A tyre gamble by Hawk Kawasaki's Scott Smart in the second British Superbike race at Knockhill oh-so-nearly paid off when, despite starting at the back of the grid, he was able to lap four seconds quicker than the leaders for part of the race.

Smart, who had chosen intermediate tyres for the inclement conditions while the rest of the field chose slicks, had a fairly hairy first four laps but when a dry line began to appear, he was able to put the hammer down.

"It span and slid all over the place for the first few laps but when it began to dry, it was putting in some serious times," said the former British 250GP champion.

"I really thought I had enough laps to reel a lot people in, but then that crash happened and it was stopped. Had it just been a safety car, that race would have been mine!"