Silvester makes a point on Knockhill debut

Aaron Silvester was racing north of the border at Knockhill in Scotland last week where, despite a gearbox problem, he managed to salvage a 15th place and one solitary point from the experience.
Aaron Silvester.Aaron Silvester.
Aaron Silvester.

It was the first visit to the Scottish circuit for the Tattershall rider and he soon gelled with the short and technical circuit.

But after completing his free practice in 17th position his A&J Racing Yamaha suffered a gearbox issue in the early stages of qualifying which caused him to crash.

With a slow qualifying time Silvester was forced to start the race from near the back of the grid on the ninth row.

He explained: “This was the first time I had ever visited Knockhill and I love it.

“It’s a fantastic circuit and I felt I had got to grips with it in free practice two and was looking forward to having a proper go at it in qualifying.

“Unfortunately, at the start of qualifying, an issue with the bike that I had been suspicious of in practice caused me to crash at the first corner.

“The gearbox was damaged so I ran into the first corner crunching in a false neutral trying to select third several times.

“I was hard on the brakes in an effort to slow before the gravel and I lost the front on the kerb.

“It was a shame as I felt we could have qualified well, instead my first few laps put me 24th on the grid.”

Despite a lot of hard work by the team they came across other issues and changing gearbox components wasn’t possible to do trackside, so Silvester went out in the race on Sunday morning on a wing and a prayer hoping he could just get a finish under his belt.

As the race got underway in wet conditions Silvester got away to a reasonable start and after taking it steady for a couple of laps to check the track conditions he began his move forward.

He passed a few riders and with some riders ahead crashing in the slippery conditions he moved up into the top 20.

He made steady progress to work his way up into 15th place to pick up a championship point for his efforts.

He said: “I am happy enough with that result in the circumstances and can’t thank my team for their efforts to get me out on track after the crash.

“I must also give a big thank you to my sponsors for their continued support.”

The next round is at Snetterton in Norfolk on July 19-21.

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