Here I am at Chicago airport, headed for Australia to compete in the Bathurst 1000 V8 race. The airport is busy with people going from place to place, and I wonder if they are travelling as much as I am.

Canada, Australia, UK, Spain, US and now back to Australia - all in 5 weeks. I think my family have put a cardboard cut-out of me in the house so that the kids remember who I am, and so Aussie - the dog - doesn't attack me when I do go home!

I went to Spain to race for the same team that I drove for at Le Mans, Team Modena. They were trying to win the LMS drivers' championship for Antonio Garcia, who needed to win or finish second behind the rival Saleen. Practice went really well, as Antonio lives at the circuit and knows it really well. During the session, he was setting the pace, but the Saleen was really quick as well. Peter Hardman and myself were only really backing Antonio up, as we didn't know the track that well. I knew I had been there before, but I couldn't remember in what! It took Fiona Miller to remind me that it had been in the Panoz LMP07, so no wonder I couldn't remember. I had erased all memory of that car...!

Antonio did the qualifying, and put the Modena Aston second on the grid, which was a good effort. The Saleen was quickest, however, and some six cars were covered by a second. That was the good news. The bad news was that we were then thrown to the back of the grid for a technical issue. Apparently, the rear wing endplate didn't fit in the scrutineers' rear wing box, something that was of no advantage at all, but rules are rules.

Antonio started the race and was trying to catch the leaders of our class. He had to get through all the GT2 cars first though, but did this without a scratch. Just as he was closing on the pack, the pace car came out and picked up the leaders, but Antonio was then caught out as the GT1 cars were in front and they all went to the back of the queue, so we went down a lap.

If you are feeling bad, then feel worse, as it happened again later in the race. We fought like hell and drove the car to the limit, but it wasn't enough and we finished third. The Saleen won and the other Aston in the race finished second, so Antonio finished second in the drivers' championship. If we had started up front, then it would have been a different result for sure. Still, Team Modena should be proud of what they have achieved this year, and I was pleased to be part of the team. Well done guys.

After that, it was on to Atlanta for Petit Le Mans, and the second last race for the ALMS. It's a good race, and one that I won back in 1999. The funny thing is that I can remember winning a trophy that was no bigger than your mobile phone...! I think I was so disgusted at the size of it, that I threw it into the crowd. I am pleased that things have changed in that area, as a big race needs big trophies...!

I was looking forward to Petit as it is a long race and the Multimatic Panoz team had a chance to do well. When we hit the track for the first time, however, the car was undriveable. It felt like the car was broken - we chased it for two days and were really worried, as we couldn't race like it was. The team did eventually find the problem, and was pleased that it was just a quick fix, but it didn't leave us much time to get the car sorted for the race and we had to throw on a set-up from our other car for qualifying.

Not really knowing what the car would do when I drove it didn't really concern me, as I had a lap time set in my mind, and I would just deal with what came to me as I drove. In a sense, I just let my instincts take over, and went for the ride. It seemed to work as I put it fourth on the grid, just ahead of the BMW and Gunnar Jeannette, my team-mate. This pissed Gunnar off a lot, as he was sure he had me this time. He got out of the car and shook my hand - and called me a bast**d.... twice, but it was all in good fun. We have a little thing going in the team as the car that gets beat in qualifying has to pay a dollar to the other car. This goes back to the LMP days and I am pleased that not many dollars have left my hand! Sebastian Bourdais, who was the third driver on our car for the weekend, even came up to me and said that he was impressed - and that meant a lot coming from him.