My starts were better than at Phillip Island - I actually managed to move forward on the first lap! In race one I was second in a group of riders with Nieto holding me up in front. I knew if I could get past him I could lap quicker. I passed him on two occasions only to have him pass me back down the straight so I knew I had to pass him early in the lap and that if I didn't I would be swallowed up down the straight by the group behind. I saw that Nieto had a slight moment so I had another go, got past and I was surprised when the front let go as it wasn't that radical a move. I am not disappointed in the crash, as I wasn't about to just sit there and ride around.
In race two, after about seven laps, I had absolutely no grip from the rear. It felt like I was riding on a slick tyre in the wet, whist I believe everyone was having similar problems. The advantage with the Petronas is around the corners and being able to get on the gas early out of the corners. So the lack of grip really hurt, as we can't just stand the bike up out of the corners and nail the throttle down the straight like others.
Whilst not much good can be said about the weekend, as we didn't solve any of the issues we were having, there is no doubt to what they are. Looking to the future I know that I have a great team behind me who are absolutely working flat out, which makes me more determined to keep pushing for better race results which hopefully will reflect the effort being put in.
On our way back to Lugano we heard that there was a test at Monza so we decided to make a small detour and take a look at the teams testing and we also noticed a few extra motor homes in the paddock. It appears the Italian championship is going to have a few more entries this weekend, so it looks as though things are going to be hotting up for Monza!
