Perthshire Advertiser - THE Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy was showcased alongside the premier British Superbike Championship series at Knockhill over the weekend.
And Perth rider Torquil Patterson was just delighted to get back on track after coming a cropper three weeks ago.
He took a painful tumble in a qualifying accident in the series at Thruxton and feared his season could be over.
Torquil came off his Harley and tore the ligament that holds the collar bone to his shoulder. After treatment which included spells in Dundee’s hyperbaric chamber and a series of intense physio sessions, he defied the odds to climb back onto the bike to race in round two at Knockhill.
With the Fife track wet for both the warm-up and qualifying sessions, Torquil demonstrated his undoubted skills and took second place on the grid for Sunday’s double header.
Sunday saw the rain relent and the track dry out.
In his first outing, Torquil made a promising start, although he almost came to grief on the first lap.
As the race progressed, some of the technical adjustments made to the bike hindered him and he slipped back to fifth place by the end.
Minor adjustments were made and he was good to go for race two.
Torquil was involved in a no-quarter battle for fourth and fifth place, riding hard and showing his overtaking skills.
Although he slipped fifth, Torquil made headway into the gap in front of him, quickly catching those ahead with five laps left. His sights were set on a strong finish and the podium.
Then another bike’s engine blew and spewed oil all over the track – causing the race to be halted prematurely and the order declared as it was.
His Edinburgh Harley-Davidson backed XR1200 now heads for round three in a fortnight at the new Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk.
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