What a shocker of a weekend I had last time out at The Bend. We battled with a revolving door of technical issues in our four days at a brand-new new circuit and I have dropped back from second in the championship down to fourth, 47 points behind the leader.
But it’s not all bad news though, because the next round is at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway, and it’s where I took both race wins last season and started the roll of the dice that won me the championship.
It would be really easy to sit here and get depressed and become concerned about this season but, putting it into perspective, I am experiencing what every racer – whether a junior in a club event or a factory-backed MotoGP rider – goes through. You can’t expect to win every weekend but of course we all do. That’s why we go racing.
How we handle the defeats is the key to turning around results. I know all about the highs and lows of racing; I’ve done it here in Australia, in the UK, in Japan and in Asia. I won my first national title when I was six years old. In 2000, aged 13, I was the youngest rider ever to stand on the Shah Alam podium after getting third in the Malaysian round of the Underbone 110cc Asian Championship. Speaking of which, if you witnessed any of the racing at The Bend, you would have been impressed with these little bikes. Engineers have trebled their horsepower and they hit over 150km/h on the straights with Moto3 tyres – awesome. In 2003 I was third in the 125cc race on the streets of Macau. I won the first of my three Australian titles in my rookie Superbike year. Along the way there have been plenty of lows.
So now let’s look at the reality of my situation. Up until we got to Tailem Bend, I’d been on the podium at each round, and that’s the momentum needed to win a championship. Sure, I’ve taken a few steps back but I’m in a better situation than this time last year. My season changed in the course of one meeting in 2017, so I know that I have the potential to get back on top again.
This is one really tough championship, with the leading riders all hugely experienced and on the very best machinery. But most of them have had technical issues of their own to overcome this season, including two of the riders who finished on the podium at The Bend.
I have some special people in my team. My relationship with technician Phil Tainton goes back to my early Supersport days over 10 years ago. My brother Brodie is handy to have around, too, he’s been there and done that in both roadracing and speedway, so he knows what I’m going through.
In many ways, my association with Suzuki and Phil is the backbone of my career which has resulted in three Australian Superbike titles.
Then there is team owner Dale Brede, who got Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia together last year after just one phone call. That’s enthusiasm for you. Add all of this up, and you can see that there is a winning potential, but what puts it all into place is the attitude of the rider.
Like I said before, racers at every level go through what I am experiencing. At the start of one of the three races at The Bend, I was so wound up that I couldn’t speak to the commentator. I channelled those emotions into a strong performance that was only brought undone by technical issues.
So to stay strong, I have to focus on the positives. And that’s what every racer has to do, starting when you’re a juniors at your local dirt track.
Juniors are the future of our sport and if they can handle defeats along the way to title wins, they will be strong enough to be our next world champions.
See you all in Darwin.
