It was a great weekend at Phillip Island.

We started off on the right foot in Free Practice, and just missed out on pole in qualifying.

In the Sprint, I got off to a decent start — in the opening corners I passed a couple of riders and found myself chasing Fernandez.
It wasn’t easy to stay with him — he was flying.
At my first attempt to overtake, I went a bit wide, but after a few laps I closed the gap and finally managed to pass him.
P1, my fourth Sprint podium in a row.
The feeling was great, and I knew I could have a strong race on Sunday — despite the two long lap penalties I had to serve.

During FP I practiced the long laps — they’re tricky, really tight, and I knew they’d cost me over two seconds per lap.
So the strategy was simple: get a great start, push hard in the first laps, and try to build a small gap to avoid getting swallowed by the pack.

I got a great launch.
I managed to serve the first long lap while still staying with the front group.
The second one dropped me back a bit, but I had the time — and the pace — to recover.

I climbed back to P4, which honestly felt like the best I could do.
But then I saw Alex Marquez ahead, less than two seconds away, clearly struggling.
I gave it everything, caught him, and passed him…

A podium that really tastes amazing.

I’m fired up for Malaysia now — and I just hope I can keep riding like this, because I’m honestly having an absolute blast.