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Sportsmen behaving badly

Craig is happy after a pretty solid weekend at the Australian Grand Prix coming in third overall.

Hamilton probably thought it was just a bit of fun, but that's no way to conduct yourself in public. Hopefully he's learnt a valuable lesson that he's not above the law. The same goes with Alfie. In no way can I condone drink driving. As for his dancing frolics, from what I can understand he's had a good night and just been unlucky that someone recorded it. But sports people have to understand that they are in the public eye 24/7.

I never put myself in any position that can be portrayed differently, but I have been very lucky to have have my wife, Nat, by my side to keep my feet on the ground plus strong friends and associates around who have kept me under control.

My teammate Jamie copped a $3000 suspended fine for speeding on his warm-down lap after his Top 10 Shootout at the Melbourne Grand Prix. It's hardly in the same league as the other two incidents, but we take our public behaviour so seriously, Jamie was straight around to apologise to the marshals, so you can guarantee he won't do anything like that again.

I had a pretty solid weekend with three top 10 finishes and third overall. We had a sensational GP in 2009, but this year we had to fight all the way. We had good pace and balance on Friday, but we experimented for Saturday's race and unfortunately miscalculated the grip level after the F1 qualifying session.

For the Sunday race, my race engineer Jeromy (Moore) and I had some good luck and came up with the right set-up. We also had a bit of good luck on the track with others in front of us running into troubles.

Even though it's not a championship weekend, we take the GP seriously. However, it also gives us the opportunity to try a few things we normally wouldn't on a championship weekend. In the end, I think we came away with a far better understanding of how our car works. It was a significant step forward.

Hopefully the engine problems that forced Jamie out aren't a step backwards. It was disappointing for him as he was in the running for a podium for the weekend. I still don't know what the issue was that made his car drop a cylinder, but we will make sure it doesn't happen again or to my car.

Before we head to New Zealand next week for the next round I've packed the caravan and am heading off with Nat and the kids to Southwest Rocks. It's an area we came across on a return trip from Bathurst two years ago and we fell in love with the area. We're going with friends with kids so they can all run around together.

I'm enjoying more and more being able to get away in the caravan. With my hair going grey I suppose you could call me a rookie grey nomad. But you don't have to be a grey nomad or retired to enjoy this country. We've had the caravan for four years now and we love venturing out into areas and places you wouldn't see if you kept flying over it.

When we get back and before we head to New Zealand, I'm having a bike track day with the guys from Triple 8 at Morgan Park in Warwick. Most of my fans know how into motorbikes we all are at Triple 8, including our boss Roland Dane.

I've had dirt bikes on the farm and most of the team rode their dirt bikes from Brisbane to Darwin a few years ago for the Hidden Valley round. I also love getting the bike on the track to blow off some steam.

Although my sponsorship ended with Yamaha last year, I now have a deal with Suzuki and I'm still anxiously waiting for my new bikes. Apparently they're on the next ship from Japan.