Martin's landed: Chill out time.

Foggy Petronas Racing rider Steve Martin has had a tough run lately however he is determined to put that behind him for Brno. He has been chilling with girlfriend Sandi as he tells us in his exclusive Crash.net column.

I am a little late writing this column because for the last week I have left my computer and mobile phones at home and stole a Multistrada from Ducati.

Sandi and I have had a fantastic time riding the French, Italian and Swiss alpine passes with some friends. It has been something we have talked about doing since arriving in Europe but considering not even the Multistrada has the capacity for three persons, the impending arrival of our first child meant we finally got organised, with the fantastic help of Alpinestars who provided the latest and greatest touring gear for us both. Anyway I have got side-tracked.....now about the racing for the last month.

Silverstone was a meeting that I want to forget but still have a painful reminder when I put my shoes or boots on. I had two DNFs but not only that, I didn't make Superpole and had two massive crashes - destroying one bike and the other one won't win at Show and Shine any time soon! I guess I better not put those stats on my job resume.

At Silverstone it was all going really well in the first session but I highsided along with a number of others who crashed on a damp patch. It knocked the wind out of me for the rest of the weekend. I broke my little toe and stretched the ligaments in my groin. I didn't ride in the wet conditions on the Saturday as there was no hope of improving my qualifying position and was actually feeling better for it on Sunday morning before I had another highside in the warm-up session.

Race one was actually going ok until I was black flagged as the flag marshals saw smoke coming from my bike. It ended up being oil coming from the rear shock onto the exhaust and not the engine, which is unbelievable but true. Once again bad luck came into play in race two when a broken water pump steadily saw the engine temperature increasing until it got to the point that the bike was overheating, so I pulled into the pits just at the right moment to save the engine.

We went testing at Brno in June which was well worth it as it was my first time there last year and it was a track where we could do with improving our performance. I think it is still going to be a difficult one for the FP1 as it is one of those tracks where you just need torque - and lots of it. But it is very up and down with lots of turns so it is a great rider's track and I really enjoy riding it. I did quite a few laps testing different set ups and also engine modifications. The bike was ultra-reliable all test except for the first morning, which was a little problematic and I spent most of it on the sidelines. In the end I went something like three seconds a lap quicker than when we were there last year so I guess we made some decent progress. At the test I was still a bit injured so had to take it a bit easy, so I can't wait to get back there for the race to see where we are really at.

Going into Misano I hadn't finished a race since Valencia so was really keen to put some runs on the board. It was looking good all weekend as I was up there every session, finally qualifying on the front row for the third time this year.

I was up for a good result and nearly got it. I was ninth catching eighth with eight laps to go when the warning light on the dash came on to say that I had lost oil pressure, which meant I had to pit. Initially I was really hacked off but I got over it quick enough, as from my point of view there wasn't much else I could have done. Race two was playing on my mind, as five DNF's in a row doesn't give a rider a lot of confidence especially when you have to race keeping one eye on the dash looking out for potential warning lights.

Initially I was going really well and I felt like I was pushing hard but my lap times just kept dropping off. Other than the bike running hotter than in race one everything seemed okay. Everything in WSBK these days is so close that you can't afford a drop in consistency throughout the races. Even though I finished less than 12 seconds off the top ten it still wasn't good enough for any points. Never the less I finished the race and really hope that we can get some race consistency, although it's hard because we are continually pushing the limit of the bike and engine to try and get good results.

In a perfect world we would have a completely separate test team so that we weren't trying new things during the WSBK weekend. The alternative would be to just leave the engine in a tune that we know will finish the race, but as a racer that would be more soul destroying than the DNFs, as it would mean having no chance at all against the 1000 four cylinders. While we are still developing the bike it gives me motivation to keep pushing hard and having a go, so I guess this makes it easier to put up with the little problems we have had.

I must also at this stage say thanks to the FPR team and the engine development team for still pushing forward on a project which is winding up in only three months from now. It would be quite easy to start saving money but, fortunately for me, this is a team full of fighters who always give 110 percent. We know we are up against it but we are not giving in just yet. I am actually pumped up for Brno and we still have quite a few races to come this year where I hope we can perform a little more magic.

Steve