That second place at Le Mans felt almost as good as a win. When I finished on the podium at
Jerez earlier in the season I was not particularly happy but this second place was very different for me and the team.
I was given a second chance after the first race was stopped because of the rain and I was determined not to spoil it. I’d messed up the start in the first race despite starting from the front row. The race was scheduled to run for 24 laps which is a long way and I knew I had both the pace and the time to catch the leading bunch.
I did catch that leading group but I was having problems with the front brake and it was getting worse when the red flag came out to stop the race because of the rain. Half of me was pleased and half of me was not because I’d worked so hard to catch the leaders but was still down in ninth place.
The race was now going to be run over just five laps and I was happy in the break before we went back out on the circuit when the rain started to pour down rather than just drizzle. It meant there were no worries about tyre choice and I could concentrate on the five laps. In such a short space of time there was no room for any mistakes and I had to make a good start from the third row of the grid with grid positions being decided how you finished in the race that had been stopped.
I made a far better start than my attempts in the first race and after a couple of passes I took the lead which came as a bit of a surprise. It was not such a great surprise when Mike di Meglio went by. A French rider who’s good in the wet being cheered on by 75,000 loud French fans. Part of me wanted to push really hard with my first ever grand prix victory so close. The other part told me to make sure that I finished the race after the crashes in Portugal and China.
