Samsung Superbike Team happy with Mondello Park progress.

Dean Thomas aboard his Samsung Suzuki Superbike had a suitable result at round six of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Mondello Park in Ireland. He qualified in sixteenth place and finished race one in fourteenth and race two in thirteenth. While his new team-mate in the Metzeler National Superstock Championship, Sean Emmett surprised a few people on his first time out on the 1098 Ducati. Emmett qualified in sixth place and finished both races in thirteenth. 

Practice and qualifying were held in wet conditions while both races were in the dry which made life difficult for all concerned. Speaking after both races Thomas said, “It’s not been too bad, not quite to plan, we were hoping to run top ten which I feel we are capable of but I just got held up in the first one,” he explained, “By the time I got a rhythm and got through I couldn’t get to where I wanted to be. The times weren’t too bad for where we wanted to be, I’m back in the points but not far enough up the list for my liking.”

Thomas admitted that he feels the way forward is to reduce horse power as he went on to say, “We don’t run traction control but nearly everyone else does so maybe we have learned something, maybe we need to know more horse power out of it and see how we go. A thirteenth and a fourteenth it will do I suppose. We’ll just move onto Knockhill and see what we can do.”

Emmett meanwhile enjoyed his time on his new machine spending the weekend getting to grips with a completely new bike, new tyres and a new team; he even had to squeeze into former Samsung Ducati rider, Jon Kirkham’s leathers! Team Manager, Enzo Diclemente said, “We are really happy to have Sean on our bike and Ducati are happy too. He knows Ducati and we want him to develop the new 1098. The results this weekend didn’t really reflect what he is capable of. I mean when the weather was real bad in practice he was running third fastest on an unfamiliar bike. In both races he got shunted and tangled up in other people’s crashes which held him up. Its great to have him back and we are hoping for some good results in the near future.”

Round seven of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place at Knockhill in Scotland on the 29thand 30th June and race day on 1st July.

Dean Thomas (Top)
Sean Emmett
Pictures: Dave Caudwell of Monopics