Australian motorcycle racer Blake Leigh-Smith is gearing up for what could be the most important season in his racing career when he competes in the 2011 Spanish Moto2 championship.

The Australian 125cc GP champion of 2008/9 has packed his bags and headed to a new home base in Barcelona, the spiritual home of European motorcycle racing, where he will be aboard a BRP Racing 2011 FTR Moto2 bike.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for me, I’m so keen to get started with developing the bike and getting out there”  said the 21 year old Gold Coast based racer. “BRP Racing is owned by Ben Reid who I raced for in 2009 in Australia and we won the Australian title together so I am confident we can develop a great package to challenge for podiums. The Spanish Moto2 Championship is a perfect springboard into the world Moto2 championship, so I want to give it my all.”

With the series first round not far off, Blake flew to Barcelona over the weekend and he will shortly have four days of familiarising and testing aboard the new 600cc Honda powered Moto2 bike. Though racing in Australian Supersport in 2010, aboard a 600cc Suzuki machine, the transfer to Moto2 will take some adjusting, despite the similarities.

Says Blake: “For my career, heading back to a ‘proper’ GP bike is a big step forward. This is where I want to be! As far as riding the FTR bike is concerned, while I haven’t raced this bike yet, I imagine the Moto2 bike falls somewhere between a 125GP and a 600 SuperSport bike.”

For Blake Leigh-Smith, this is not a year of merely participating- he wants to be a factor. “My goals will change over time, but for round one I am aiming for a top 15 finish. Beyond that I want to be up the front battling for podiums and wins!”

Round one of the Spanish Championship (CEV) kicks off at the world famous Jerez circuit across the weekend of 15-17 April.

Fans and sponsors can follow Blake’s progress via his Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/BlakeLeighSmith Blake Leigh-Smith would like to thank supporters Maritimo Australia www.maritimo.com.au,  BRP Racing and ThomasrDotorg Media Services www.thomasr.org

Here’s a video I produced for Holden Racing to launch season 2011.
HRT TV Season 2011 Launch

Here are my pics from the Telstra 500- the final V8 Supercars event of 2010.

One of my more interesting and exciting work projects of 2010 has been Holden Racing Team TV. It’s evolved over the year from live streaming of the goings on during raceday to a more polished and formalised magazine style TV show.

I’m very pleased with the end product and given the time constraints, it’s kept me very busy on raceday. I’ve learnt a lot about tightening up on takes and retakes, getting quality b-roll and shooting for edits.

Here’s every episode: