Despite the lack of practice so far, all of the bikes have felt pretty good but, like other riders, I'm hoping for some good weather over the next couple of days to get some good laps and mileage under my belt and get closer to the speeds I need to be lapping at.

After not quite having the feel with the throttle connection that I wanted at the North West 200, we've switched back to Motec electronics on the Superbike, which is obviously what I run at BSB, and although I've only had two and a half laps on the Superbike, it feels good.

The hard part for people like myself is that it takes time to get up to the really fast speeds. Everyone thinks I've been coming here for ages but this is still only my fourth year and I can't do the fast laps straight out of the box, I have to gradually build up. Hutchy and Michael Dunlop have been coming here for years so they can bang in fast laps from the start. They have the experience to do that whereas I don't so it's more a case of doing it bit by bit.

I know where I'm going and know I can do the speeds, like when I did my 132mph lap last year, but I need time on the bike and laps around the course to get there. To go fast straightaway is difficult and it's all about building up the speed for me, which only comes with laps.

Everything we've done so far has been valuable though, even the other night when we only got to Ramsey. Those 20-odd miles are the most technical part of the circuit - the Mountain's more open and you can see everything - so require the most work on set-up. I think everyone would have found that evening worthwhile.

I think my fastest lap so far is 124-125mph in sketchy conditions so, all things considered, I'm not in a bad place. It's a busy schedule over the next few days but I'm looking forward to some decent weather and getting in plenty of laps tonight (Friday) and tomorrow before Sunday's first race.