World Supersport - 5th March 2006

33-year-old Dean Thomas secured an impressive eighth place finish in the second World Supersport race, Phillip Island, Australia (5th March). Thomas who was replacing the injured Chambon in the GIL Motorsport Team concluded a successful weekend with a top ten position.

The Sheffield based rider was running strong all weekend on only his second outing on the Kawasaki ZX6. Although 20 kph down on speed compared to his rivals, Thomas managed to maintain consistency throughout the weekend in Australia.

After a few minor changes to the suspension set up, Thomas secured 14th place on the grid for Sunday's race. Running in the top six throughout the practice sessions, Thomas was confident of a good result in the event. After failing to finish last weekend in Qatar due to a technical problem Thomas knew that he could gain a top ten placing at Phillip Island.

Australian Thomas was delighted with the progress that had been made since Qatar commenting 'It's been a really good few days and I'm glad I managed to get a strong result for the team at the end of it all. We struggled mainly on horsepower this weekend compared to the rest of the field. I believe the engines will be changed before the next race, which should allow Chambon to return and gain some positive results.

With the track temperature reaching 48oC we were having issues with rear grip, it was worse the hotter the track got. Thankfully, the weather was slightly cooler on race day, which allowed the bike to handle better. I felt comfortable all weekend and I was feeling satisfied with everything as the race approached.

I got a good start in the race and gained a number of positions on the first few laps but I was losing them again down the back straight. I was fluctuating between 9th and 14th for the majority of the race but managed to get my head down for the remaining laps and claw back some positions.

I'm very pleased with the way things have gone in Qatar and here at Phillip Island. I'm extremely grateful for Kawasaki, Stuart Hicken and GIL Motorsport to have given me this opportunity to compete in the opening two rounds of the World Supersport Championship. Everyone in the GIL Motorsport Team have been fantastic and they are a very good team to work with, if there was an opportunity to ride with them in the future then it would be great to do so.

I fly back to England now to start preparing myself for the forthcoming British Superbike season with Hawk Kawasaki. I am testing the new ZX10's on my return and can't wait for the racing to start again.'

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