After Misano, Austria came around quickly — and for once that was good news. After a mistake it’s essential to get back on the bike as soon as possible.

Friday wasn’t the best of Fridays. The pace wasn’t bad, but we weren’t close to the ones up front — Pedro, Jorge and Marc were riding on another level. It wasn’t an easy situation, but the work didn’t stop. I studied everyone, I tried to look at every detail — both in my riding and on the bike — not just from my brand teammates. My head was literally smoking. But it was necessary.

Saturday in the Sprint Pedro was dominating, three laps from the end he crashed and I found myself on the podium. Third. A lucky podium — I won’t deny it — but you still had to be there. And we were.

Sunday was a completely different story.

Strong start, good rhythm, and this time I earned the podium on the track. I was competitive until the last lap, I pushed like crazy, I tried to attack Jorge — and two laps from the end I made a mistake at Turn 1 that cost me the real chance to threaten him. A shame. But I stayed close to him, and that was really great.

I’m happy. It’s always a positive thing to do a weekend with two podiums. I need to keep the fight with Jorge and Marc alive until the end — and I will. It will definitely be tough, but it’s not over. Physically I’m still not at 100%, so I’m even more satisfied with how it went.

I want to sincerely thank the whole Aprilia team — they worked incredibly hard alongside me to find the rhythm over the course of the weekend.

We keep going. Always.