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Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha - Press Release:
Sunday, September 29:
SO CLOSE:
It was so nearly the fairy-tale ending.
Sean Emmett was leading the first superbike race.
He’d fought his way through the pack from fifth on the grid, scything his way through the field ahead to be out in front.
As the only man able to take the title instead of Steve Hislop there was only ever one tactic for the Londoner, go flat out for the win.
And Sean was doing just that. In fact, his progress around the Donington Park GP circuit could be plotted by the roar of the 27,500+ crowd.
Sean had picked his way up to the leading group by the fourth lap, muscled his way past Michael Rutter to third on the same lap, barged his way through to second at the tough Old Hairpin bend on lap six and by lap seven was sweeping his way past Hislop for the lead. The next lap and Sean was flying, head down he immediately pulled bike lengths on Hislop, never backing off the pace for a fraction of a second Sean carried on at a dramatic rate.
The highside that ruled him out of the meeting was one of those falls where it was over before anybody registered what was happening, exiting the Esses chicane on lap nine Sean applied a fraction too much throttle and was flung into the air. In the horrifically brutal fall Emmett was left with a broken left wrist and left collarbone, unable to continue in the second race the chance of the title was gone.
Speaking after the fall Sean said: ‘That’s not the way I wanted to end the year of course but at least we were leading and fighting for the title when it happened. ‘I feel terrible for the team because they deserve so much. They’ve worked very hard for me and in turn I have tried everything I can to give them back the result. I really wanted to do the job for everyone involved; myself, the team and all the commercial partners. The plan didn’t quite work out but we have proved ourselves to be very worthy of the fan’s cheers.’ The fall added to the woes after Steve Plater was forced out of the first race on lap three with a mechanical problem.
It meant that just Simon Crafar was left to fight for the honour of the red and black bikes. And fight he did, picking his way through the pack relentlessly to come from 14th on the grid to finish a fine fifth place at the end of the first race.
With Sean out of the running for race two and the title decided the second outing turned into a right trackside scrap with Steve being caught up in a scathing fight for third, coming out the better of his rivals and securing the final podium place for the last outing of the year.
Simon was also fighting it out in a battle of his own, crossing the line in tenth place. That provided the Kiwi with 8th place in the BSB series, just a 1/2 point behind the 7th place getter, Glen Richards.
Speaking after the second outing Steve said: ‘A podium in the last race will do for me. We were running at a good pace out there and the scrap was great to be a part of! ‘Standing on the podium seemed a fitting way to end the year. We’ve had a lot of support this year from everybody involved and it was a good way to repay their help.’
Team boss Rob McElnea added: ‘This year has been an evolution for us. We have come to this series with a brand new bike and turned it into a race winner within the season. ‘We couldn’t have done that without the huge support and help from everyone involved. I would like to say thank you to everyone in the team; riders, mechanics, all the staff and commercial partners. We were in the title chase right up to the end and that speaks volumes about how far we have come in just a matter of months. We don’t want to stand still with what we have achieved and will take this season’s huge achievements and use them as a foundation for next year. ‘We can’t wait.’
Race one result:
Winner: Michael Rutter, Ducati, 2 John Reynolds, Suzuki, 3 Steve Hislop, Ducati, 4 Glen Richards, Kawasaki, 5 Simon Crafar, Yamaha, 6 John Crawford, Suzuki, 7 Karl Harris, Suzuki, 8 Dean Ellison, Ducati, 9 Dean Thomas, Ducati, 10 Gary Mason, Honda, 11 Phil Giles, Suzuki, 12 Lee Jackson, Yamaha
Race two result:
Winner: Michael Rutter, Ducati, 2 Steve Hislop, Ducati, 3 Steve Plater, Yamaha, 4 Glen Richards, Kawasaki, 5 Shane Byrne, Ducati, 6 John Reynolds, Suzuki, 7 Dean Ellison, Ducati, 8 John Crawford, Suzuki, 9 Gary Mason, Honda,10 Simon Crafar, Yamaha, 11 Dean Thomas, Ducati, 12 Paul Brown, Ducati
Final British Superbike Championship points:
Steve Hislop 452, Michael Rutter 407.5, Sean Emmett 379, Shane Byrne 294.5, Steve Plater 286, John Reynolds 283.5, Glen Richards 187.5, Simon Crafar 187, Paul Brown 163.5, Dean Ellison 131.5
