In his latest column for Crash.net, Bradley Smith looks back on the Dutch TT at Assen, a race that saw the young Englishman claim his third podium of the season... after the race had finished!

Another crazy weekend in Holland . I'm moved onto the podium after Nico Terol is pushed back 20 seconds by Race Direction but the promotion actually drops me a point to Championship leader Julian Simon. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining because Julian has had all the bad luck in the last two races and I could easily find myself 15 points down to him in the championship instead of just 5.5 points.

I felt a little sorry for Nico being penalised those 20 seconds for the incident with Julian on the last lap. When I saw the replay I thought it was a little bit harsh but Race Direction were consistent and punished other riders in other races. Racing in the World Championship is a tough take no prisoners business which I certainly found out in my battle with Italian Andrea Lannone for fourth place but which actually turned out to be third.

When I crossed the line inches in front of him I could not help myself and just turned towards him and let out an enormous 'Yes' because we'd been at it lap after lap. Every time I passed him he was immediately diving back underneath me. I tried three times in one lap to pass when the three were getting away at the front but he didn't want to budge and the leaders got away and there was nothing I could do about it. It was all fair and no complaints because in grand prix racing people don't just hand you a result on a plate. You have to earn points and I certainly did just that in a great duel.

I'd had the race pace all weekend and Julian's mechanics told me afterwards they were worried I would get to the front and disappear. I did the first part OK and got a good start but I was just a little bit down on top end power and when I got into the headwind down the back straight I was caught and went from first to fourth in one go.

We are all working flat out to find that extra few miles per hour because I need to get back to winning grands prix starting at the Sachsenring in Germany in a couple of weeks time followed by the British Grand Prix at Donington which is so important to me. I'm in Italy all week staying with a couple of lads from the team and we talk all the time about the next race. In between we are cycling hard everyday and are going into the mountains for a couple of days to really get those fitness levels spot on.

I got back from Assen at midnight on Saturday and was up at 5 am the next morning and was in the lake by 8 am competing in a Triathlon. Some people might think I'm crazy but its all part of my fitness regime and it's so important to me looking forward to those forthcoming races. Also I'm hoping to go head to head against Jenson Button in the London Triathlon which is going to be held over the Olympic distance and I don't want to let the MotoGP boys down in the battle with F1.

I had a great time at the F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone the previous weekend. It was so interesting to see how everything was done and both I and my trainer picked up a few points on how the teams made life a little easier for their drivers. We certainly both agreed after a trip round the paddock we need a bigger budget!

Everybody made me very welcome and I had a go in the simulator round the new MotoGP track lay out which Silverstone will use next year. It was awesome and very quick and should provide some great racing on two wheels. It was a good job it was only a simulator because I would have owed the team a great deal of money because of far too many crashes. It's back to reality in a couple of week's time.

Bradley Smith