Q:
You have just done Lime Rock and Salt Lake, how did these races go?
DB:
Lime Rock was a tough one, as we were off the pace. The
Ferrari was about a second faster than us and the track is not that long. Some of the corners have concrete strips and, when you hit them, you have no grip at all. We couldn't get the front grip we needed, so we struggled. I got up to third for a while, and we were looking good for a podium, but then I lost grip and started to drop back. Scott Maxwell, my team-mate, jumped in and then the seat broke, so he just had to get the car to the finish.
Salt Lake City was another tough one, but I have to say it was an impressive track - Harry Miller and his team did a great job with the facilities, top class. The track was really demanding and difficult to learn. It is 4.5 miles long and it had so many corners, but no real reference points to know where you were. Again, we struggled with front grip and you really needed it there. We were four seconds off the pace to the Ferrari and two seconds off the Porsches, so there was very little we could do.
Q:
The next race is Portland, how do you think you will do?
DB:
Better than Salt Lake I feel, as it is a shorter track and the Panoz might like the corners there. I have won two races there in the LMP Panoz before, so I have had some good times. I like the track and the Portland area as well.
Q:
Of course, the ALMS is not the only races you are doing, and you have done Le Mans in a private Aston Martin DBR9. How did that go?
DB:
Pretty good really. A lot of people don't know that the team I drove for, Team Modena, had to get a team of people together in four weeks before the race...! Not ideal, and it was a mammoth task. We had a lot of problems before the race, and it was easy to think it was going to be a disaster. However, the team pulled it together on the day and fourth place was victory for us.
Q:
It was very hot last year, did you get as hot this year?
DB:
Not as hot, but the cool suit stopped working after the first stint and so we were pretty cooked by the end of the race.
Q:
How did your team-mates do, Antonio Garcia and Nelson Piquet Jr?
DB:
They did well considering it was their first time at Le Mans. Antonio was impressive, as he got on the pace really quickly. Nelson took a little longer but, when the morning came, he was able to do the same times as us. We all worked well together - except Nelson kept calling me Papa! It might the fact that he is only two years older than my oldest son!
