Ding ding, round 1!!!!

Well, lets start this blog by being totally honest, today (race day) was never going to be two race wins starting from 18th on the grid was it.....

Taking a step back to friday though was a different matter, testing down here had gone fantastically well despite losing the last two and a half hours of monday due to bike problems but anyway i felt we were in great shape for the upcoming races. Fridays morning session past without any dramas and for provisional qualifying things were going great, i was P4 so provisional front row but in the last 4 minutes i hit the track to test another rear tyre which should've easily allowed me to improve, the tyre immediately had a bit of chatter but i figured i only had enough time for 1 if not two laps at the most so i thought it'l be fine for those so i pulled the pin, everything was ok until the fast left that builds up speed to the last left one of the most important corners on the circuit, i got on the gas and all was good but as i was lifting up the bike went sideways so violently that immediately i thought oh shit, this is really gonna hurt, mark my words, it did!!!!!

Saturday was a complete disaster, i felt real sore and stiff riding but anyway i felt like i was going real good, that was where the problem was though, i felt about 3 seconds a lap faster but was actually about 2 seconds a lap off my normal race times, bear in mind that my test time was a 1.31.6 on a race tyre yet pole position was a 1.31.2 and that will give you an idea of the kind of pace i had!!!! I actually got knocked out in the 1st superpole having used a qualifying tyre which i was actually 2 10ths slower on than a race tyre and my best time was a 1.32.8, totally crap but like i said that felt like a 1.27!!! I was really struggling to comprehend how fast i'd been and how confident i'd felt before the crash only to find myself wobbling around like i needed L plates!!!!!

Today as i said just didn't go my way at all, in the first race knowing that i'd started from so far back i was a little over keen to make up positions and paid the price by running straight on at the hairpin, i eventually got back on track and got a pretty good rhythm going to catch Neukirchner and Sykes but i eventually finished 14th which i put my hands up for, i was too keen in the early laps and paid the price but roll on race two i thought, totally different mind set, Shakey's back, let's have it!!!

The second race was a little bit more settled, i got a tiny bit held up in the first few laps but eventually i got going ok and was running in 10th, the Johnny Rea came past down the straight and i thought right, there's my target, i could see up front we were catching Crutchlow, Toseland and Corser and i thought ok we started 18th, they started front row, if we catch them for this weekend i'll be happy enough with that, in the end we caught them ok but when we did johnny immediately passed Cal and i got stuck, right i thought, just be patient, there's a good top 10 finish here, with about 2 or 3 laps to go Max Biaggi passed me and i was like b*****ks, that wasn't meant to happen, anyway the four of us got in a right battle but unfortunately i just didn't have the speed to pass Cal, i was more than confident in myself and my rhythm but the problem was i got sucked into their rhythm and that's where it went wrong, Leon Camier passed me and i thought i don't believe this, fortunately i managed to pass him back at turn two but then he flew back passed again towards the end of the lap, i crossed the line P12 which i'm not at all happy about but at the end of the day i think we're back on it, fully, i'm happy with my riding just disappointed with my positions, i ended up battling with guys that will win races this year and i truly believe i'm one of them again now, it could be worse, last year i never finished a single race!!!!

I'd like to say a massive thank you and sorry to my team, i crashed twice this weekend, one massive and one small one this morning, the boys did a good job, i gave them 110% and that's all they ever ask for, they know we will be strong, our time will come, i'm absolutely delighted for Carlos, Genesio (the team owner) and Carlos's side of the garage for his amazing win, he told me after that it was the best race of his life where his bike and everything around him was perfect, like i said i'm made up for them all, i hope that at the next races it's me giving everyone something to cheer about, fingers crossed and full gas, ciao, Shakey #67

An action shot over the top of Lukey heights

Exiting Siberia full gas!!!!