On The Record: Josh Herrin

I'm more beat up than I have been in the past four years of racing motorcycles. But I'm also doing a lot more riding—every other weekend—so it's going to happen.

At Qatar, I got taken out. In Texas, I crashed three times. I also crashed at Mugello—hit my head pretty hard. That definitely hurt. Sachsenring was the worst. That corner is fifth gear, wide open. My hand hurt really bad, and in the race, it went numb. That's why I had to come in; I couldn't feel what I was doing.

My results don't show it, but I'm pushing as hard as I can. I expected to struggle, but coming from 10 years of winning races, or at least being on the podium every weekend, it's hard to keep my head up and stay focused.

Nobody said it was going to be easy. I have to stay strong, take the little wins, never quit, and hopefully, it will get better. I have to remember why I'm here and how much money my dad spent to get me here.

My AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing teammate, Johann Zarco, and I share data, but we don't really talk much. I don't speak French, so I can't be mad if his English isn't the best.

Nothing I've ridden prepared me for these bikes. I'm happy I raced SuperBike and that I won the AMA championship, but I wish I would have gone straight from the 600 to Moto2. Josh Hayes is very good, and he's shown it overseas—seventh in a MotoGP race and top four in World Supersport—but there are a lot of them. In practice, I can come in 14th, sit down, take a drink of water, look back at the TV, and be in 20th. That's hard.

My goal has been top 20. When we have finished races, I've placed 22nd, 16th, and 18th. Finishes are what we want, but, at the same time, that's not what we want. I want to score points.

I'm having a hard time trusting the front tire on the brakes. I couldn't do that with the tires I was on the past couple of years. I get scared, so I release the brakes, run into the corner way too hot, and blow my exit.

I hope Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne get a chance to go overseas. For Gagne, I hope it happens while he's on a 600. Learning to ride a bike this size again has been one of the toughest things for me.

I hated Europe in the beginning—long flights, cities and hotels you don't know, a new team, a new series. But during the past couple of months, I've come to enjoy it. I miss certain things, but if you're with the right group of people, it's a lot of fun.

I've been thrown into the deep end, but I'm starting to adapt. It might be too late, but better late than never. Maybe we'll turn this season around.