By Carly Rathmell
September 27 2004

Dean Thomas and his Sendo Ducati Dienza Performance team had a successful end to the 2004 Think! British Superbike Championship as Donington Park hosted the final round, and Thomas secured two healthy seventh places and finished the year in a strong seventh in the overall championship standings.

Qualifying in seventh place on the grid, Thomas defended the position throughout the two twenty-lap races. The first race was stirred up slightly on the first lap when Kieran Clarke crashed out down Craner Curves. Thomas had no option but to roll off the throttle and avoid the collision. The crash forced out Steve Plater, John McGuinness and Paul ‘Marra’ Brown. The safety car had to be brought out on the circuit whilst the injured Plater and the debris from the crashed bikes were attended to. When the safety car finally pulled into the pitlane, Thomas latched onto Kawasaki pairing of Glen Richards and Scott Smart, and followed the two green machines to the finish line.

A poor start in the second race saw Thomas slip back to eleventh place, and ensured that he had his work cut out to make up the lost positions. Thomas fought hard to get passed Ducati mounted Marra Brown and Yamaha’s James Ellison. Sitting comfortably in seventh place, Thomas was happy to bring his 998 Sendo Ducati home, commenting, “It’s been a good day today. We changed a few things on the bike between races and tried to get a better set up to suit the track, but we still struggled to keep with the front runners.

“It’s been a great year for the team and I. They have all worked fantastically hard and, although I never managed a podium place, we’ve had a number of encouraging results. I’d like to thank all my sponsors and the team for working so hard throughout the season. I’m already looking forward get back racing again next year, but I’ll be making the most of the break and training hard ready for a fresh start next year.”

Sendo Chief Executive Hugh Brogan commented, “It was a late decision for Sendo to join forces with the Dienza Ducati team, and the deal was not completed until March, just before the season commenced. The team have worked very hard throughout the year to take them to seventh place in the championship; Dean, Enzo, the mechanics and all the staff involved deserve full credit for the work they have done this year. It’s the first time Sendo have been involved in anything like this, and it has been a very successful move for us. We have now been running five years as a company, and this has been a great opportunity for us, and we hope to continue our support in the British Superbike series next year.”

Team Manager Enzo di Clemente added to that by saying, “I’d like to express my thanks to Sendo, Hugh and to Kevin Lawless who have helped and supported the team throughout the 2004 season. Sendo are one of the best sponsors to support my team. It’s been a hard year and so much work and effort goes into making everything run smoothly, and everyone has played their part fantastically well this year.”

Race one result
1 Kiyonari, Honda, 32:05.596
2 Rutter, Honda, 32:16.577
3 Reynolds, Suzuki, 32:18.155
4 Smart, Kawasaki, 32:20.765
5 Emmett, Ducati, 32:21.819
6 Richards, Kawasaki, 32:26.356
7 Thomas, Ducati, 32:26.356
8 Haydon, Yamaha, 32:39.185
9 Mason, Yamaha, 32:45.381
10 Hill, Yamaha, 32:45.381

Race two result
1 Kiyonari, Honda, 30:57.801
2 Rutter, Honda, 31:09.663
3 Emmett, Ducati, 31:20.863
4 Smart, Kawasaki, 31:21.995
5 Kagayama, Suzuki, 31:22.322
6 Reynolds, Suzuki, 31:24.072
7 Thomas, Ducati, 31:24.985
8 Haydon, Yamaha, 31:31.665
9 Ellison, Yamaha, 31:31.987
10 Plater, Yamaha, 31:34.952

Final championship points
1 John Reynolds, 446 · 2004 British Superbike Champion
2 Michael Rutter, 417
3 Yukio Kagayama, 335
4 Scott Smart, 330
5 Sean Emmett, 315
6 Ryuichi Kiyonari, 234
7 Dean Thomas, 193
8 James Haydon, 181
9 Tommy Hill, 137
10 Glen Richards, 125

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