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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, 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 1990, 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:

Points system from 1988 to 1992:

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

References

1. "Race Results - Isle of Man TT Official Website". Iomtt.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
2. "Tt Formula 1983". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
3. "Racing History 1980s : MOTORCYCLE | GLOBAL SUZUKI". www.globalsuzuki.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
4. "Henkel Συγκολλητικά Ελλάδα - Henkel". Loctite.gr. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
5. "North Lincolnshire Council - New £400,000 engineering centre to be opened by superbike star (5 July 2006)". 31 March 2009. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
6. "It's official: Karl Harris gets Yamaha British Superbike ride". Motorcyclenews.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
7. "MCRCB-Events.co.uk". Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
8. "Fuchs Silkolene Motorcycle Lubricants and Oils". Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
9. "Welcome to nginx eaa1a9e1db47ffcca16305566a6efba4!185.15.56.1". www.motogp.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2022.

• 1959 births
• Living people
• People from Yorkshire and the Humber
• English motorcycle racers
• Superbike World Championship riders
• 500cc World Championship riders
• Isle of Man TT riders