First place on the grid in Oschersleben - my first ever Touring Car pole! I have to say my lap was very good. Gabriele Tarquini had just pipped me for pole on his last run, so I knew I needed a pretty good lap to get in back - and it was fantastic.

We've always struggled slightly with the pace of the Chevrolet in qualifying in Oschersleben. The race pace has always been pretty good. But as the World Touring Cars is such a competitive championship, a lot of your weekend is down to qualifying.

I was the last car to cross the line in qualifying. That was a case of all or nothing. We knew we had second place. My championship fight is pretty much over; we've only got half the points of the leaders. I'm now very much going for the wins and the pole positions. I was using every bit of tarmac that was available. The car worked well, the track seemed to be getting grippier and grippier. And I managed a pretty special lap.

The main difference as to why we were better in qualifying than in the past is that we did a couple of days testing here. We did four days altogether; Alain Menu and Nicola Larini came once, I came for two days.

We really got the car nailed to the circuit. That was something we've always struggled with before.

It's just the stability of the car we managed to improve. It sounds simple but it is so very important. Going into the corner, we had always struggled with a lot of oversteer here. We seemed to have cured that.

In addition to that, we always seemed to have struggled with a lot of understeer coming out of the corners; we could just never find a good balance for the new tyres in qualifying. This is something I worked on very hard on Saturday morning with my engineer Duncan. We came here with the set-up I finished my test with and made a few minor tweaks, because obviously the track conditions had changed. There was less grip now than when we came in the winter.

We just got the balance right: The car was very good both going into the corner and on the exit. The combination of the grip that we've found on the entry, mid-corner and at the exit has transformed the car.

Our race pace has always been good but qualifying is a major, major part of the weekend now. To have the chance on a good weekend, you certainly have to be in the top eight.

We did a great job today and it really was a special lap; my first pole as a touring car driver.

Oschersleben Race 1

That was like an explosion off the start. I've always been under the impression that the rules state: The pole man controls the pace, and everybody behind him has to follow him. But that wasn't the case. I was already behind Gabriele Tarquini when we crossed the line.

Something needs to looked at there. It's a strange rule. Effectively, I didn't have pole position - Gabriele had it. It's always difficult anyway against the Diesels; I don't think you can win against them at a rolling start.

I had selected 72 kph in first gear. It was a good start by me. The difficulty with the way the rules are here is: As soon the the lights go out, you can overtake. It causes carnage because it means people jump the start. The stewards aren't looking exactly at people who are jumping the start.

For Augusto Farfus to come from fifth straight to first, you have to question exactly what's going on. I had a 30-yard headstart and he still came right past me.

I think the only way to it is like at a safety car restart, where you can't overtake until you get to the line.

Going into the first corner, Nicola had been hit and was out of control. He hit me, and that then pushed me into Gabriele.

He probably thought that I just rammed him for the sake of it. So coming out of turn 2, he just drove over the curb and launched his car right into the passenger side of mine. There is a very big Seat-like hole in the side to prove it.

After that, I just got past him as quickly as possible. As soon as Augusto Farfus was in the lead coming out of the first corner, I knew there was no way we were going to catch him.

He drove a great pace. Oschersleben is very much a BMW circuit, especially with the temperatures we had - it was quite warm.

After Tarquini had hit me, the car wasn't as good as it had been in qualifying anymore. We had a lot of understeer. Whether that's down to a bent car or to track temperature I'm not sure.

Luckily I had enough in it to pull away from Alain Menu. With four laps to go, my engineer came on the radio, told me about my gaps to Augusto and Alain respectively and asked me to look after my tyres. I didn't want the same thing to happen as in Brands Hatch so I just slowed right down.

The championship seems to swing around all the time. It's just like a yo-yo. If we had won Brands Hatch and would still have had another good race here, then I'd still definetly be in it.

But we will now be a lot heavier in Imola for the next round. The Diesel should have an advantage over us there with all the ups and downs on that circuit.

We play it a little low-key everywhere we go now and get quite surprised when we're on pole. We just have to suck it and see.

Oschersleben Race 2

I made a good start. Even though I got swamped by three BMWs. For a front-wheel driven car, my start was good. Everyone from Tom Coronel to me hit each other and wiped each other out. I just took advantage of the confusion in the same way that I lost out in race 1. What went 'round came round' today.

I scored good points for the board. It all helps. I closed the gap in the championship down to just 15 points. Another strong weekend, and we could be in the top 3.

The next couple of races are going to be difficult. They are all fast tracks. I will be on 70 kilos of success ballast. We have to see how the car reacts to that because we have driven such a heavy car before.

It's nice to be on 70 kilos because it means we have done very well. But at the same, I'd rather not.

It will be very difficult to score points. Seat will have lost some weight, albeit not a lot, as they are all on 60-odd points.

To keep going strong and fight for podiums remains my goal for the end of the season. I just drive for each result: let's get the points in the bag and not do anything silly. Keep the driving going strongly, score the points - and hopefully go to Macau still with a good chance in the championship.

Imola Preview I haven't been to Imola for a long while. I've only ever raced there once. With the Ayrton Senna shrine, Imola is a very special place. A beautiful place.

First time I went was 2005, and this is so far the only time I've ever raced there. It was a difficult track for Chevrolet when we were there in 05 - but in that particular year, every circuit was still difficult for Chevrolet.

With the ups and downs in Imola, the success ballast we're now carrying is going to hurt us a lot more than the Diesels. They have proved in Oschersleben qualifying with Gabriele Tarquini's second place that even with 70 kilos, they can still be very quick. In Imola, they are going to be extremely fast.

But I'm very much looking forward to go there. It's a beautiful place with a great atmosphere.

Monza Preview

Monza is an awesome circuit. I'd love to try it in a Formula One car. In a Touring Car, it always seems a little slow. You have a lot of time down the straights.

But it still is a very challenging circuit. Because the straights are so long, it's very difficult to keep focussed on the circuit itself. You spend such a long time on the straights so you have a long time to think about what you're going to do. But sometimes, we racing drivers just do things when we get there. We don't think about it too much because it's just a natural ability.

It's a very challenging circuit, especially when you have to do 15 laps around it in a race. It's also always very hot.

The track is very good for the spectators: A lot of slipstreaming, a lot of overtaking - and always a very hectic first corner.

Okayama Preview

Okayama is a brand new track for everybody in the World Touring Car Championship. It's a trip into the unknown really. Preparing for it is just a case of finding an onboard video of some other races somewhere on YouTube.

That will at least give you an idea where the track goes left or right and all the rest of it. Other than that, I will just have a good look at the circuit and walk it when we get there. We'll take a good look at the curbs and what the structure of the corners and the abrasiveness of the tarmac is.

That's how we try to come up with a good set up before we go out for the first practice.

I would also use computer games or Playstation. That is definitely a good way of learning the circuit. But I can't find Okayama on the Playstation. I'm not quite sure why - but it's not there.

Once you've walked it three or four times, you pretty much know where the circuit goes. And after you've driven it for four or five laps, you're pretty much there. After ten laps, you know roughly all you need to know about a new track.

Macau Preview

Macau is certainly the most entertaining circuit on the calendar. I hear there are rumours that this possibly might be the last year, which I'm very sad about. It's a fantastic place with fantastic people. It's a real experience going there. I'd be very sad if we're not going back there after this year.

It's a circuit that has always suited the Chevrolet very well. All three of us have already finished on the podium there: My team-mates Alain Menu and Nicola Larini as well as myself.

We are pretty much out of the championship hunt. We can now just focus on pole positions and race wins. Macau is certainly a place where any of us three Chevrolet drivers can achieve that.