At that point, there was just under half of the race left. As I crossed the finish line, I was checking to see where the other riders were by looking up at the huge TV monitor they had up for the fans. I looked up to see Rossi just tipping into the right ‘kink’ before the Corkscrew. Four laps later, I looked up again at the TV and he was only just tipping into the Corkscrew, about 1.5secs closer to me. I felt pretty happy with that,
Valentino Rossi was hardly gaining on me, and I didn’t feel like I was at my maximum!
Over the next few laps, I was getting a bit more fatigued. My wrist was getting sore from the tendonitis, but I was coping okay and still doing low 1min 24s. After giving
myself a little bit of recovery by letting Casey past as he came to lap me, I tried to study him as best I could from a little distance back. I didn’t really see anything, but took note of a couple of his body positions which I think would make the bike easier to ride, especially for a tall guy like me.
In the next few laps, I put my head down again and made sure I was neat on the bike. I felt like I was doing low 1min 24s relatively easily, so I pushed harder and fully concentrated without thinking about what was going on behind me and who was about to lap me. On my 27th lap, I did a 1min 23.7secs, which was the fifth fastest lap that time around. I honestly think that, with a bit more strength, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to do those lap times lap in lap out. The 1min 23.7 came fairly happily and I didn’t feel like I was busting a gut to do it at all. It just shows what a difference makes with a good bike and good tyres.
