Worx Suzuki's Michael Rutter had his designs on a couple of podiums at the Knockhill BSB round scuppered by problems with grip from his rear Pirelli and a crash in race two.

The Midlander had qualified on the front row and was using the same tyre he had used through all of practice but by lap six, it had gone off badly and he dropped to 11th. The crash in the second leg just compunded his woes,

 “It’s been a tough day, I’m very disappointed. Through the lead up to the racing we’ve shown what’s possible, we were front row again, and podiums are clearly there for the taking – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this bike and team," said Rutter.

“In that first race we started okay, I held position in the opening laps but by lap six I could feel the rear tyre performance dropping off badly. Despite being the same tyre we used in practice and qualifying, come the race we weren't getting the same grip. For a while I was able to hold on to sixth, but when the safety car came out everyone closed on to me. So when we got the green light again I just couldn’t go and that was the end of it.

“We went for a harder tyre for the second race and that worked well. We were secure in fifth when on the 20th lap, on the run to the hairpin I ran in too deep. The rear came up so I couldn’t turn, I let the brake off to regain control, but that put me wide and off the circuit. Game over."