Scottish motorcycle racing paid tribute in the best way possible to superbike rider Steve Hislop at the Knockhill round of the MCE British Superbike championship yesterday.
The strains of Flower of Scotland echoed around the Fife circuit after a gaggle of young Scots lit up the Pirelli Superstock 600 race.
Danderhall Yamaha rider Michael Robertson stood on the top of the podium for the first time after clinching victory in a furiously contested race, which was eventually red-flagged after a series of incidents in which more than nine riders crashed out.
East Kilbride's Matthew Paulo, riding for Colin Appleyard Macadam, shone briefly, snatching the lead from Australian Levi Day before he crashed out at the hairpin.
Cambuslang's Niall Campbell finished fourth and Newton Mearns' Dan Kinloch was eighth.
Supersport rider Stuart Easton led the tributes to his former team-mate Hislop, an 11-time TT winner and double British Superbike champion who died 10 years ago in a helicopter crash, with a parade lap on a replica of the Ducati on which "Hizzy" won the championship in 2002, alongside former grand prix riders Niall Mackenzie and James Whitham.
Hislop's two sons, Aaron and Connor, had earlier been taken around the track in the safety car to a standing ovation from the packed crowd enjoying the sunshine.
Triple BSB champion Mackenzie, riding the Cadbury's Boost Yamaha on which he raced alongside Hislop, said: "It was lovely to see Steve's lads watching trackside. It's great we can remember him with a fantastic tribute as he had a lot of special races at Knockhill."
Mar-Train rider Easton moved on to his Yamaha R6 600cc bike and rode a race that would surely have made his old mentor Hislop smile.
The Hawick rider was forced to start from ninth on the grid following a crash in qualifying before cutting his way bravely but cleanly through the field to second position.
He could not overhaul the eventual winner, Gearlink Kawasaki's Ben Wilson, but the 20 points were enough to give him the lead in the Motorpoint Supersport championship after his closest rival, Alastair Seeley riding a Kawasaki, was dropped to fourth by Australian Billy McConnell on his Smith's Triumph.
Easton, who has never won at Knockhill, took his young son, Finley, on to the podium with him.
It was a joyous moment and a long way from the 130mph crash that nearly killed him two years ago at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland.
Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider Shane Byrne won both of the two headline Superbike races, while and Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari put the terrible start to his season behind him with his first podiums of the year.
Australian Josh Brookes, fresh from his Isle of Man TT debut, was second in both races for Tyco Suzuki.
Fans' favourite, 41-year-old Chris Walker, was fifth in both races on his Quattro Plant Kawasaki.
Hislop's mother, Margaret, presented Brookes with the Flying Haggis trophy for the fastest lap for his record-breaking time of 48.769.29 in the second race.
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