FROM THE TRACK: Knockhill brings a double podium finish!
Posted by MSG ADMIN
Back on the podium with two Third Place finishes for defending champion Chrissy Rouse!
The 2020 champion arrived at Knockhill with a determination to land the points - and land them he did!
After qualifying for 8th position for the opening race, Chrissy pushed the GR Motosport Kawasaki hard from the start to jump straight into Third position on the word go.
The opening laps were a manic fight for position with several changes each lap before Chrissy reclaimed his third position until Lap 12, where Lews Rollo pushed by him to knock Chrissy back to 4th Position.
Not to be trifled with, Chrissy put on the pressure for a solid 7 laps - keeping the Kawasaki hot on Rollo's heels and sticking to his back wheel before picking his moment in the 19th Lap to reclaim Third position - which he held onto strongly until the chequered flag.
With a couple of hours break, Chrissy was already lining up on the track for race two! Starting from third position this time, Chrissy launched straight into the race and initially was out leading the pack for the opening laps of the race.
Yet again - Rollo managed to tip the balance in his favour and passed by to knock the Geordie Maths Teacher into second position for a handful of laps before passing by Rollo again - although Taylor Mackenzie had slipped by the pair and had secured the lead.
On Lap 11, Taylor unfortunately crashed out and Chrissy was left to lead the pack for a second time in race two! Unfortunately, after battling with the Superstock 1000 riders, with just two laps to go Chrissy had dropped back to third position which he valiantly held on to until the chequered flag securing his second Third Position finish of the weekend.
Post-race, Chrissy had a few positive words to say!
"Overall, I’m really happy with the weekend up at Knockhill,” he said. “To get some solid points for the championship and move up to third in the standings is just what we wanted after Oulton.
There are lots of positives to take. I feel we are improving the bike all the time and my starts have been ace, going from eighth to third in Race One and third to first in the second.
It was great to lead for a good chunk of the second race, getting some good TV coverage for all of our sponsors, but I didn’t have enough to challenge for the win in the closing laps.
Truthfully, there were around 15 riders who had almost the same pace this weekend so to come away with 32 points, I’m well happy with that. Big thanks to everyone who has sent nice messages and now on to Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.”
Chrissy is currently sitting at joint third in the Superstock 1000 2021 championship on 32 points and is looking forward to Brands Hatch - 23rd-25th of July!