Saddam costs Thomas BSB ride

Saddam Hussein has scuppered Dean Thomas’s BSB season.

Thomas’s Dienza Ducati team’s sponsor, Phones4U, has slashed its budget by over 60 per cent because of tensions in the Gulf.

The phone firm says it’s worried about the impact war with Iraq could have on global communications.

Dienza was planning to lease the 2002 Testastretta 998s from the Renegade team and Thomas had already tested the bikes.

He has been trying to secure a ride with another team but has been unsuccessful so far.

He said: ” It’s so disheartening. I was within a tenth of a second of Steve Plater on the SP-2 at Almeria and was looking forward to a competitive year. Now the team plans are up in the air and it looks like I’m going to end up as a spectator this year. ”

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