After the summer break it was back to work for me last weekend as we started the final part of the season at the German circuit of the Nurburgring.

This was where I fell and broke my wrist last year, which ultimately put paid to my season, so it was a question of learning the circuit again.

With perfect weather conditions and my Alitalia-sponsored Aprilia RSV1000 feeling good, we made it into Superpole Two.

But I was just pushed out to start the race in 13th position on the fourth row of the grid, whilst series leader Carlos Checa (Altea Ducati) got the number one slot, followed by Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) and my team-mate Max Biaggi slotted into third.

On race day my team-mate Biaggi was ruled out whilst battling in the Superpole with a suspected cracked bone in his foot after being struck by a piece of loose debris on Friday.

With the first 20-lapper under way, I got away without being baulked by other riders around me and I was determined to get up as high as possible to claim some points.

I made my way up to 10th in the early laps, then passed three riders in one lap to get to seventh.

On lap 12 there were six riders heading into the first corner, including myself, all vying for sixth position, and as we emerged I picked my way through to come out in front.

As I went on to chase after fifth, Leon Haslam on his BMW closed in and after two laps I was unable to withstand the challenge.

I lost out on the last bend of the very last lap to Lascorz, relegating me to eighth as we crossed the line.

Series leader Checa roared to an emphatic 11th win of the season to surge even further away from his closest World Superbike rival in race one, Marco Melandri.

Just before race two, it started to rain and the start was delayed.

As the lights finally went out for the start and we headed for the first downhill corner, I thought I’d play safe rather than go all-out for an improved position.

Initially, Nori Haga on the satellite Aprilia, took the lead with Jonathan Rea (Honda) chasing hard and by the end of the first lap I managed to get up to eighth, but the spray wasn’t helping vision.

With four laps gone I had got up to fifth, but the rain was a problem as certain parts of the track were not draining well, making it scary to lean the bike over.

Meanwhile, up front, Haga had pulled out a three-second lead over Tom Sykes (Kawasaki).

By half-race distance I was 12 seconds behind Rea (Honda), but the gap was too much in the atrocious conditions, so I settled down into a rhythm to try and get some valuable points.

With eight laps remaining and the rain teaming down, my Aprilia lost grip and I slid off. Race over!

One lap later, race leader Haga also joined me at the same bend, as he slid off, it was a disaster.

At two-thirds race distance, the race was stopped, with Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes in the lead. Sylvan Guintoli (Ducati) and Jacob Smurz (Ducati) were second and third and series leader Checa eighth.

Personally, I thought they should have stopped the race earlier given the track conditions. But let’s look forward to the next round and better weather.

Current points table: 1 C. Checa (Ducati) 376 points; 2: M. Melandri 302; 3: Max Biaggi 281.

The next round is in Imola, Italy, in two weeks’ time. To learn more, log on to www.leon-camier.net