Scott Smart was left cursing the heavens after he failed to finish a Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship race for the third successive time at a rain-drenched and wind-swept Knockhill.

The 35-year-old endured a miserable time during his last superstock outing two weeks ago at Silverstone twice failing to finish but looked to have banished those demons after qualifying in second.

However Smart clearly hadn’t as he suffered at the hands of the heavens with heavy wind and rain playing its part in him pulling into the pits with three laps remaining.

Australian Glen Richards qualified on pole and followed that up with race victory with Luke Quigley and Jon Kirkham trailing home in second and third respectively.

Smart had been sharing a campervan with Richards over the weekend at the Scottish circuit and couldn’t hide his frustrations at failing to match the Padgetts Motorcycles rider’s efforts.

“When I first got to the track the weather had been so bad I didn’t think there was any chance of racing,” said Smart – who now sits 13th overall with 31 points.

“I went out with BSB series director Stuart Higgs in the course car and the gravel traps were more like lakes with gravel coming out.

“But we raced and the bike beforehand has been immaculate. We had a mechanical breakdown at Silverstone and we wanted to put that behind us and move forward.

“I’ve also been sharing with Glen and Josh Brookes from the main British Superbike paddock and thought I was on for a good weekend.

“I kept Glen up all night asking about the track after he finished on pole but it just never happened for me in the end.”

• British Eurosport 2 will be broadcasting every round of the 2010 MCE British Superbike Championship. The channel is available on Sky 411 & Virgin Media 525.