Yes, I know, you all thought that the winning DB had disappeared into the abyss, but a trip to Bahrain's new international circuit was just the place to regain that winning feeling.
I flew out to Bahrain not really knowing what would be greeting me when I jumped off the 'plane - the Middle East isn't a place I hadn't been to before, and being close to the war zones as well, I just didn't know what to expect. We only really see the bad things that happen down there in the press and none of the good things.
I was put up in the Ritz Carlton, which I can say was a very nice hotel indeed. Security greeted me at the gate, and checked under the hood and in the boot of my car. Then, when entering the hotel, you had to walk through an airport-style security screen. I wasn't sure if this was to make me feel safe or not. I chose not to think about it.
I met the Coopers Racing team that night, and remembered their names straight away! There were only three guys, plus Tony the owner. I had organised for my old race-winning Panoz engineer, Chris Gorne, to join me down there, as I have missed him! Allan Simonsen was to be my team-mate in Bahrain, and he and I got on very well. And I was driving with a Dane again, so I immediately felt confident.... With a
Ferrari 550, Chris Gorne, Michelin tyres and a Dane, I was in the right sort of company to do well in the inaugural Bahrain GT Festival.
We got to the track after a 25-minute drive from the hotel. I thought to myself that I was going out into the desert but, then again, the whole place is a desert! After seeing nothing but sand for a while, I was eventually greeted by a massive complex in the middle of nowhere. The money that has been spent there is amazing - it is no wonder that
Silverstone finds itself having to keep up with these new tracks. I suppose, with the price of oil at the moment, these people have to spend their money somewhere!
