Wetting, whetting, waiting

Another month, another race, the long gaps between races at this time of year seem interminable when you are trying to get a good result and, after Montreal, I am really looking forward to getting to Road America.

Montreal was perhaps the most disappointing race of the year for me, because I was looking forward to the rain! I thought we could be fast in those conditions because, growing up in England, you race in the rain a lot, but the rain was worse than anyone could have imagined, to the point where the first day was called off.

To be honest, it was probably the right decision, as I couldn't see a thing. I had a bad qualifying - again - so I was at the back of the field, where the spray was at its worst. I couldn't see a thing in front of me, and it got to the point where it was either hit the guy in front of me, in this case Jan Heylen, or hit the tyres. So I ended up going off.

The organisers then took the decision to restart the race the next day but, initially, they weren't going to let me start. There were two issues apparently, with Champ Car thinking they weren't going to let me start because, officially, it was 'halfway' through a race so, technically, I shouldn't have been allowed to resume after going off. But then people were being allowed to work to their cars, so there was a lot of internal politics - and not an entirely pleasant weekend.

Eventually, we got it all sorted out, but I was driving round trying to keep out of everybody's way as I was two laps down. That is really difficult because you have no focus and nothing to concentrate on, because you aren't going to get your laps back. I was just driving around and around, and it is very hard to do that without making silly mistakes. It was another new experience for me, because it was like driving around in someone else's race.

After that, we are looking forward to Road America - and with good reason, I hope. We had an awesome test there. Oriol was fast, I was fast and we are hoping that the last three races end on a positive note.

Road America is probably the best road course in the whole USA, like an American version of Spa and the sort of proper driver's circuit that I grew up driving on. I love the place, I love the atmosphere and I love the fact that it is amongst the trees. For me, it is like going home. It is fast, long and sweeping -just a fantastic track. I can't wait to get back there. The forecast is that it may rain again, which is a good thing, so we are really hoping for a good weekend this time.

I finished second at Road America in the Atlantics series last year, and learnt a lot from racing with Tonis Kasemets, who won. I think I qualified about a second off the pace and, despite bearing in mind that it is a long lap, I had never been that far off in my life! But I followed Tonis around for a bit and things changed. You can learn so much when you get the chance to drive around and a round a new track as the experience counts for a lot, and I benefited from Tonis' experience. Then we had an awesome race. We were swapping the lead back and forth and it is one of the races that sticks out in my memory.

Like I said, I am hoping I have learnt from that experience and that the team has learnt from the test we did there recently. We definitely had a good car there - we were second quickest on the first day and I think Oriol was second quickest on the second, when we didn't do much running. Also, with a view to the Rookie of the Year competition, Will Power wasn't there, so it's going to be new to him and that is going to be a big deal around somewhere like Road America.

Of course, a lot will hinge on qualifying, and I have to admit that I'm still not liking the 'red' tyres. I just can't seem to get to grips with them, so I have spent a lot of time with my race engineers and we have literally gone back through every race - comparing reds to blacks, reds to reds, reds to Oriol, reds to everything! We have gone through heaps of data and we are trying to find a trend to see why I am not making the most out of them. Now, I think we have found something, so we are now hoping, fingers crossed, that things are going to change.

Again, it is largely down to experience. There are different types of red tyre - road course tyres, street course tyres, and different compounds within those areas. For instance, Long Beach is different to San Jose, so they keep moving the goalposts. Up to now, I just haven't been able to feel the limit on the red tyres. I feel like I should be able to push harder and I feel like I should be able to get on the power harder but, for some reason, I can't. We looked at it, we compared it and most of the problem seems to be using the power and how to get the car to sit on the red tyres. Hopefully, we have got that worked out.

We shall be looking for a more positive qualifying result at Road America because, at the end of the day, that has been my nemesis this year and is, for sure, something we will be testing in the off-season. In the races, we are as fast as anybody. We are doing the same lap times as the leaders, so we should be in the top eight all the time, but I can't qualify, so I am not.

I think there is a period of time where we can do as much testing on the old car as we want, before the new car comes out at the end of the year, so we will concentrate on, firstly, cutting out the mistakes and, secondly, getting qualifying up to scratch.

The new Panoz has been out testing a lot since I last wrote to you, and I am very excited about it. Obviously, Kevin, PKV and the whole crew are as well. Everybody has a buzz about it. It looks good and they haven't found too many problems with it, other than the teething problems you would find with any new car. Everybody is really impressed by it and everybody is trying to get a sneak preview to move forward. We are trying to develop it and we haven't even seen it up close yet!

I really hope it lives up to its expectations and I'm sure it will. Honestly, I can't wait to get in and drive it. Roberto Moreno, by all accounts, has been very positive about it, which is a good thing because he is an experienced and very talented driver. If he says it is good, then we will take his word for it.

My own schedule in the five weeks since Montreal has been the usual mix of training, team and promotional work, including two days in Australia - which is a long way to go for two days!

It was good though. I actually really like Australia. It was my first time there, so I landed in Sydney and did the whole tourist thing amidst the PR stuff. I went to Sydney Opera House, Bondi beach and the bridge - it was pretty cool and we fitted a lot in. Everyone is really welcoming and it was really nice city.

The race is also a big deal out there - you walk off the plane and it is like you are a celebrity or something. It is really cool and really fun, more than anything. There is a buzz that makes it fun. We did a day in Sydney and then flew to the Gold Coast. Again, it is beautiful up there. We did some more PR work and I met plenty of interesting people to do with the race. The whole thing surpassed all my expectations as to what I thought it would be like, and I can't wait to get back there - not least because I have my own 'Mr Indy' competition, which will be pretty amusing.

The buzz and the surroundings made the visit fun, as I don't think anyone looks forward to the promotional side of the job. It is a duty and, like most jobs, there are aspects you like and aspects you don't. I don't mind it, but I'm learning to not let it get in the way of my thought processes and training, but it is difficult, especially when you have just two days in Oz, because it sets your body back a little bit and sets your training back a little too.

I don't like that sort of thing because I work so hard, and I don't want anything to get in the way. When I get there though, I do enjoy it. I enjoy meeting different people and seeing the different places, but that isn't what my life is about now. My life is about racing and about being focused, being with my engineers, being fit and being a racing driver. To me, the promo side is just a distraction but, at the same time, I am not stupid and I know it is part of the reason I am here.

Waiting all this time between races is pretty hard, but I have relished the last three or four weeks because it has given me a new start in a way. I feel a bit more refreshed and able to go back to the start and look at things I really wanted to look at, really get going on it again. I really think I can get hit things running this way, so I am happy that we have had the time off because I feel rejuvenated. I have had time to work out and analyse things more, as well as trying to re-focus, re-group and move forward. It is harder to be all-out 110 per cent focused in such a break, but it is a lot easier to be all-round focused.

Of course, motorsport goes on even if the Champ Cars aren't on track, and the headlines have been filled recently by news of Michael Schumacher's retirement. He has to be the ultimate really. Nobody has dominated like he did. He is someone I definitely look up to, and has been very inspirational to me. His focus and determination, everything he does, seems to be so perfect. It is like he is super-human. He doesn't make the same mistakes other people do - although then he will do something and we remember he is human.

Michael has been there my whole career. He is someone I have watched since I was karting, and I have seen him come through. With someone like Nigel Mansell, I never really understood when I was that young what he was really doing. It was quite emotional watching the Italian Grand Prix. I was getting goosebumps - he will be a legend for a long time.

The other thing that happened during the past few weeks is the release of 'my' DVD, although I watch it and wonder 'was that me?'. What was interesting about filming it the most was that I got to go back to the old places. I went back to my school, back to my convent school, back to where I started karting, and met people I haven't seen for a long time. I was trying to be honest. and very open, but I feel a little bit uneasy about that because racing is very guarded. You can't show weakness, you can't say 'I'm not happy about this because that happened' - have you ever seen a race driver who is emotional about anything? For me, it was quite scary because I am laying myself out there and I am not keen on doing that.

But it is an honest look and I wanted it to show that we are just like everybody else. This career has been a real struggle for me and I have worked very hard at it, so the film was fun to do - very interesting and very cringeworthy at the same time!

Katherine