I’m on a flight to the US for a vacation along with Pippa and I’ve spent the past few hours rearranging my helmet design for the season ahead. I’m sticking with the basic design but there’s a few alterations to be made as I was never 100% happy with last year’s design. Shortly I’ll lay back and watch a movie and by then we should have arrived at our destination. It’s a hard life.

I really enjoyed the festive season having spent Christmas at Pippa’s parents’ home in England before returning to Northern Ireland to see out 2011. Whilst I was in England I went trials riding every other day with Pippa’s step-brother Lee. The trials facility at North East Karting is excellent and it’s got me thinking about adding a few tractor tyres and skips to the garden so that I have my very own trials arena! I’m not sure Pippa or the neighbours would be so keen on it though. Trials riding is my favourite off-road pastime because of how much your body position affects the handling. I’m a guy who thrives on repetition (my job is to go round in circles continuously) so I’m happy to attack the same obstacle a couple hundred times before moving on to another. It is bordering on the definition of insanity but hey, we’re all not so far away from there.

I also took in a cross-country MX race the other day but that didn’t work out so well. I’d competed in the event twice before, once on an MX bike and the other time on an enduro bike. Both times I’d enjoyed myself even though the ground had been frozen solid with frost. This time around I was riding a motocross bike and the temperature was slightly above zero which caused big issues for my machine. Mud just gathered on the tyres and on some parts of the course it felt like I was riding on slick tyres! It was pretty dangerous so I had to tiptoe my way around. I snuck out on my friend Barney’s enduro bike for two laps which was tons more fun and had the potential to lap a minute faster over a two mile course. Nevertheless the craic was good in the pit area which is half the battle.

It’s been seven weeks since my last blog entry and in that time my sister Catherine got married. An Irish wedding party is always entertaining and this one was no exception. That’s three of the siblings married and settled down so the pressure is now mounting on us other three. I’ve got a world title to win before I even think about that sort of thing so for now it’s head down and blinkers on! I enjoyed another successful test aboard the Aprilia at the end of November and it was great to have all my crew around me for the first time. I’ve brought Marcus Eschenbacher and Phil Marron along with me to Aprilia and already the Noale guys have made us feel a part of the team. My next outing will be in Phillip Island where we have five days of testing planned before the race weekend even begins so I’m looking forward to working on the perfect lap of the circuit. Like I said, repetition is my thing!

May I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2012.

Eugene

The last round of the season in Portimao went smoothly enough, massive tankslapper aside. The bike got all crossed up in braking in race one and I was little more than a passenger as I aimed for the ever shrinking gap between my teammate Marco and Johnny Rea. The bike had whipped me so violently that my right hand had let go of the handlebar but luckily I found Marco just where I needed him as I used my right elbow on him to hoist myself back onto the bike otherwise I was going over the handlebars. It all happened so quickly that I can’t even spot myself doing that on the TV coverage! Unfortunately the huge moment bust the steering damper so I was forced to enter the pits for repairs. On my out lap I spotted the leaders rounding turn 10 at the top of the hill as I was exiting the final left handed turn on the circuit. It was heartbreaking to see the gap between myself and the race leader get bigger as the race dragged on and I was left thinking of what might have been.

Only Carlos and I had found the best race tyre during practice and I knew that we were going to show our cards in race one. The others switched to the same rear tyre as us for race two and so I found myself with a real fight on my hands. I pushed on at the front looking after my rear tyre ready for those final laps but unexpectedly it was my front tyre that gave up the ghost with just a handful of laps remaining. 2nd was the best I could manage which put me level on points with Biaggi overall in the standings. I lost out on 3rd in the championship on countback due to Max securing more 2nd place finishes over the course of the season (we both had two race wins each). I’m glad a lot of you seemed to enjoy my ‘elevator’ imitation during my post race interview. It all started over a joke with Matt Roberts and Toby Moody back at the ‘Fastest’ movie premiere and I said I’d do it if I won another race this season. I may not have won but I thought what the hell, it’s the final race of the year! I leave the 2011 season with fond memories of my superbike debut with Yamaha and working with a great bunch of guys.

As you all know I’ve signed to ride for Aprilia in 2012 and I got my first taste of the bike on Tuesday after the final round. I finished up quickest lapping at lap record pace so I guess you could say I was pleased with my day’s work. Back home I’ve been training long hours during the week and trials riding on weekends. My friend Tubman edited a cool video of us in action and it makes for entertaining viewing as always! Finesse is not a strong point of ours on trials bikes. Former world championship rider Rob Crawford and his buddy Russell Houston have been giving us lessons as well as getting wrapped up in our daft attempts at the impossible! The craic is incredible and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an Autumn afternoon.

It’s been a long day today as I woke up at 03.30 this morning to catch a flight from Dublin. I’m currently on the return leg of my journey but my flight was delayed the guts of an hour so it could be 02.00 before I get home. Some of you will think I’m crazy but a 23 hour day is worth it for two consecutive nights in my own bed! I attended the Milan Motorcycle Show today for the World Superbike organisers Infront and I was pretty impressed with the scale of the whole operation. It’s a huge show and it would take a week to get around everything!

I get another spin on the Aprilia at Portimao at the end of this month so I look forward to my first proper test on the bike with all my crew onboard. The weather is usually fairly hit and miss on the Algarve at this time of year so fingers crossed we get some dry tracktime.

Eugene

With one round of the season remaining I’ve moved up to 3rd in the championship just two points ahead of Max Biaggi. Unfortunately for Max he’s been out injured for a few rounds which has allowed me to reel him in. I expect him to make a return for the final round at Portimao this weekend in order to battle it out for the final spot on the championship rostrum. I’d be over the moon to finish top three in the championship with it being my rookie season but at the same time I won’t be too dejected if I lose out. The opportunity has been gifted to me as a result of Max’s injury so it’s up to me to prove my worth this weekend. On Tuesday I may get the chance to throw my leg over my new steed for 2012 but before that I’ll be needing to sign a contract. There’s a cool Alpinestars testing suit arriving on Monday without any team logos which is a really strange situation to be in! My focus right now though is on two solid podium finishes to round out the season in style. Of course I’d like to stand atop the rostrum again, however, Carlos Checa is proving a hard man to stop on the Ducati 1198! It’s been five months since Monza but it feels more like ten.

Magny Cours was a strong weekend for us. In race one I had big problems with the front right from the off. Even though it was folding I could still turn the bike with the full fuel load and the grip from the rear which allowed me to open up a substantial lead on the rest of the guys. By midway I was entering corners 15kph slower and doing my best to stay onboard. I had a few scary moments and by the time the group behind caught up I could do nothing as they blitzed under me on corner entry. It was unfortunate as all weekend our setting was working best in the cooler conditions of the early afternoon so we lost out on a realistic shot at victory. The temperature was up for race two and with it went our rear grip. I had no such problems with the front this time but I just didn’t have the rear traction to hang onto Carlos. My teammate Marco was really strong in the closing laps and he sneaked under me on the final lap. Nevertheless I achieved my fifth podium finish of the season so I was relatively content.

I attended the final round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend and it was the best day of racing I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing trackside. My brother Michael rode brilliantly to win the first BSB race on Saturday afternoon then on Sunday the racing was just something else in both supersport and superbike. Alastair Seeley and Ben Wilson diced for the title on track as did Tommy Hill and Hopper. Hollywood’s finest couldn’t have written the script any better! Stuart Higgs runs a fantastic series and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. After all he devised the new superpole format which both F1 and World Superbikes have since taken onboard. It was a superb end to the season and one that’ll be remembered for a long time.

There seems to be a ton of fans making the trip out to Portugal from both the UK and Ireland so you can be sure that I’ll be doing my best to give you all something to cheer for on Sunday afternoon. I’m looking forward to the battle with Max so let’s hope for some good close racing!

Wish me luck.

Eugene