After having benefited from the 2006 reserve grading rules, Robert definitely found 2007 a bit harder than he had hoped when he had given himself a perhaps unrealistic target of putting around 1.5-2 points on his average.
His aims were made even harder after being injured right at the start of the season and also having to ride more races as the 'senior' rider and without the guidance of Shane riding alongside him.
However after coming back from injury and finding his feet in the main body of the team Robert still managed to up his average by over half a point which was a more realistic achievement. He finished his season with a spectacular and frightening looking crash in the final heat of the meeting against Birmingham, one that he was very lucky to walk away from.
2007 was a very steep learning curve for Robert and one that he rose to the challenge of. He will no doubt set himself high targets again for 2008 and with last season's experience behind him there is no reason he cannot continue his progress and increase his average once again.