Aylesford’s Howie Mainwaring-Smart was back in the top ten in race two of the latest round of the MCE British Superbike Championship from Knockhill last weekend.
It was a tough round for Howie and his teammate Jakub Smrz and the Smiths Racing BMW team, so Mainwaring-Smart’s top ten finish was a positive for the team.
Throughout the three days of action, it was tough going for the two riders with Smrz qualifying the better of the two in 17th place as Mainwaring Smart posted the 22nd fastest time. It put them on the sixth and eighth rows of the grid respectively for Sunday’s first 30-lap race, encouraged by both riders lapping quicker in this morning’s warm-up session.
Unfortunately, neither rider could find a way into the top 15 during the opening race and the end result on the dry but cool Scottish track was 16th for Czech Republic rider ‘Kuba’ and 20th for Aylesford’s Mainwaring Smart.
The second race was held in difficult and wet conditions with the riders having to contend with heavy rain, spray and mist. For Smrz, he only had to contend with the conditions for two corners as he got caught up in a tangle with Ryuichi Kiyonari and his race came to an abrupt end as he crashed out.
Mainwaring Smart fared considerably better and although he had to start from 22nd on the grid, by the early stages of the race, he had climbed his way up to 11th. Five laps later, he took over tenth place and in the closing laps, he overhauled Christian Iddon to claim both his and the team’s best finish of the year in ninth position.
Howie Mainwaring Smart: “It’s been a really difficult weekend and I’m still trying to get a good feel for the bike. The BMW’s a great package and in the wet, when the bike’s set up that bit softer, I have a great feel but in the dry, it’s a different story. I suffered with arm pump a bit in the first race so the wet weather in the second race played into my hands and to come from a long way back on the grid to claim ninth is pleasing. Hopefully, it can be a turning point in my season and we can start to push forward.”
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