Top five spots for Smart

Having gone eighth fastest in free practice and qualified fourth in for race one, Smart proceeded to take second, third and fourth-placed finishes respectively in the weekend’s races.

Speaking about his weekend’s efforts, Smart was happy with the progress made.

He said: “In free practice we didn’t know what tyres to go out on as it had rained the night before, so I went safe and went on wets but then soon came into the pits as it was dry all the way round other than the last corner.

"We put a dry rear in and left the wet front in but in the end, I should’ve put the dry front in too, but it was only practice, so I didn’t want to risk anything.

​"Qualifying was fully dry, and I got into a little rhythm but only managed P4, but I was happy with my starting position and lap time too as it was 0.3 off pole.

​"Race one was dry as we went down the pit lane for the start of the race but then as soon as we got to pit lane it started raining heavily, so the team got my wets in the bike in no time.

"I got a good start and was battling in the front group but just didn’t have the pace for the win, so I settled for second and was really happy with the race.

“I was starting in P4 again for race two but I didn’t get as good a start and dropped a few positions, but I kept cool and consistent and managed to pull back a three-second gap to third place which I was happy with again.

​"For race three I was starting sixth on the grid, I got a mega launch and was third into turn one, I then got into the lead on lap three and was trying to set the pace but I just couldn’t get the power down as my rear tyre was spinning coming out of most corners.

"I slowly dropped back from first to fourth as the race went on but unlike Donington in round two I used my head and took the points, finishing in fourth place.

"I’m still happy with this as I now sit second in the Championship, only ten points behind first.

"A big thank you to all my sponsors for making this all possible and my supporters who made the trip to Knockhill! And an even bigger thank you to my dad for keeping everything going.

​”I’m looking forward to Snetterton in a few weeks.”