I'VE just arrived back home from Qatar with a super new Tissott watch, but I would willingly swap it for 25 World Championship points.

Of course, I'm still really bitterly disappointed about the problems we had when I was leading a Grand Prix for the very first time, but there are still so many positives to take from the complete weekend in Qatar.

Perhaps everything was just going too smoothly.

I'd led all practice and qualifying sessions - despite a couple of crashes when I was just twisting the throttle too early after setting the fastest laps. The crashes just reminded me to calm down.

Even the start of race day (or should I say night) was perfect when I was awarded the Tissott watch and helmet for taking pole position.

It was a great way to start race day and took my mind off what lay ahead.

Things started to go wrong during the warm-up session for the race when the bike seized and I had to run back to the pits to just get out on my second machine.

The team then had just one-and-a-half hours before the race started to swap engines from bike two to bike one and prepare everything for the race.

We finished in time and everything seemed fine, but as I prepared to go out for the sighting lap before the race, the bike would not start.

I thought I was going to have miss the lap which would have meant I would have had to start from the back of the grid instead of pole.

We kept calm and I was not fazed and when the bike started, I felt it was a real bonus to be able to start from pole after all the problems.

My start was very good and I was leading a race for the very first time and it all felt a bit surreal.

Usually in a 125cc Grand Prix it's very hectic in the pack, but here I was with an empty track in front of me with floodlights glaring down on the empty road ahead.

I had the whole track to myself and it was more like a Sunday night ride than Grand Prix, but unfortunately it did not last for long.

Suddenly the front end of the bike really shook.

Immediately I thought I'd made a mistake, but I looked down and saw the steering damper hanging off.

I knew any chances of winning had gone in that moment.

It took me a couple of laps to settle down and find my way. I'd never ridden a bike without a steering damper before, but I was determined to do my best and fight hard to the finish.

We'd been practicing and testing Qatar for 11 days and my job was to finish the race. I did just that, but in 16th place and out of the points.

I was still really hurting when my Polaris World teammate Mattia Pasini won the 250cc race - but I was the first into pit lane to congratulate him.

I knew how much it meant to him and the team, but I also knew we could have brought the team a double in the first race of the season.

It hurt me even more, but my day will come.

We will all be back in action at Jerez and although I may be on the back foot in the World Championship, we will not be doing anything different.

I've been fastest in the two practice sessions at Jerez this year and I've raced and tested at the track so many times.

The bike is really dialled in for the circuit and we just can't wait to carry on where we left off in the practice and qualifying session in Qatar.

There are still 16 Grand Prixs remaining and both me and the team will be putting all those negatives behind us and go into the race with some real positive thoughts about what we have already achieved together.

  • THE cracking picture on the back page of the Oxford Mail last week went down a storm - in Qatar!

Several people around the circuit were seen reading the paper to see what I had to say before the race.

Who says news doesn't travel!

I'll be back in a fortnight to keep you posted ahead of the second race of the season