By Carly Rathmell
February 28 2006

Australian Dean Thomas is all set for Phillip Island, after an impressive World Supersport ride at Losail, Qatar, 25th February 2006. Hawk Kawasaki British Superbike rider Dean Thomas rode an incredible race as a wildcard entrant at the first World Supersport race, in Qatar at the weekend. 33-year-old Sheffield based Thomas was unlucky not to finish the race due to a technical problem. His true grit and determination paid off, as he gained himself a place on the grid with the GIL Motorsport Team at Phillip Island, Australia, next weekend.

Australian Thomas only set foot on the bike during Thursday’s free practice and qualifying sessions. Once again, for the second year running, the rain hit the Middle East based circuit, which proved a disaster for Thomas and the GIL Motorsport team as they were in much need of dry weather to enable them to find a good bike set up.

Thomas was riding in place of the injured Stéphane Chambon, and the ZX-6 Kawasaki was set up accordingly to the petite Frenchman. Thankfully, the weather cleared for Friday’s sessions, which allowed him some needed track time. The team were working extremely hard to rectify minor problems with the bike, and adjust it accordingly to the riding style of Thomas. As a result this was time consuming, and saw him miss out on 25 minutes of the second practice session.

With more adjustments needed throughout the second qualifying session, Thomas could only secure 18th position on the grid for Saturday’s race. The likeable Australian decided that it was necessary to make more changes after Saturday morning’s warm up, which left Thomas going into the race with a host of new modifications to the bike.

In the baking sunshine, and as the lights went green, he gained a fantastic start and had already gained a few places as he entered the first corner. Working his way through the pack, he was beginning to look more and more comfortable on the bike and began to push himself a little harder.

He was soon locked in a five bike scrap for sixth position, and had effortlessly worked his way through to seventh place when disaster struck on the penultimate lap, and his race was quickly cut short. It was later discovered that the GIL Kawasaki had run out of fuel, despite the tank being completely full at the start of the Supersport race.

Speaking with Thomas, he said, “I was gutted not to have finished the race as I was in a strong position at the time, but I am also delighted on how far through the pack I managed to get. The fuel situation has left the team in a dilemma about what to do, and they need to ensure that this problem is resolved before the next races. Luckily it has been found early in the season, and is something that they should be able to rectify before the next race.

“It was a great weekend but, due to lack of time on the bike, we had to make many changes and adjustments to the set up of the Kawasaki to ensure that it was right for the race. The team made a lot of modifications before the race, in which I had only the warm up lap to try them out. The changes were definitely a move in the right direction and, although it took me three or four laps to settle into the race, by half way I was feeling extremely confident.

“It was great to be back out on a bike again, and the team worked exceptionally hard throughout the weekend to move everything forward to a new level. It was difficult as there was only Max (Berger) and myself riding the ZX-6s, so it was hard to judge what was right and what wasn’t. I really can’t wait to go to Phillip Island. I’ve not been back home for over a year, and my whole family are coming down to watch the race. It’s a circuit that I know and certainly like a lot, as it suits my riding style, so I am hoping that I can run up near the front this time round.

“I am really fired up now for this year’s British Superbike series, and can’t wait to get back out there with Hawk and start where I left off at Brands last October. Being back on a bike again is making me more eager to get the season started, and I am really looking forward to what is set to be one of the most competitive years in a long time. The competition gets stronger every year, but Hawk have got a really good package and I have no doubt that we can run up at the front.”

World Supersport race result, round one, Qatar
1 Sébastien Charpentier, Honda
2 Kevin Curtain, Yamaha
3 Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda
4 Javier Fores, Yamaha
5 Johan Stigefelt, Honda
6 Robbin Harms, Honda
7 Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha
8 Christian Zaiser, Ducati
9 Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha
10 Joshua Brookes, Ducati

All races from Phillip Island will be shown as a repeat on Eurosport2, from 15:45 on Sunday, 5th of March.