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The Real Cycle People
44 George Street, Perth

Mondello 15-17 June 2007

Four weeks on from his first win of the season at Snetterton, Robbie Stewart continued his fine form with a hard fought second place finish at Ireland's Mondello Park in Round 6 of the BSB 125GP Championship.

After a washout in the equivalent round in May 2006, it was hoped that the weather would be kinder in June, but rain during both Friday practice and Saturday qualifying made for treacherous track conditions.

Coping well with the difficult conditions, Robbie spent Friday's two practice sessions adjusting to the new KRP Honda and relearning his way around the twisty Kildare circuit. Despite the rain, the bike was performing well and Robbie finished the day 7th on then timesheets.

Saturday dawned with a slight improvement in track conditions for 1st qualifying, and Robbie finished the session with a best time of 2.03.562, putting him in provisional 10th place on the grid. Robbie felt there was more to come but was reluctant to push too hard on the still wet track.

The heavens then opened at the start of 2nd qualifying and, with lots of standing water on the track, lap times were down on the morning session. Knowing that it wasn’t possible to improve on his earlier time, Robbie decided to take it easy, but the session ended with a small mistake at the final turn which resulted in him losing the front end and sliding into the gravel - luckily without injury.

Much improved conditions on race day created their own problems, with the morning warm up being the only opportunity for the team to work on a dry set up. Robbie, however, was happy on the fast-drying track and completed the session well satisfied with 5th fastest overall.

A third row start and a poor getaway at the lights meant Robbie had to work hard to make up ground on the leaders, but he'd made his way up to 5th by the time the safety car came out following an accident. With the pack closed up by the time the safety car pulled in, Robbie then got his head down and put in the fastest lap of the race. As the laps counted down, he continued to catch the front runners and climbed to second place on the penultimate lap. On the last lap he was passed by Luke Jones into Turn 7, but Robbie fought back over the few remaining corners and took the flag in a deserved 2nd spot behind KRP team mate Nikki Coates. With the other KRP riders Anthony Rogers and Tom Hayward also finishing in the top 6, Mondello was a superb team performance.

After a difficult start to the 2007 season, a fine run of results has now moved Robbie to third in the 125GP Championship and a clear lead in the Cup competition. His Mondello result also sees him in fine form as he approaches one of the biggest races of his career - a wildcard ride in the British 125GP at Donington Park on the 24th of June.

Reports from other rounds.

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