Race one was actually going ok until I was black flagged as the flag marshals saw smoke coming from my bike. It ended up being oil coming from the rear shock onto the exhaust and not the engine, which is unbelievable but true. Once again bad luck came into play in race two when a broken water pump steadily saw the engine temperature increasing until it got to the point that the bike was overheating, so I pulled into the pits just at the right moment to save the engine.
We went testing at Brno in June which was well worth it as it was my first time there last year and it was a track where we could do with improving our performance. I think it is still going to be a difficult one for the FP1 as it is one of those tracks where you just need torque - and lots of it. But it is very up and down with lots of turns so it is a great rider’s track and I really enjoy riding it. I did quite a few laps testing different set ups and also engine modifications. The bike was ultra-reliable all test except for the first morning, which was a little problematic and I spent most of it on the sidelines. In the end I went something like three seconds a lap quicker than when we were there last year so I guess we made some decent progress. At the test I was still a bit injured so had to take it a bit easy, so I can’t wait to get back there for the race to see where we are really at.
Going into Misano I hadn’t finished a race since Valencia so was really keen to put some runs on the board. It was looking good all weekend as I was up there every session, finally qualifying on the front row for the third time this year.
