Rob McElnea

Rob McElnea (born 12 December 1959) is a British former professional motorcycle road racer. At the peak of his career, he raced six seasons in the MotoGP, then named 500cc Grand Prix Championship. He also competed for five years in the World Superbike Championship and became British Superbike Champion in 1990. McElnea went on to run the very successful Rob Mac Racing team in the British Superbike Championship for over a decade until 2011.

Motorcycle racing career Having won the Senior Manx Grand Prix in 1980, McElnea's TT wins followed in 1983 and 1984, and he won a round of the TT Formula 1 World Championship in 1983, finishing second to Joey Dunlop in the season final standings. He competed for six seasons in 500cc Grand Prix - for Heron Suzuki, Marlboro Yamaha, Pepsi Suzuki and Cabin Honda. Despite finishing fourth eight times, luck went against him and he never quite secured a podium result. He then finished fifth overall in the Superbike World Championship in , for Loctite Yamaha. Rob then moved back to domestic competition, winning the British 750cc/TT F1 championship in 1991 with the same team. His career was ended by injury in 1993.

McElnea then ran the Virgin Mobile Yamaha team in the British Superbike Championship. With Cadbury's Boost sponsorship in the 1990s and rider Niall Mackenzie, the team won three successive championships, 1996 through 1998. They have been less successful in the 21st century, although Steve Plater, James Haydon and Tommy Hill have won British Superbike races for them. For 2008 they ran Karl Harris. McElnea also ran the Virgin Mobile Cup series with the prize of a berth in his Superbike Team for upcoming riders and, from 2007, a British Supersport Championship team.

At the end of the 2011 season, McElnea retired his team who were one of the longest-standing Superbike teams in the British Superbike Championship.

Grand Prix career statistics Points system from 1969 to 1987: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 Points system from 1988 to 1992: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points Rank Wins 1983 500cc Heron-Suzuki RG500 RSA- FRA- NAT- GER- ESP- AUT- YUG- NED- BEL- GBRNC SWE- RSM- 0 - 0 1984 500cc Heron-Suzuki RG500 RSA- NAT11 ESP- AUT5 GERNC FRANC YUG- NED- BEL- GBR7 SWE5 RSM6 21 11th 0 1985 500cc Heron-Suzuki RG500 RSANC ESPNC GER7 NAT9 AUT5 YUG8 NED7 BELNC FRANC GBRNC SWENC RSM10 20 9th 0 1986 500cc Marlboro Yamaha YZR500 ESP7 NATNC GER4 AUT6 YUG4 NED4 BEL5 FRA6 GBR4 SWE4 RSM10 60 5th 0 1987 500cc Marlboro Yamaha YZR500 JPNNC ESPNC GER5 NAT4 AUT5 YUGNC NED4 FRANC GBRNC SWE4 CZE8 RSMNC PORNC BRANC ARG- 39 10th 0 1988 500cc Pepsi-Suzuki RGV500 JPNNC USA9 ESP12 EXP8 NAT12 GER11 AUT9 NED10 BEL6 YUG8 FRA11 GBRNC SWE13 CZE8 BRA8 83 10th 0 1989 500cc Cabin-Honda NSR500 JPN- AUS- USA- ESP- NATDNS GER10 AUT11 YUG11 NED10 BEL11 FRA9 GBR10 SWE9 CZE12 BRA12 52.5 11th 0