EVERYTHING in Holland went very well last weekend in the latest round of the Moto3 World Championship and we certainly made a step forward by finishing in eighth place, writes Danny Kent.

I was only in Holland for a few days, but Assen is one of my favourite tracks so I always look forward to competing there.

Assen is always a really busy event as it attracts a lot of bikers from Germany and England, so it’s always comforting to see people waving English banners in the crowd.

We can certainly improve again from eighth position, but overall it was really good for my confidence as we’ve been struggling a little this year and the Red Bull team really needed a strong result.

I was in fourth place at one stage but there were eight people fighting for the same position so you can imagine there was lots of competition on and off the track trying to make the podium.

Going into the last corner there were a few of us touching elbows– it was very snug race! Unfortunately, I went into another rider, so a few others passed me which was a shame.

Looking ahead my next race is in Germany on July 13, so I’ve got a week off which is nice. Over the next few days I will be working with my trainer and I’ll also meet up with Jordan Weaving for a game of squash.

Jordan is competing successfully in the British Motostar Championship (Moto3 class) and had a win in Scotland at the weekend.

Over the course of the next week, I’ll also dedicate a bit of time to prepare mentally for my next race.

As part of my prep, I like to browse the track on the website, see what lap times other racers have completed. I like to look at the course and become familiar with it as best as I can.

For me, it really gives me confidence knowing that I’ve got a visualisation of where I’m going and what the track looks like, so I can be in the best mental and physical shape as possible.