Houston aggros.

Houston was disappointing for us because we had a very good race car and, once again, didn't reach our potential, but this time it was through no fault of my own or the team.

It was just one of those races. They say bad things happen in threes and that was the case for us last weekend. We had one of the kneepads come off the inside of the car and wedge itself under the brake pedal for the first 30-odd laps, and we had to wait for a yellow before I could retrieve it. I was basically driving around behind Cristiano, conserving fuel and trying not to have an accident. I thought that, once we had the yellow, we would be on for a good race but, then, we had an electrical issue which cost me a lap as we had to recycle the ECU before we got going again. The team got the lap back, and we were behind the pack, again driving around and conserving fuel because we were on a different strategy when I got taken out by Dan Clarke, who was some 14 or 15 laps down at the time!

The team did a great job after the accident took the rear wing off my car. I thought that was the end of my race, but they did what they could, put a new rear wing on and sent me out again, which was important for the points, for the championship and also for testing because, at the moment, the more miles I can get, the better. Any laps we could do at the end, we were going to do, but it was frustrating to be in that position.

Thankfully, there are no physical after-effects for either the car or myself as we head to Mexico, but the incident was one of those things that could have been avoided. I was just driving around, saving fuel, and I would have let him past on the straight. Something needs to be done about that sort of situation. The majority of us all race cleanly, and I think that they're some of the best race car drivers in the world, so its a shame that some people have to spoil it by taking their brains out before they get in the car!

The result took the edge off the weekend a bit, which was a shame because Houston was a fantastic track, and it was fantastic to race at night. It was 'slightly bumpy' and really physically demanding, but it was a good race and we were on for something in the region of seventh place when we were following Cristiano. And we had the pace too. When I got back out there, albeit something like ten laps down, I was following Oriol and was right behind him for 15 laps or something, so we proved that we had the race pace. It's just that we also had some bad luck. The points that we would have got for seventh or eighth place would have made me the leading rookie in the standings and we would have been in good shape. Instead, I am dwelling on it a bit too much.

However, we will move on, to Monterrey this weekend, knowing that, every time out, we get better. We had a fantastic weekend in Houston right up to second qualifying. We had been P9 or P10 the whole weekend, which was an improvement on what we have been, but I have to work on my second qualifying, as that's what's letting us down right now. It's very difficult to overtake in these cars, so I have to learn to qualify better. It's frustrating for me as I don't really know what I'm doing wrong in second qualifying - I either push too hard or don't push hard enough - but we have the speed and it will all come together sooner or later. We're hoping that that's at Monterrey.

There really isn't any difference between first and second qualifying but, either mentally or in some other way, I'm approaching it differently. I don't feel like I am, but we always do first qualifying and feel its okay. We were P10 in first qualifying last weekend, then we went out and we were P15, five places behind where we ought to be. We were ninth in the second morning's practice, so we just cant get it together in second qualifying.

It's just something I've got to work on. I've been talking to a number of people and trying to get their point of view on it; people like Jimmy Vasser, who have been there and done it. They're all saying that it's down to experience, but I'm not the most patient of people, and I want to learn all I've got to learn right now. The thing is, if I know what is wrong and know what I've got to do to put it right - like if someone says I've got to brake later into turn nine or something - then that's easy, you just do it. But it's when you don't know what you've got to do to fix the problem that it starts to get to me. Maybe I over-analyse it and it gets worse. I have to look at it calm and collected and figure out what it is that I am doing wrong, figure out how to make it better and, hopefully, we'll keep improving.

Houston was a completely different track to somewhere like Long Beach, in that you were always busy, always turning. There are no straights where you could relax, but it was great. I actually really loved the layout of the track, which was very well thought out, and the only issue that I see for Champ Cars is the bumps, because you just can't run these sort of cars on those sort of bumps. It was like going over the railroad at San Jose the whole time!

It was so physically demanding, but it's not just me saying it, as I got out of the car and was in better shape than some - although I did have ten laps off, I suppose! But everybody was saying that the bumps were taking it out of them, but the organisers did such a good job of their inaugural event that all they have to do is grind the track and it will be perfect. I think they're in good shape for next year. The fans had a great time and it was a fantastic atmosphere - and that, at the end of the day, is what counts and why we, as drivers, don't moan about what we're doing. They're the ones that pay our wages, they're the reason why we're there and, the more fun they have, the better.

The layout of the race track was fine. It had long duration corners, tight corners, switchbacks - a little bit of everything that you could want. I think they did the right thing putting the chicane in there, from a safety aspect., because there was no run-off into turn two. Obviously, it made a big difference, as it really slowed everybody down, and there was nothing else they could have done as there was a building there - although I think it was Oriol who suggested that they open the big French doors and let us go straight through! It wasn't an ideal solution, but it was all they could have done, and I think they will make some changes to it for next year. Sort the chicane out and take away the bumps and you're there.

It was nice to hear that, through the fast sweeping corner, I looked as fast as anyone except maybe Sebastien. I guess it does a lot for my confidence, as you can get caught up in the 'why am I P9?', 'why am I P10?' or 'what am Ii doing or not doing?'. But, like I said, I was closer to Oriol again in the race, so it is just the qualifying effort and getting those one or two quick laps in that I am lacking. I did it in practice - we sat down and looked at the data and it was 'wow, how did you do that?' - so it's coming, but it's not quite there yet. I honestly believe that we're not far off and hearing things like that is really nice, so I do hope that that was the case. I guess I have to prove it and get the results, or else it is all talk and that doesn't make for a good race car driver, does it?

The shake-up behind the scenes at PKV has had absolutely no effect on my programme although, obviously, it was difficult to see Steve Krisiloff and Jim McGee leave, as they were both very successful people. But, as a team, we are moving on and I think we will continue to improve. I honestly believe that it wont affect the team in any negative way.

The way my timetable is panning out at the moment, I will have had recent experience of all the types of track we use, as the Houston race was preceded by my first oval test at Milwaukee and followed this weekend by a road course race at Fundidora Park.

The Milwaukee test went really well as we were fastest of the rookies and felt very comfortable. That was mainly down to Jimmy, as he walked me through everything and, when I first drove round, I felt like I had done a hundred laps of the place already. I was just going through the motions because he had prepared me so well for it. He got pole there last year and the team has a really good car for Milwaukee and I'm absolutely looking forward to the race now.

It will certainly be one of the most interesting ones and, for sure, there will be a big difference when I go back and there are 15 or 16 cars on track with me. I'm glad that we did the first run by ourselves as I got comfortable on the track and, now, we can add the other things in, like all the other cars. The last thing you want is to be learning the track, and learning how to do ovals, when you've got the likes of PT and Sebastien going by you like you're standing still. That would be a bit daunting, so Champ Car did absolutely the right thing by putting this rookie test on for us and, now we're all up to speed, it will be easier to put us in with all the more experienced guys. It's one of those things you take step-by-step and get there in the end. I'm not too daunted by it now I've done it.

At least I have some prior experience of Fundidora Park as we raced there last year in Atlantics. I like the track - it's very slick and not at all bumpy - but it's going to be hot and humid so, physically, it's going to be hard on everybody, although perhaps not as much as Houston because it is a smoother track.

I thought it was silly to go back to Indy for two days, and then head down to Mexico, so I headed straight down here from Houston to get some training in in the heat and at the altitude, which certainly gets you acclimatised to the conditions. It should be fine, as Houston was much the same. We had a couple of cooler days and running at night helped, but the heat of the Houston sun was the same so, hopefully, it won't be too bad this weekend.

It's going to be all about the set-up. They've said that, again, we're going to have the 35bhp push-to-pass, as we did in Houston, which should hopefully make for more passing. The track has got a bit of everything and I think that we should have a good race there, so I just hope that our qualifying efforts are better.

Wish me luck.

Katherine


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