My second place at Le Mans felt almost as good as a win, writes Bradley Smith.

o When I finished on the podium at Jerez earlier in the season, I was not particularly happy - but this was very different for me and the team.

I was given a second chance after the first race was stopped because of the rain and I was determined not to spoil it.

I'd messed up the start in the first race, despite being on the front row.

The race was scheduled to run for 24 laps which is a long way and I knew I had both the pace and the time to catch the leading bunch.

I did catch that leading group, but I was having problems with the front brake and it was getting worse when the red flag came out to stop the race because of the rain.

Half of me was pleased and other half not because I'd worked so hard to catch the leaders, but was still down in ninth place.

The race was now going to be run over just five laps and I was happy in the break before we went back out on the circuit when the rain started to pour down rather than just drizzle.

It meant there were no worries about tyre choice and I could concentrate on the five laps.

In such a short space of time there was no room for any mistakes and I had to make a good start from the third row of the grid - with positions being decided by where you finished in the race that had been stopped.

I made a far better start than my attempts in the first race and after a couple of passes I took the lead, which came as a bit of a surprise.

It was not such a great surprise, however, when Mike Di Meglio went by. He's a French rider, who's good in the wet, and was cheered on by 75,000 loud French fans.

Part of me wanted to push really hard with my first Grand Prix victory so close.

The other part told me to make sure that I finished the race after the crashes in Portugal and China.

I pushed as hard as I could in the conditions and I stayed with him, but he made no mistakes.

My team know just how much I wanted to win, but also we all knew just how important it was to score 20 World Championship points and restore the confidence.

I'd been concentrating so hard that it was only on the last couple of bends and especially that double right-hander that brings you onto the start and finish straight, that I felt very tentative about keeping the bike upright.

I was mega-chuffed when I crossed the line and so were the team.

They had just been waiting for this moment and they never had any doubts it was going to happen.

It just took a little bit longer than any of us thought it would.

That's a third and second place this season and so there is only one way to go.

Last year I finished third at Le Mans, but then struggled at the next round in Italy.

It's not any easy race track, but I think it should suit my Aprilia.

I have real confidence in the bike and we sorted out a couple of problems in Le Mans.

Practice and qualifying went well apart from a silly crash in the warm-up on Sunday morning.

We have now reached the most important part of the season with four races in five weeks.

I moved up a couple of places in the Championship and I must continue that progress until the summer break after the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

The races have been hit and miss with the weather, so let's hope for plenty of sunshine when we reach Mugello in Italy in just over a week.

Between the races in France and Italy, I'm on route to the Pyrenees for some serious cycle training up and down the mountain roads.

My dad is driving me down there and is coming out with me and a friend on the tough uphill rides.

What he's not told many people is that he's following us on a scooter and is not relying on pedal-power. I've blown his cover.

Finally, a big thank you to everybody at The Living Room in the Castle Development in Oxford for giving me and the family a really nice meal before I left for Le Mans.

It obviously had the desired effect!