BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Motorbikes | McWilliams wants change of luck

BBC Sport Online columnist Jeremy McWilliams reflects on a bitterly disappointing British MotoGP.

I must apologise to all the British fans who turned up at Donington at the weekend in the hope of seeing me achieve a good result.

All I can say is that my retirement after just six laps of the race was as disappointing for me as it was for you.

Things went fairly well in practice and qualifying but I developed a power valve problem after four laps of the race and the bike started losing power.

After trying the old and the new chassis earlier in the weekend, I chose to go with the new one for the race and I am convinced that was the right decision.

Poor start

We have got to try and work on it and develop it for the future although using grand prix races to do your testing is not ideal.

It definitely works for me and the advantages just about outweigh the disadvantages.

It is a bit slower to steer than the old chassis but the mid-corner grip is better and I will persevere with it for the next round at Sachsenring.

Valentino Rossi of Italy holds the trophy after winning the British Grand Prix at Donington Park
Rossi is dominating the championship

Qualifying went fairly well for me but I think I could have qualified on the front row if I had not got held up on the last two turns.

Nevertheless, I was pleased to be on the second row and the Bridgestone tyres were the best they had been all season.

If the tyres had lasted the race distance, I was confident of finishing in the top five.

I got off to a poor start in the race and was pretty annoyed with myself.

I managed to work my way up to eighth and was making good progress when I felt the engine losing power.

I continued cautiously for a while but the problem got worse and I was going to get run over.

Surely my luck must change at some stage

Jeremy McWilliams

I was getting in people's way, doing silly moves into the corners to repass them when they would just pass me again on the way out.

It was very frustrating and after a couple of laps, I decided to give it up.

To drop out so early in my home Grand Prix was absolutely gutting as the fans had turned up in big numbers and had helped me throughout the week.

I now have to try and put it behind me and concentrate on getting a good result at Sachsenring this weekend.

Surely my luck must change at some stage of the season.


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