Moto Rapido Ducati’s Scott Smart was forced to watch the second British Superbike race at Croft from the sidelines on Sunday after a technical problem on his Ducati 1198 forced him to retire early following a strong showing in the first outing.

Smart, who hails from Maidstone, had ridden his Evo-spec machine from 19th on the grid up to 14th place in race one, his vast experience and smooth style enabling him to makes up places over full Superbikes using slick tyres on a damp track. A minor error, though, saw Smart crash but he was able to re-mount, finishing the race in 21st and seventh in class.

Race two saw another strong start from the 36 year-old but his progress was halted after seven laps when a sensor which has been damaged in the crash falsely warned Smart he was about to do serious damage to his engine so with discretion being the better part of valour, he pulled off the track.

“I hadn’t expected this weekend to be so tough and I am gutted, so to speak. I had made some serious progress in the first race and the choice to run slicks on a drying track was easily the right decision. A damp patch on the way into Tower caught me out though and did some hidden damage,” said a disappointed Smart.

“I managed seven laps of race two, also making up places from my grid slot, when the main warning light appeared on my dash. This is usually terminal so I pulled straight off but it turned out to be a false alarm.”