Banbury's Team Proton KR rider Nobatsu Aoki claimed the new V5 four-stroke prototype racer's first finish in a punishingly hot Catalunyan GP, to finish just one place out of the world championship points.
The team were celebrating the result, after a series of round-the-clock sessions to cure the inevitable teething troubles with an all-new design that ran at a race-track for the first time only three weeks ago.
Teammate Jeremy McWilliams, who had qualified in an impressive 17th position, didn't even complete the first lap of his 150th GP.
The 39-year-old Ulsterman was skittled in a fourth-corner incident, when factory Kawasaki rider Andrew Pitt missed his braking point.
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