JONATHAN Railton shook off gearbox problems in practice and qualifying to record his best finish of the season at Knockhill in Scotland.

At the seventh round of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship, Railton finished early practice in a promising 26th place, despite late gearbox troubles. The problems prevented him taking part in the qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon and his team worked late into the night to fix the problem. The second qualifying session, on Saturday, went without problems and Railton ended the session in 26th position.

Race day on Sunday was hit by atrocious weather which caused the Superbike race to be stopped and re-started three times.

The Superstock 1000 was subsequently shortened to a 15-lap race but with the track rapidly drying out tyre choice was critical, and he made the correct call of a dry tyre at the back and wet at front. From 26th he picked up four places by the end of the first lap, and continued to pick off other riders at regular intervals. He was sitting 18th when the weather forced the race to an early end on lap 12.