Any time you get a win streak going, it's hard to come to the realization that it will end. Whether it was yesterday, next week or next year, it has to end some time, not that you want it to. The weekend was good for us. A win and a fourth is a solid result and we left Infineon with the same points lead as we went there with. The series is getting into full swing now and everybody is starting to settle in.

Saturday's race was fun at the start, dicing with Jake a little bit. Jake is riding good and I believe his presence in the Honda team has lifted the game of some of its other members. After we got to the lead, I tried to run consistent times and slowly pulled away. With about ten to go Miguel got into second and tried to make a charge towards the front. With all the traffic we were going through at the time the gap between us fluctuated by up to two seconds some laps. Actually my quickest lap of the race was a 1:37.9 and my slowest going through traffic was a 1:41.7. The lappers came in groups and could cost you a lot of time if you got them in the wrong place. Miguel got it to about -4.2 with five to go but by the checkered flag it stretched out to -6.7.

We had to be a little conservative going into the race and ran tires on both back and front that were not the ideal choice. I think the Honda boys ran the tires that we wanted to for outright lap time, but it cost Jake as the race wore on. Miguel's bike was obviously easier on tires than Jake's and was able to keep the pace pretty good.

Sundays two-part race didn't start real well and didn't end real well. I went backwards in a hurry in the first race and was lucky to get a red flag to try and sort a few gremlins out that weren't there in the morning warm up. The re-start was looking a little better and I was able to hang with Jake and Miguel for about ten laps until they started to inch away a few tenths at a time. I got about a four second gap back to Yates that was eaten up by a couple of run-ins with lapped riders and I ended up off the track.

I crossed the line in forth and took some valuable points towards the championship. The bottom line is, we just didn't get the job done on Sunday and congrats to Miguel for his win and for keeping the wins race alive.

Well, I have to say that the two pre-season favorites haven't lived up to everybody's expectations and are floundering around a long way off the pace. We heard some talk in the off-season about "now he's on the best bike" and "now that he doesn't have the best bike" and stuff like that. Judging from the three guys who are in a championship battle, all that talk was meaningless. I think it shows that winning races is not easy and winning championships comes from hard work and being focused, not telling everybody what you are going to do. I look forward to the rest of the season because there are a couple guys out there who have stepped it up and have decided they want to win.

Also, congrats to Speed channel for putting five hours of racing together on Sunday. I think the format is great. The only problem is, I'm racing, so I can't sit at home eating pizza and watch it. Also, Greg White for finding out what's happening on the inside, and informing the viewers. I've seen the first race on TV and have to say: Will somebody employ Jason Pridmore for his commentary skills?

Well, Barber is next in a fortnight. We are expecting stiff competition and will have to lift our game. I know my team and I know what they are capable of so I'm looking forward to it. I'll check back in after Barber, until then ride smart and stay safe.

Cheers
Mat