AFTER two rounds I am really happy for the team and we proved that all our efforts in the closed season were not in vain with Eugene grabbing a solid 5th place in Australia and then that fantastic victory in Qatar. As another bonus for our team we were the first team to win a race with the new 2009 CBR600RR Honda which is an honour for my boys.

I can’t help but mention the people who commented in a negative way when I said in advance of the season that Eugene was a real championship contender and some people also gave Eugene some stick when he said he had a great chance of a win in Qatar. To those who felt the need to drop to the level of cheap insults on some of the forums I wonder what uninformed ignorant negative comment they can come up with now! That said there were more comments of support and to those people we all say thank you and believe me we are all going forward 100 per cent to try and repeat that win as many times as possible this year.

As for the accusations from another Honda team that Parkalgar Honda and Ten Kate were using illegal vacuum pumps at Qatar, I am astounded that the media gives these rumours any credibility. Our bikes were stripped and checked for these items post race at Qatar and passed with flying colours. I really think the team in question should spend more time concentrating on its own performance and professionalism rather than trying to stir up trouble. It’s simply sour grapes.

All joking and jibes aside I know it will be tough for us to lift the title this year as any World title should be, but I can only see four riders in with a shout as I said before we turned a wheel. The two Ten Kate riders Pitt and Sofuoglu will be there and my old friend Cal Crutchlow. For me Pitt will still be the man hardest to beat over the whole season.

Cal has ridden 100 per cent in the first two rounds but I still firmly believe the Honda is the better package and as Parkes did last year there will be tracks where the Yamaha struggles a bit. Sofuoglu certainly did not seem to like the pressure the two young Brits put on him in Qatar and from my point of view long may that continue and let’s see some more mistakes from him when under pressure.

We have not tested between Qatar and the Valencia round this weekend preferring instead to concentrate on fine tuning our bikes as I am sure the opposition will be flat out working on their machine performance after our bike showed so well in the opening rounds. We think we have found a little more so let’s look forward to another great race this weekend.

Miguel crashed out in spectacular (and expensive) style in Phillip Island and again with two spills in the space of 11 minutes in qualifying at Qatar. He settled down in the race though equalling his best result with 12^th place. He beat some good riders and with the depth of field this year it certainly is harder to finish as high as 12^th now. He goes to Valencia with a realistic chance of getting into the top 10 and if we can achieve this I will be as happy for him and his crew as we were for Eugene and his side of the garage in Qatar.

It is always a full team effort in our little squad though and every member played his part in the Qatar victory and we all do in our efforts to get Miguel into the top 10.

That’s it for now here’s to more great racing this weekend including the arrival of John Hopkins in the Stiggy team - that should be interesting stuff.

Cheers

Simon