Rob McElnea


Rob McElnea 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, his 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 5th 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, 1996-1998. 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:
Position12345678910
Points1512108654321

Points system from 1988 to 1992:
Position123456789101112131415
Points201715131110987654321


YearClassTeamMachine123456789101112131415PointsRankWins
1983500ccHeron-SuzukiRG500RSA
-		FRA
-		NAT
-		GER
-		ESP
-		AUT
-		YUG
-		NED
-		BEL
-		GBR
NC		SWE
-		RSM
-		0-0
1984500ccHeron-SuzukiRG500RSA
-		NAT
11		ESP
-		AUT
5		GER
NC		FRA
NC		YUG
-		NED
-		BEL
-		GBR
7		SWE
5		RSM
6		2111th0
1985500ccHeron-SuzukiRG500RSA
NC		ESP
NC		GER
7		NAT
9		AUT
5		YUG
8		NED
7		BEL
NC		FRA
NC		GBR
NC		SWE
NC		RSM
10		209th0
1986500ccMarlboro YamahaYZR500ESP
7		NAT
NC		GER
4		AUT
6		YUG
4		NED
4		BEL
5		FRA
6		GBR
NC		SWE
NC		RSM
10		605th0
1987500ccMarlboro YamahaYZR500JPN
NC		ESP
NC		GER
5		NAT
4		AUT
5		YUG
NC		NED
4		FRA
NC		GBR
NC		SWE
4		CZE
8		RSM
NC		POR
NC		BRA
NC		ARG
-		3910th0
1988500ccPepsi-SuzukiRGV500JPN
NC		USA
9		ESP
12		EXP
8		NAT
12		GER
11		AUT
9		NED
10		BEL
6		YUG
8		FRA
11		GBR
NC		SWE
13		CZE
8		BRA
8		8310th0
1989500ccCabin-HondaNSR500JPN
-		AUS
-		USA
-		ESP
-		NAT
DNS		GER
10		AUT
11		YUG
11		NED
10		BEL
11		FRA
9		GBR
10		SWE
9		CZE
12		BRA
12		52.511th0