on the Cheshire circuit of Oulton Park.

One of Thomas’ favourite tracks, the 2.692-mile circuit proved to be a test for the 31-year-old Australian. Weather once again halted the Friday practice session and due to torrential rain storms - plus the fact that one of the Supersport riders’ bikes blew up, spreading oil across one of the fastest parts of the circuit - track proceedings were cancelled.

Things brightened up for the Saturday qualifying session, and Thomas once again secured himself a front row start. With twelve rounds now completed, Thomas has been on the front row for six of those rounds and has been unfortunate to miss out on that prime podium position that he has been so eagerly in search of. Honda’s Michael Rutter tipped Thomas off pole position at Oulton with only two seconds of the second qualifying session remaining.

A mixed weather forecast was predicted for the Sunday race day and, for once, the weatherman was right. On the grid at the start of the first race, Thomas was suffering with a clutch problem which forced the front wheel to lift as the lights changed. A handful of riders found their way past and the Sendo Ducati star found himself down in eighth place as they entered the first corner. Gary Mason was forced wide by Suzuki runner Yukio Kagayama, which pushed Mason down the pack and behind Thomas on the Ducati.

As the rain began to fall, leader John Reynolds raised his hand as an indication to the organisers that the race should be stopped. With only ten laps being completed the race was declared a two part race. A reasonable restart from Thomas saw him sit comfortably in seventh place behind Glen Richards. Unable to make a move on his fellow Australian, Thomas had to settle for seventh place as he crossed the line.

The second race saw Thomas gain a much improved start, and he slotted comfortably into fourth place. He soon made a move on Kagayama at Dentons, but the Japanese rider saw red mist and wasn’t prepared to sit behind the Sendo Ducati rider for long. Soon, the pure grunt of the Suzuki saw Yuki find his way past.

It was soon to be a re-run of Cadwell, and become a battle of the Ducatis. Sean Emmett on his 999 and Thomas on the older 998 were head-to-head. On lap nine of the 18-lap race Emmett made his move and defended all passing places. Thomas was not prepared to give up and was in search of fourth place. As the two riders crossed the line side-by-side only 0.02 seconds separated the two. Once again it fell into the hands of Emmett but it could not have been any closer.

Thomas was happy with his ride, saying “It’s been another mixed weekend. I really struggled with my clutch in the first race and it forced me to have an appalling start. I know that if I want to stay with the front runners, I have to get a great start as they generally have a lot more horsepower than I do. It’s been a good day today and I’ve managed to improve my placing in the championship, as James Haydon finished behind me in both races. One more round left; I can’t believe the season has gone so fast. Roll on Donington.”

Race one results
1 Reynolds, Suzuki, 29:36.353
2 Rutter, Honda, 29:40.811
3 Kagayama, Suzuki, 29:46.351
4 Emmett, Ducati, 29:46.446
5 Plater, Yamaha, 29:56.317
6 Richards, Kawasaki, 29:56.451
7 Thomas, Ducati, 29:57.541
8 Smart, Kawasaki, 30:01.965
9 Hill, Yamaha, 30:05.908
10 Brown, Ducati, 30:09.751

Race two result
1 Reynolds, Suzuki, 29:33.529
2 Rutter, Honda, 29:36.402
3 Kagayama, Suzuki, 29:36.713
4 Emmett, Ducati, 29:43.692
5 Thomas, Ducati, 29:43.709
6 Kiyonari, Honda, 29:53.480
7 Plater, Yamaha, 30:04.772
8 Haydon, Yamaha, 30:04.817
9 Richards, Kawasaki, 30:05.385
10 Hill, Yamaha, 30:10.624

Championship points
1 Reynolds, 420
2 Rutter, 377
3 Kagayama, 322
4 Smart, 304
5 Emmett, 288
6 Kiyonari, 184
7 Thomas, 175
8 Haydon, 165
9 Hill, 129
10 Richards, 115
11 Mason, 105

The final round of the series is the 19th September at Donington Park

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