The circuit at Brno in the Czech Republic has been good to the Alitalia Aprilia RSV 1000 machines in the past two years with my team-mate Max Biaggi getting the factory’s first win there two years ago and also winning at the track last year in the World Superbike series.

However, my past results at Brno had been mediocre with a retirement in race one last year and an eighth in race two.

On Saturday in bright sunshine my Aprilia was running really well, but a crash in the first session meant that I only had seconds to spare to get back to the garage, jump on my second RSV4, and complete one last, good lap to pass through to Superpole 2.

After coming through the second session with somewhat less drama, I qualified in seventh position, putting me on the second row of the grid for the race on Sunday, my best qualifying to date.

Biaggi was on pole with fellow Italian Marco Melandri (Yamaha) and series leader, Spain’s Carlos Checa, in third.

Race day was hot and the track temperature was already climbing into the mid-30s when the lights changed for the start of the first 20-lapper.

By the first corner I’d made a real mess of my start and got swamped by other riders around me, finding myself back in 12th.

However, two-thirds of the way through the race distance, I was up to eighth with fellow Brit Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) my next target.

It took a couple of laps to pass Tom and I managed to slip under him on one of the corners.

In the meantime, Biaggi and Melandri were constantly swapping for the lead and as the chequered flag dropped it was Melandri who just pipped Biaggi with Checa in third, while I ended up in seventh.

The start of the second race was a carbon-copy of race one as far as I was concerned. I again messed up my start and at the end of lap one I was holding 12th, having lost five positions.

Up front, Biaggi, Melandri and Checa were slugging it out. With eight laps remaining, I was holding 11th when the front end of my Aprilia let go in the bottom of the valley section corner and I slid into the gravel, putting me out of the race.

A cat-and-mouse game was being played out at the front with the lead chopping and changing between Melandri and Biaggi.

Max regained the lead two laps from home and took the chequered flag with Melandri second and Checa third.

In the championship race, Checa now leads with 293 points to Biaggi’s 263, with Melandri on 240.