Robbie experienced a great start to the weekend on Friday, where he was 7th in session 1, and after a race simulation, he was 18th in session 2. He was looking forward to Qualifying, but unfortunately things took a turn for the worse.

Before Robbie even did a lap of Qualifying, the quick shifter snapped, he came into the pits and the team had no choice but to remove it and insert a standard metal rod. Robbie managed to get back out on track, but the relief was short lived after Robbie high-sided exiting Russell’s Chicane due to a cold tyre.
A battered and bruised Robbie head to the pits with the bike, where the team frantically tried to repair the bike so that Robbie could complete one lap.
With 2 minutes to go, Robbie head out to try and complete one lap. Unfortunately, as Robbie was passing the line, the chequered flag came out, marking the end of the session and possibly the weekend for Robbie.

With the bike now fully repaired, Robbie head out for a damp QP2. He was continually getting quicker and managed to secure 27th on the grid before falling victim to the damp conditions at the esses, and down he went again.

"What can I say about qualifying? It was the nightmare of all nightmares. I have gone all season without a single crash, and then 2 crashes in 2 sessions. The first crash was obviously down to cold tyres. Still, I was riding slowly to warm them up, but it just caught me out and high sided me off, that was a sore one!
QP2 I was feeling really good. I knew that the track was damp at the esses, and every lap I was thinking 'go steady here' but it just caught me out again and down I went. The crash was really small, but did quite a bit of damage to the bike!" explained Robbie

Looking onto race day, the team were simply aiming for a finish, anything else was a bonus.
Robbie got a mediocre start, maintaining his position. Soon though, he started to attack. Constantly lapping quicker and more consistent than his rivals. The laps went by and Robbie managed to take the lead of the cup, and 12th in the main race when it was stopped due to a crash at the final chicane. A great result for the team.

"Well, what a complete turn around to yesterday (qualifying) the race was brilliant and I felt really comfortable on the bike. I was getting quicker and quicker and catching the guys in front. The bike was much slower without a quick shifter; it was like being back in the Superstock race again!
I had a few minor moments, but all in all, everything went really well. I feel that if the race hadn’t been stopped, I may have managed to break into the top 10 as I was catching the guys in front every lap. Still, it’s a brilliant result considering where I started. I want the next race to be here this weekend, none the less, I will be training hard for the next one at Knockhill, where hopefully I can break into the top 10 in the main race, and again extend my championship lead." commented Robbie

Now we have a 2 week break ahead of Knockhill, which marks the half way point in the season. Check back for more updates and photos.

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