It's been rather a busy time for Foggy Petronas Racing rider Steve Martin in more way than one and here he explains all about it in his exclusive column for Crash.net.
Well I finally made it back to Adelaide after over a month of trying! I am happy to report that the sun is shining and the temperature is anywhere from the mid-twenties to mid-thirties – perfect to begin my road back to recovery after the turmoil of the last month … but more about that later. First I want to tell you about the final two rounds of the WSBK championship, although it seems like such a long time ago.
We seemed to be on a roll going into Imola after the results of the previous round in Lausitzring. We all knew that Imola would be a track where we might struggle as in past years it seemed to have been difficult to get a set up for the circuit. I have always liked Imola and was on a high after Lausitz so I was keen to see how my settings would work.
It was great that within a few laps my times were very competitive and during qualifying I even managed to get down to a 1:49 flat which was about three seconds a lap faster than FPR managed last year. When you can turn a circuit from one of the worst performing circuits in 2004 into one the team’s better performing circuits of 2005 it just goes to show the amount of development that has gone into the bike.
The race was one of those where you sit on the grid with a wet track and you have nightmares as to which tyres to use. As a rider, with the slightest amount of dampness, I instinctively wanted intermediates but I also know in conditions like that I am happy to let someone else make the final decision as it takes the pressure off me so I can just concentrate on racing. Carl said that he thought slicks would be the go so my team and I took the punt for slicks. The first few laps were really slippery but gradually it dried up and slicks were the perfect choice. In the final stages of the race I was really enjoying carving guys up in every turn to achieve our best result for the year so far.
