Coming into the TT I felt the Superstock and Lightweight races would give me my best chance of getting onto the podium so with both of them being on the same day, Wednesday was a big day for me.

I told myself that the first lap, especially the first part of the lap, was really important in the Superstock race as it sometimes takes me the full lap to get into the race so I had a real big go as soon as I left the line. It definitely worked as I was leading the race at Glen Helen but I was already experiencing bad arm pump, something that I've never reakky had before. My hands felt like rubber and I could hardly feel the throttle or brake so it was a real struggle after that.

I was too tense and not relaxed enough and the more you think about these things, the worse they get. I couldn't hold the bike flat out along the Sulby Straight and I was getting slower and slower so I was really upset with myself. The bike felt really good and was flying so it was my own fault. We lost a few seconds at the pit stop, about four I think, when the wheel nut picked up on the thread and took longer than normal to tighten up but the last two laps were a lot better.

The arm pump went and I got quicker but I know I could have done better. I should have been third so it was down to me not being relaxed enough so I guess I made a bit of a mess of things. It was very windy out there and the problem was that you just couldn't tell where it was going to be windy and where it wasn't, which was the dangerous bit.

I had a good rest before the Lightweight race and got going from the start. Martin Jessopp's bike is a missile so having him start ten seconds in front of me gave me a good marker and I knew I needed to catch him up as soon as possible. It took me a lap to catch him and we passed each other a few times on the second lap but at the pit stop the fuel took an age to go in so I lost everything I'd gained and had to do it all over again.

He was in and out of the pits before we'd even finished filling up and coming out of Quarter Bridge, he was already peeling into Braddan Bridge so I knew I had the ten seconds to make up again. I knew he'd be on it and it took me another lap to catch him again. It was a lot of fun on the last lap but I started to hear noises and the revs were dropping but thankfully it was all in my head and the Paton never missed a beat.

To get a Twin round at more than 120mph takes some doing, especially in the windy conditions as the little bikes obviously get pushed around a bit more. It felt great to win again, especially on a petrol bike as it was 19 years since I last did that and everything was in black and white then! So far, I've had a first, fourth and sixth so anything in the Senior will be a bonus.