I feel good, my testing has been fine and I have no pain from my injury. But it will be great to shake off the cobwebs and do some race miles before the first race of the year. |
I feel pretty good. I've been doing some long runs, last week in Fontana. I'm racing at a really good pace, but I'm not expecting any results from Long Beach yet. |
I feel really good. It's really nice to be back in the car. I felt no problem with my back or the rest of my body. I'm almost as fit as I was before the accident. |
I set some fast times, so it was very nice. |
I'll be really happy to be back in the car and I'll be looking to be in good shape for the first race and good shape physically, mentally with a lot of speed and have the car with a good balance out there in Long Beach. |
I'm going to work very hard in Mexico City to try to fight for the championship. I know it won't come down to my race alone; Sebastien has to have a problem, but if he does I want to be right there so I can fight for it. |
It felt normal to me. I was very well prepared mentally and knew what I had to do. I had been there [Sebring] a lot of times, so I felt normal. For sure, in the first five laps, you feel the power. I said, 'Ooh, this car has a little bit more power than I thought it would have.' But then after a few laps, you just get used to it, and I came back the way I used to drive. |
It was good for us. We weren't really trying to put up fast times but I was happy with the fact that we still ran some quick times on old tires. I feel very good, my back doesn't hurt at all and I am ready to put in a full day tomorrow. |
It's very important to start up front and get the point for the championship. |
Montreal is a very nice track with a great crowd, ... I like it a lot. The most important thing in Montreal is the braking. It's very easy to lock the tires, and there are a lot of chicanes so you have to be really fast in the chicanes. |
My teammate will be tough to beat but, if I win the championship, I know I will earn it. |
They took a piece of my ribs and fused the two vertebra, ... They also put some screws and two titanium rods through the three top and bottom vertebra to make it strong. |
This will be great for me to shake off the cobwebs and do some race miles before Long Beach. |
You know, I never really got too sad while I was out because I always knew I would be back and, with Newman/Haas, you always have the chance to win. |