Last weekend’s fourth round of the Qatar SuperBikes Championships threw up a number of interesting sub-plots, but more importantly we achieved a result that underlines the hard work ethic of the team.
It’s not easy starting at the back of the grid for any race, but in those situations, you have two options: you can sink or swim. It can be intimidating too with 37 other people on the track around you, causing a lot of congestion. I pushed as hard and fast as I could and managed to finish 17th, third overall in the 600cc.
I still don’t understand what happened with the crash in the qualifiers that caused me to end up at the back of the grid for the main race. I intend looking at the data soon to fully determine what happened, but my front tyre blew on the second last lap of the race.
There was a nine second gap between my third place position and the man behind me in fourth place coming into the last lap. I probably took it too easy but I was very close to one of the 1000cc competitors, and when he slowed down coming into a corner, I broke heavily and crashed on the hairline. I lost third place because of it, but I’m learning and improving constantly so this is important.
Despite the small crash were still leading the championship in Qatar, which is a huge feat for us, considering it’s our first year competing at that level. Another positive to take from the weekend is that we clocked our quickest ever time – shaving almost one second off our previous personal best.
Looking ahead to the UAE Superbikes Championship this weekend, the track condition is slightly unfavourable due to the huge amount of rain on Monday. It’s slippy and there are a number of patches due to the residue. However, it did improve over the course of Thursday when I took the bike around the track. I wasn’t concentrating on speed due to the danger, but we tried a few things with breaks and gearing for thparticular track lay-out.
When we step out on to the track on Friday afternoon, we need to confirm a few things in the warm-up and hopefully track conditions are better as the day progresses. Abdul Aziz as usual will be quick. My friend Vladimir Ivanov is racing for Yahama. With someone of Vlad’s racing experience, it will be tough but I'm looking forward to seeing what we have to do to compete at that level.
This UAE track is technical and not as quick as Qatar. Were gaining a lot of experience from racing in Qatar and this is continuing to make us better. I want to be faster this weekend than my previous lap times on this track. If the track is not good, it will be difficult to reduce my lap times.
We always come to the UAE with aspirations of fighting for first place. Despite the crashes over the last few weeks, I’m feeling strong mentally. I want to show everyone how capable the team is of winning. Regardless of whom we race against, we are still as quick as anyone else. It's all about how we perform and adjust on the day.
Before we embark on the latest round of the UAE Superbikes Championships, I want to thank all my sponsors for staying with me. We are showing everyone what were capable us over the last few rounds in Qatar and Dubai. It’s been difficult logistically competing in both championships. I hope I can win this weekend and dedicate the win to all the people who’ve helped me.
