I’m back in the lead of the championship at last! It’s required four victories from five races and I’ll be giving it my all from here on in to make sure I stay at the top. Misano was scorching hot which was ideal for the holiday makers along the Adriatic Coast but not so much for us riders. A new challenger emerged in the form of Gino Rea who’s been improving all season and in Misano he looked set for a podium finish until Michele Pirro wiped him out. Ole Pirro is making a name for himself for all the wrong reasons, he managed to knock his teammate Sofuoglu off at their test in Imola last week as well.

I attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the first time last weekend and I was well impressed by the event. The weather was great too so it was cool just to hang out with the other riders without the pressures of racing. The craic was brilliant with everyone on a busman’s holiday bar Dougie Lampkin. I really felt for him as he was worked off his feet, everytime I seen him he was riding his Beta across some sort of obstacle! The highlight of my weekend was riding an RC45 Honda up the hill on Sunday morning. It felt so different to my CBR 600RR though, the seat felt really low to the floor and there was loads of room to move around.

I’m off to Brno now to defend my lead in the title race. This one’s going to go down to the wire between the three of us, many people thought I’d have it easy this year with Crutchlow gone but I knew that Sofuoglu and Lascorz would push me all the way. I’d love to go to either Moto2 or World Superbikes as the World Supersport Champion next year. I know that, with the right team, I am capable of winning in both categories so I will consider my options carefully over the coming month.

Last year I wasn’t ready to make the move as I felt I needed one more stable year to heal the wounds of two tough years in 250 Grands Prix. Now I feel I’m the complete package and ready to take on a new challenge, however this time I’m much less naive. I’ve learnt not to respect those who don’t respect me and not to take shit from anyone. In many ways I was brought up too well and I suffered for that when I first made the switch to Grands Prix racing.

Negotiations for next season are only just beginning for me but I’ll leave that up to my manager Ian Wheeler. My sole focus is on winning the World Supersport Championship, I’ve not taken much notice of anything else recently! Hopefully I can extend my lead in the championship this weekend as three points really isn’t much of a buffer.

Catch ya soon,

Eugene