After such a promising result at Snetterton. Robbie was out to prove a point at Knockhill.

One of his favourite circuits, Robbie has never had the results he wanted at Knockhill but he was determined to put that to an end. The weekend started well, Robbie settled into a rhythm in FP1 and was lying inside the top 10 for most of the session before being dropped back to 18th respectively.

Robbie made some huge changes for session 2, complaining of lack of feedback from the front end. Again, things looked really good and Robbie’s times were always improving, eventually finishing the session in 17th.

For qualifying, things were looking up for Robbie; with 2 full sessions behind him he was confident of at least a top 15 place on the grid.
Throughout the session, Robbie was improving lap after lap. He came into the pits for a change of tyre on the rear, he then went out to set his fastest lap of 50.78seconds, placing him 3rd at the time. Then, into the first corner, Robbie lost the front of his Yamaha R6 and then the session was over. Robbie ended the session 17th position.

"That was quite possibly the biggest crash I have had, and I came away hardly injured. It was strange because I was having front end problems on the same corner all weekend, but the bike was feeling great elsewhere so I didn’t want to make a change to suit 1 corner and ruin the setup on other corners. When I came into the pits for a new rear tyre, I did my fastest lap, and I came over the line, saw the time on my dash and thought 'wow, that was easy' I never thought it would have been such a fast lap! So I went into the next lap thinking it would be much quicker, but sadly lost the front on the first turn.
It’s such a shame because we were heading in the right direction. Luckily I am unharmed but the bike was trashed" explained Robbie

After spending all afternoon fixing the bike, Robbie head out for QP2, but was unable to better his time, complaining of massive chatter on the front end and trouble with steering. With the sessions combined, Robbie was 17th on the grid.

The bike was then stripped of its parts to make sure nothing was bent. Unfortunately, the crash did more damage than first thought, bending 1 fork leg and breaking the headstock bearings. Explaining the issues Robbie was having in QP2.

With broken parts now replaced, Robbie was confident for the race, he believed he was capable of a top 15 finish in the main race and a top 3 in the cup series.
He got an average start but was swamped into the first corner, dropping him back to 21st. Quickly reacting, Robbie got back into the top 20, and after a tough race battling right through, Robbie claimed 18th in the main race and 2nd in the cup.

"To be honest, I am really disappointed with the result this weekend. Qualifying yet again ruined what could have been such a great weekend! But there are no excuses, I crashed the bike and it was all down to me. I was back to my old self in the race and things were looking really promising, but the bike was running far too hot and began to slow slightly. Still, I pressed on and managed to get into some fantastic battles, which doesn’t really reflect the result.
One thing I am particularly happy with this weekend was my fitness. I am constantly training and it’s definitely paying off as I was feeling really good before the race was stopped. Overall, 2nd in the cup is good for me as I am still leading the championship. But I really need to start pressing into the top 10 of the main race if I am to show my potential, I just need a weekend to go exactly as planned and maybe we will do better. The team as a whole are working none stop weekend after weekend to get the bike faster, and in the past 2 meetings, they haven’t stopped fixing the thing! I really want to repay them at the end of the year with the Cup crown! Its gonna be a tough one, but I think we can do it. Roll on Mallory!" commented Robbie.

The team now have a 10 day break before Mallory Park, round 7 of the series, where Robbie hopes to break into the top 10 and get back to the top step of the cup podium.

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