Well my trip to Germany to race in the World Supersport Championship at the Nurburgring Circuit was a real eye opener. The most significant challenge I had was adapting to the Pirelli tyres as I race on Dunlop here in Australia. On the Thursday I got to ride a scooter around the the track to familiarise myself with it, huge track and very technical.

Wet and windy conditions in the leadup to practice on Friday morning made for varying track conditions that steepened my learning curve. My first practice was mainly to learn the track and the the bike and get comfortable with our setup. But with rain in the last part of the session I didn't get much done regarding setup. First qualifying was after lunch and although I got a few laps in I was still getting used to the Pirelli tyres and only managed 20th.

In the second free practice I was more confident on the bike and took four seconds off my first qualifying time. I was feeling a bit excited now as our setup was good and I had a good feel for the tyres.

Second qualifying looked like it might be wet but just before it was time to go out the sun came out and the track was dry. I started on a semi hard tyre and did five laps then changed to a softer tyre and did four laps, I came in again and they put on an even softer tyre for me to do another four laps. I got down to a 2.01.928 and that put me 19th on the grid. I would have liked to have been a bit closer to the front but maybe next time.

We made a small change to the front suspension for warmup on Sunday morning and I also did a couple of race starts, everything felt comfortable and there was only the race to go.

My first start was gold, I had moved up several positions and I was in 12th place when the race was red flagged due to a massive pileup on the first corner. On the restart I got off the line well. The leaders set a solid pace during the race and I was pleased to pick off a few positions. Racing against a field of unfamiliar riders was quite tough as I wasn't used to their individual riding styles and couldn't predict the moves they were making. The Nurburgring is unlike any other track I've raced on, the wide flowing corners are designed for high speeds and there were some tricky corners. I learnt more and more about the circuit after each lap. I finished the race in 15th position with one point in the World Supersport Championship.

I was happy with my ride, it was tough as there was a lot to take in but I feel that I adapted to the Yamaha Spain R6 and the Pirelli tyres pretty well in such a short space of time. The Team set a basic brief to make it through the weekend with consistent improvements and no incidents, and I am happy to have achieved this.

I would like to thank everyone who has provided me with this opportunity, especially the YRT team members who travelled with me to Germany and the following valuable Sponsors who make my local and International racing aspirations possible.

Yamaha Motor Australia: www.yamaha-motor.com.au

RIAA (Risk & Investment Advisors Australia): www.riaa.net.au

Swings and Roundabouts Winery: www.swings.com.au

OzQuest HOmeloans: www.ozquesthomeloans.com.au

AXO Leathers: www.ficeda.com.au

OGK Helmets: www.motonational.com.au

RaceArt: www.raceart.com.au