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Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha Press release
Steve Plater Wins Thrilling Race
Steve Plater and Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha stood on top of the podium as elated winners after a thrilling second British Superbike race at Oulton Park, Cheshire saw the red and black bikes home first today.
The win was met with the roaring cheers of the record crowd at a sun-kissed circuit, with the good news continuing as team-mate Simon Crafar took a fantastic third place finish.
‘I can’t describe how good it feels to be on the top of the podium,’a bubbling Plater, soaked in Champagne after the celebrations, said: ‘This is such a huge moment for myself and the team. This is my first Superbike win. This is the first win for the Yamaha R1. This is the first win for Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha. ‘It’s all my Christmas’ at once. I really can’t put into words how great this feels.’
Steve was mobbed by waiting press and TV crews as he took the winner’s laurels, despite the huge interest in the star he still made a point of paying tribute to his New Zealand team-mate Simon Crafar and the work of the whole team: ‘Simon deserves to be on the top step more than I do really, he’s been tasked with the development work on the Yamaha R1 and has worked so hard to bring the bike on. The mechanics, the sponsors and the whole team too… I can’t thank everybody enough and I am over the moon to be able to give them the win they’ve all worked so hard for.’
Crafar was also keen top pay tribute to his team-mate, saying: ‘Steve was riding the bike perfectly out there. He thoroughly deserved the win. I know we were both running at a very quick pace and Steve didn’t put a wheel wrong.
‘I am real happy for Steve to get this win, for himself and the team. All the guys have been working real hard to get the victory and everyone hugely deserves it. We’re gonna have a few beers tonight to celebrate for sure!’
Team boss Rob McElnea, relishing the first win for the team since the penultimate round of the series in 1998, added: ‘It’s been a long time coming and we needed to get a win. This is a great result for everyone involved, the mechanics, sponsors and everybody else who helps us put the team together and race every weekend.
‘Steve is without doubt the best rider in the series who hadn’t so far got a win. To run at the pace he did through the whole race was nothing short of brilliant, he’s been knocking on the door of a win for a few rounds now and the sheer hard work of everybody was proved today.
‘I think we’ll see an even faster Steve Plater now he has got that first win on the board. Like other riders who have taken their first win in the series, Steve now has that hurdle of the first time on top of the podium behind him.
‘He’s been able to lap at record pace in a host of races and now is in the record books as a winner in the British Superbike Championship – the toughest domestic series in the world. I think that will help him get more wins in the future.’
… The second Superbike race was an absolute corker and followed the first where Steve finished in fourth, and injured Sean Emmett – paying the price for an horrific fall during qualifying yesterday that left his hands badly mangled and swollen, Sean needing pain-killing injections directly between the knuckles to be able to ride – battling through the pain barrier to score a ninth with Simon suffering a last corner fall on the penultimate lap to drop down the order, eventually crossing the line in 17th place, all eyes were on the second race to provide the podium-toting thrills.
The opening melee into the first few turns saw Simon break through first, battling his way to fifth place with Steve just behind in sixth, by half way through the opening lap Steve had found his way past Simon and began chasing down the leaders.
With a trio of V-twins in front Steve was in the leading group, hassling the leaders with a string of record-pace laps to be in with a strong chance of the win come the final throws of the adrenaline-packed race.
Simon was just behind Steve on track, the pair sweeping through the punishing Oulton Park like a duo possessed.
Sean was scrapping his way through the lower top ten order, his extensive injuries robbing him of some mobility around the Team Appleyard Yamaha R1 but the Londoner showed incredible passion to be able to take on – and beat his fully fit rivals to an incredible sixth place.
But up front all eyes were on Steve, Simon was only able to look on – just out of reach from the very front of the pack – although still able to take advantage of any chance that may present itself in the last few turns.
On lap 13 of 18 the tough pace of the race was beginning to show with the start of a war of attrition that would signal the most amazing finish ever to a British Superbike race.
The V-twin rider’s machine exhaust broke on the lap, his team-mate’s clutch packed in a lap later with Steve Hislop’s bike crying enough and retiring on the penultimate lap. The dramatic events left the strong four-cylinder machines to sort out the podium between them, Crafar secure in third meaning a Titanic battle brewed between Steve and four-cylinder rival John Reynolds.
With Steve leading onto the final lap Reynolds was lining up a pass, unable to get by at the fast Cascades corner, then again at the 160mph Lakeside straight John was trying everything he could to beat Steve and the Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha.
Onto the bumpy, sweeping Druids Corner for the final time John shifted to the inside line exiting the turn, Steve braced himself for the onslaught on the brakes.
The pair were locked together in the 150mph run to the Lodge turn, hitting the brakes Reynolds pulled alongside Steve, Plater grabbing the R1’s powerful front brakes hard to get his machine slowed up quicker into the right hand penultimate bend.
It looked as though Reynolds was about to take the win – but the move was playing right into the tactics of Plater who cut back to the inside of the turn to fire the bike under John and across the finish line first to the roar of the crowd.
With the cheers still wringing in his ears the final word on the first ever win for Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha went to Team Boss Rob McElnea.
‘We’ll take the luck that came along at the end of the race but like every time anybody competes they have to be first across the line to win and we did just that. Steve’s pace and the way the Yamaha R1 coped with the stresses of the racing showed that, in just seven months, we have taken this bike and this team from being all-new to race winners.
‘What a great way to build on a bright future for Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha.’
Race results: Winner: Steve Hislop, Ducati, 2 Shane Byrne, Ducati, 3 Michael Rutter, Ducati, 4 Steve Plater, Yamaha, 5 Karl Harris, Suzuki, 6 Glen Richards, Kawasaki, 7 John Crawford, Suzuki, 8 John Reynolds, Suzuki, 9 Sean Emmett, Yamaha, 10 Dean Thomas, Ducati 11 Paul Young, Suzuki, 12 Adrian Coates, Suzuki, 13 Dean Ellison, Ducati, 14 Phil Giles, Suzuki, 15 Jamie Robinson, Honda, 16 Jason Davies, Yamaha, 17 Simon Crafar, Team Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha, 18 Gordon Blackley, Honda, 19 Marty Nutt, Honda
Race results:
Winner: Steve Plater, Yamaha, 2 John Reynolds, Suzuki, 3 Simon Crafar, Yamaha, 4 Karl Harris, Suzuki, 5 Michael Rutter, Ducati, 6 Sean Emmett, Yamaha, 7 John Crawford, Suzuki, 8 Dean Thomas, Ducati, 9 Paul Young, Suzuki, 10 Gary Mason, Honda, 11 Adrian Coates, Suzuki, 12 Dean Ellison, Ducati, 13 Phil Giles, 14 Jamie Robinson, Honda, 15 Lee Jackson, Yamaha, 16 Marty Nutt, Honda, 17 Gordon Blackley, Honda, 18 David Wood, Suzuki
Championship points after 11 rounds:
Hislop 395, Emmett 339, Rutter 316.5, Byrne 257.5, Reynolds 244.5, Plater 229, Brown 159.5, Crafar 157, Richards 140.5, Thomas 112, Ellison 108.5, Harris 91
