In his latest column for Crash.net, Bradley Smith looks back on the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno…

I thought here we go again when more by luck than judgement I somehow managed to get my feet back on the footrests after a 'worrying moment' at the end of the first lap in Brno. Please not three crashes in a row was my first thought as the engine just cut out with a huge misfire as I was cranked over in the final esses at the top of the hill. Somehow I managed to stay on but smashed the screen of the bike when I came back down onto the saddle and also lost my third place.

At first I though there was an engine problem but I think I must have just touched the gear lever with my foot which is so easy to do at Brno with so many quick changes of direction. That cut the engine which propelled me out of the seat. I immediately lost touch with the leaders and really had to fight my way back to fourth place and 13 very important points after those crashes in Donington and the Sachsenring.

I really enjoyed the race after that incident. I felt no pressure and was so relieved not to have crashed that I just my head down, behind that broken screen and got on with it. The fact I was able to pull away from the group by three and a half seconds to finish fourth and was lapping around the same pace as the leaders really did my confidence some good and set me up well for the next two races.

It's not been easy after the last two rounds with that niggling feeling constantly in the back of my mind about the two crashes and knowing that I must cross the finishing line in the Czech Republic. The weekend started brilliantly when I led the first practice session on Friday afternoon but I was disappointed that as hard as we tried, we could not improve on those Friday times although the bike was still very competitive. We were about a quarter of a second away from where we wanted to be but I think at least a third place was on the cards until the end of that first lap.

I retained third place in the championship although it was Nico Terol who moved into second after he rode really well to win the race. With Sergio Gadea finishing ninth he dropped to fourth just half a point behind me and It's going to be one hell of a battle for second place with just ten points separating Terol, myself, Gadea and Andrea Iannone who finished third on Sunday.

My team-mate Julian Simon is definitely the best rider in the class at the moment. He leads the championship by 54 .5 points and the way he hunted down the leaders on Sunday was very impressive. However, you never say never in grand prix motorcycle racing and with six rounds remaining anything could still happen. I've proved I can win grands prix and I aim to win at least a couple more before the end of the season

I love the next two rounds starting at the World famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway in American. Last year was the first time we'd raced there and they made us so very welcome. The only thing they could not organise was the weather with the tail end of a hurricane causing chaos on race day. I'd been taken right out of the race by Michael Ranseder on the first lap and was down in 27th place but fought back and was catching the leaders. I was up to eighth place when the race had to be red flagged because of the rain and wind. However, we did better than the 250 cc riders who gone all that way only for their race never to get started because of the conditions. Straight after Indianapolis we go to Misano in Italy which is where some of my mechanics live, making it a very special race for them

After those two races we have a three weekend break before the final part of the season in Portugal, Australia, Malaysia and Valencia in Spain. I started the ball rolling again in Brno and that must continue at the next two or I will not be very good company for my friends and family during that September break.

Bradley Smith