I’ve never written a blog on my iPad before so here goes. Pippa and I are on our way back from the Goodwood Festival of Speed which we attended for the second consecutive year. I just rode a stock Yamaha R1 whereas Chaz Davies managed to blag himself an old 500 Yamaha previously raced by Kenny Roberts Senior! On Saturday night we had a black tie event so that gave the girlfriends something to get excited about. Goodwood know how to put on a good show and the entertainment after dinner was something special. The fireworks displays have been mind-blowing both times I’ve been there but I sure wouldn’t want to be footing the bill for it!

Looking back to Misano and Aragon I’m not extremely pleased with our results but again I’m learning new things about riding a superbike which adds stumbling blocks to our progress. My style is better suited to a bike with big power, however I’d never ridden one before this season and so I’m climbing over new hurdles week in week out. Think about it, on a 600cc or 250cc machine (especially the 250s I rode) the moment you exit a corner the throttle is to the stop until the next braking point. On a 1000cc bike the horsepower is too much for a two-wheeled machine so the thing is constantly trying to wheelie. If we had two extra wheels it would be a lot more simple! In Aragon we made a big breakthrough with our chassis setting which has massively helped our wheelie machine but I only wish we’d found that back at Round Two. Such is racing though, you never stop learning.

I’ve been out riding my YZ250F motocross bike a few times since Aragon with my friend Tubman. The track is quite new so the grassy sections really suit the big guy as he’s able to find traction where others can’t! I’m enjoying my riding and trying to learn a little from Mr Tubz who’s a pretty handy motocross rider. If you’ve read me calling it ’scrambling’ on Twitter you ought to know that I only do that to wind up the mud boys! I raced MX as a kid so it was cool to visit Desertmartin for a round of the British Motocross Championship and see a few of my old rivals in action. I’ve been watching Martin Barr for the past few seasons and I have big admiration for how he rides so it’s great to see him getting on so well.

The previous night I’d been in Dublin to appear on an RTE chatshow called ‘Saturday Night with Miriam’ alongside top Irish comedian PJ Gallagher. I’ve become good friends with PJ over the past few years and he’s mad keen on racing. He’s been circuit racing for a few years now and he’s all set to make the jump to road racing very soon. The show was good craic as PJ kept us entertained as always!

I’m home now for a few nights in my own bed before heading off to the Czech Republic for our next race in Brno. Just as I was before Monza I’m confident that we can be fighting for race wins at the next two rounds of Brno and Silverstone. I’m currently sitting 4th in the championship which I’m really pleased about but I still have a shot at the top three so I’ll keep on pushing and see where we end up.

Take it easy,

Eugene

Over the past few weeks I’ve learnt how to play blackjack, turned 25 years old, and moved up to 4th in the World Superbike Championship. Pippa and I flew to Las Vegas for a few days ahead of the race in Salt Lake City. I didn’t get involved in any gambling until we returned to Vegas after the race weekend along with Leon Haslam. We played blackjack into the wee hours and Leon’s experience shone through as he walked away more than 500 dollars up! The race weekend itself was pretty bizarre with the weather resembling Ireland. I hadn’t bothered packing a coat nor a beanie hat but I did have two pairs of flip flops in my suitcase. The weather had been fantastic when we raced there in ‘09 and ‘10 so I figured a jacket would take up unnecessary space in my suitcase but I was soon regretting that decision when the temperature was hovering a short way above freezing. The rain made Superpole really interesting but fortunately I managed to make it through to the final eight unscathed.

I started both races on the front row but in race one I completely screwed myself by missing a gear on the long run to turn one. On the exit of the first corner I found myself outside the top 10 with a lot of work to do but I managed to claw my way up to 2nd before my tyre went off at mid-distance. I was forced to settle for 5th position but race two faired better as I gained a place finishing in 4th. It may not have been a double win but I was pretty content with my day’s work.

My brother Michael’s season finally took a turn for the better as he landed his first victory of the season at Thruxton. I know he has the potential to win the title onboard the R1 so hopefully his season will now start to take shape. John on the other hand (no pun intended) missed Round Two after having his finger operated on. Things can only get better for John, he showed last year that he’s more than capable but he has his hands full with the temperamental BMW this season.

I enjoyed my birthday weekend at home with my family and a few friends. If you’re wondering what’s happening in the photograph Pippa bought a piñata, filled it with sweets and I battered the hell out of it! Very mature of us I know. We’ve arrived in Misano a day earlier than normal to enjoy a little sunshine by the sea but I’m not sure that Mother Nature got the memo. Thunderstorms are forecast so it could be an interesting few days!

Catch you soon,

Eugene

“It may be a bold statement but I feel that we’re now ready to fight for the win at Monza.” That’s what I said at the end of my last blog entry but even I wasn’t expecting to win BOTH races! It all started on Thursday night before we’d even turned a wheel…

I woke up on Friday morning absolutely devastated as I’d had the greatest dream. I’m not a creative thinker at all; in fact I’m quite the opposite and so my dreams often feel incredibly real. On Thursday night I dreamt that I’d achieved the double at Monza and as I was riding back to the pits on my in-lap of race two trying to take it all in, I woke up. I’d went through all the emotions in that dream so when I woke up and realised I was lying in bed in my motorhome I felt dejected. However, it would only be a few more sleeps before that dream became a reality!

All weekend we worked on our race pace so I’m not sure that the rest of the guys knew we were so strong until Superpole. We qualified 2nd but later we were dealt a major blow when Pirelli removed our preferred race tyre from the allocation on safety grounds. The last time we’d used the other option rear tyre was during the opening free practice session on Friday and a lot had changed since then! Thankfully Sunday morning warm-up was dry so we had a chance to try the other rear tyre again rather than going into the race blind. The bike felt really good so we were able to breath a huge sigh of relief.

I made an average start in race one and found myself in 4th position at turn one. Max was up ahead in 2nd so I knew I needed to get to the front quickly to stop him from getting away. I took the lead at the start of lap two and rode like the wind, re-passing Max every time he so much as showed me a wheel. After a while he began to make some mistakes which played into my hands but made my race incredibly tough. Max had a big straight-line speed advantage so he was able to close on me with relative ease but I managed to stay away and take my debut victory. I’d rode every lap like it was the last and it sure felt like it at the end of the race!

Race two got off to a lousy start as I got caught up in the turn one incident. I was almost forced to a standstill as I negotiated my way through the carnage and at the end of lap one I was down in 9th place. Around mid-distance I made a big error and overshot the second chicane which lost me a few places. At that point I told myself to settle for whatever points were coming my way otherwise I was going to end up in the gravel trap with a big fat ‘zero’ next to my name at the end of the race. Tentatively I began to work my way through the field again and before I knew it I was fighting with my teammate Marco for the race win! Max had it in the bag but he seemed to suffer a lapse in concentration and was penalised with a ride-through penalty. It felt like all my Christmases had come at once! I soon realised that winning the race wasn’t going to be an easy task though. I was quite a bit down on straight-line speed compared to Marco in race two so if I was going to win I would need to pass him at the last corner. I tucked in behind Marco on the exit of Ascari to get the slipstream which kept me close enough to attempt an overtake at Parabolica. Marco braked incredibly late but he missed his apex which allowed me to turn tight inside him and power my way to a double victory! It was great for the team to get a one-two finish at their home round and with the workshop only a stone’s throw away from the circuit everyone was there to celebrate with us.

As I rode round on the in-lap it felt incredibly surreal as at this point I’d forgotten about my dream. I had the ultimate feeling of deja-vu and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I remembered about the dream the next day. Don’t worry, if I dream about winning the lottery I’ll be sure to tell you the winning numbers! It was incredible weekend and one that I’ll remember vividly for a long time to come. Normally I don’t write an entire blog about a race weekend but this time I made an exception. I hope you enjoyed my account of how it all unfolded.

Catch you soon,

Eugene