I'm up and running with 16 world championship points following that third place and podium finish at Jerez on Sunday. It was a great to be on a grand prix podium for only the second time in my career and a real honour for King Juan Carlos to shake my hand and congratulate me. I honestly didn't know he was the King at the time but soon realised when I saw him surrounded by bodyguards and all the top MotoGP people.

It was great to see him at the grand prix and not just sitting in a box but mingling in with everybody and shaking hands and talking to riders both on the grid and the podium. He is obviously a massive fan and his presence just completed that amazing atmosphere you only get in Jerez and perhaps Valencia at the end of the season. The official crowd over the three days was 243,000 and they make a lot of noise and really support the home riders. Because I've ridden for a Spanish team in grands prix they certainly know me but it was second placed Nicolas Terol they were supporting in the race. However there were plenty of Union Jacks and British fans urging me on and I believe plenty more are coming to the next race in Portugal.

I knew it was always going to be a struggle in the race despite starting from pole position for the second successive grand prix. We'd had problems with the rear tyre sliding and it was OK for one quick lap for the pole but 23 laps of the track was always going to be more difficult. I'm usually ok with the rear end of the bike sliding around but we also had problems with the front tyre and although I could sit comfortably behind the two leaders I kept running the bike wide when I tried to pass them. I could stay behind them all day long but my objective right from that first Schoolboy Motocross race has been to win but in the end I had to settle for third. Also the race winner Simone Corsi did not make a single mistake throughout the race.

During the race the sky clouded over and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees which might have caused the tyre problems but at the finish I was very happy with 16 points because it looks like the championship is wide open. Also it's the first time I've completed the race distance on the Aprilia and we are learning more and more all the time.

Normally it takes the first three races for everybody to sort themselves and the bikes out. After that you start to work out who are the real championship contenders and who to keep an eye out for. I pulled back seven points on the world championship leader and I'm 18 points down which is not so bad after the disappointment of Qatar. Twenty three riders have scored points in the opening two races which meant eight more, including myself, opened their account in Jerez. It's very open at the moment and you can't rule out the likes of world champion Gabor Talmacsi who's had a bad start with mechanical problems.

I added another nice Tissott watch to my collection which was presented to me in the pole setting press conference on Saturday night. In Qatar I was on my own to receive the watch because of the change of schedule for the night race but at Jerez it was back to normal. It was great to be sitting alongside Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Colin Edwards who had qualified on the front row for the MotoGP race and Colin as always was good to listen to.

My Mum, Dad and sister came to the presentation which was nice for them although the security people would not let them in at first. I've always told them they look a little bit dodgy.

I'm looking forward to the third round of the world championship at Estoril in Portugal in just under a couple of weeks time. I'm really doing my homework on the track because I struggled there last year. I will sit down with the team and work out how we can transfer our brilliant qualifying to the actual race. We will focus specifically on the race and we have a good feeling about the whole weekend coming up.

I was going to watch the British Superbikes at Brands Hatch this weekend but we have decided to stay at home and have a family weekend. On Sunday I'm going to compete in a five mile charity run at Blenheim Palace. Mum and Dad are also running but I'm bit worried about my Dad actually completing the full distance.

Bradley

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