Mixed weekend for Horncastle's Silvester at Knockhill

With nine corners packed in to a relatively short 1.27-mile lap, the undulating, tight and twisty Scottish circuit is one of the most challenging on the calendar and produces close, exciting racing.

Silvester made a strong start to the weekendm finishing fifth in Friday’s free practice sessions but when it came to qualifying on Saturday morning, he struggled to get a clear fast lap and he could only manage eighth place which put him on the third row of the grid for race one.

From the start, Silvester managed to maintain his position on the opening lap and he then set about catching and passing the riders in front. By mid-race distance, Silvester was involved in a frantic scrap for fourth place with Sam Laffins and Louis Valleley.

The three riders constantly swapped places with Silvester and Valleley overtaking each other two or three times per lap. Eventually, Silvester eased to the front of the pack and after 20 hectic laps he took fourth place at the chequered flag by just 0.275 seconds to maintain a 36-point championship lead.

For race two on Sunday, Silvester would once again start from eighth place on the grid but this time he made a great start and was up to sixth going in to turn three where he narrowly missed being taken out by Laffins who crashed just behind him.

Having made such a great start, it then all went wrong at The Hairpin at the end of lap one. Silvester crashed on the exit of the turn and several following riders had nowhere to go. Silvester managed to jump out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the following riders, but another machine struck Silvester’s bike and this triggered a chain reaction that saw six riders go down.

With riders and machines blocking the track, the race was immediately red flagged. Silvester managed to get his bike back to the pits and along with his uncle Andy, his crew chief, his dad, Mike, and girlfriend Kirbi, they managed to repair the bike in time for the race re-start.

In the re-started race, Silvester made another strong start to finish the opening lap in seventh place but with the bike not quite perfect he subsequently had a lonely race to finish sixth. It was a tremendous effort to salvage some valuable championship points and despite the drama, he still has a 28-point series lead.

When the dust settled, Silvester said: “Firstly, I’m sorry to everyone affected in the incident and I really hope everyone is okay; it was a biggie. I can’t thank all the other riders enough for avoiding me while I was trying to get out the way. I don’t take it for granted that I was very, very lucky today.

"Secondly, I am so, so grateful to my team and everyone who helped get the bike back together just in time for the race. Thank you.”

The next round of the championship is at Snetterton in three weeks’ time.