The Splitlath Redmond team took three top 20 finishes at Round Five of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Knockhill.

French teenager Florian Marino grabbed two 19th places, while John Laverty crossed the line 18th in today’s opening race, but was forced to retire his Aprilia RSV4 on the penultimate lap of Race Two.

The short Scottish track was another new one for Marino, while Laverty always knew its twisty nature would be tricky with regards to his physical condition as he continues to build his fitness.

But both riders were determined to get some good results as they arrived at the circuit for Friday’s first sessions, and had an encouraging start when they found themselves running in the top 10 during the earlier practices.

Laverty qualified 22nd for the first race with Marino lining up beside him 23rd, and both got good starts and enjoyed steady races, finally crossing the line in formation with John 18th and Florian 19th.

Race Two saw Marino line up 22nd and Laverty 24th, and both were looking for improvements over the 30 lap challenge. But after around 12 laps, Laverty began to struggle with a technical problem and tried to ride around it until the end of Lap 28 when he was forced to retire.

Marino kept a cool head and rode to his second 19th place of the day, but admitted he had struggled throughout. “It was very tiring, I have had a tough fight at this track as it has tired me a lot,” he said.

“This track is very different to the ones I have ridden before and has just been something else to learn. I do like it here though and I’m disappointed not to have been able to reach the points this weekend.”

Laverty also found the event a challenge as he continues to rebuild his strength and fitness. “It is tiring for me here, more so than somewhere like Thruxton but I’ve given it a good shot today. “It was unfortunate we had to retire there at the end of the second race because the team has worked so hard. We’ve tried a lot of new things this weekend, some have worked and others haven’t, but it’s all still a step in the right direction as we continue to develop the Aprilia RSV4.”

Team co-owner John Dimbylow was also disappointed not to see any of his riders make the points. “Obviously it’s disappointing,” he said. “We had a great start in the three free practices – we were right up there in the top 10, even running fifth and sixth for a long, long time.

“From there we’re not quite sure what’s happened, why it’s all gone backwards. We need to look at all of the data and see what happened and sort this out to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“At the end of the day it’s one of those things - it’s very tough and very competitive and there are some very good people out there and we need to just raise our game.”

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