Grapevine: Ricardo does Monterey - Final

After visiting it for the first time, it's an awesome event, with so many great drivers, together with all those fantastic classic cars running at a great track like Laguna Seca.

I'm definitely glad I got the opportunity to experience it from up close, and do some things I never thought I'd do - like trying out a Toyota Camry NASCAR Nextel Cup car for size!

I even got to meet former 500cc Motorcycle World Champion Wayne Rainey when he visited our Panasonic Toyota Racing team garage - that was very cool.

The only other event I can think of that's equally impressive is the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. But with the important difference that Goodwood is a non-competitive event.

Unlike the Historics, it doesn't happen on a proper circuit, just one stretch of pavement climbing a hill inside the Earl of March's estate.

So the drivers end up focusing more on putting on a nice show than actually going seriously fast, like all these racers did here in Monterey.

Not that there's anything wrong with a good show, as I saw on Sunday morning, when I got to visit the incredible Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Seeing so many rare and expensive cars in a single place is mind-blowing...

But setting the new Laguna record was by far the sweetest experience of the weekend for me, especially since this is a track I have such good memories of, having won the 1998 FIA GT race here from pole to take the series title that year.

It was a three-hour race, and my teammate Klaus Ludwig and I were dominant. I eased things off in the end, and still finished some 10 seconds ahead of our title rivals Bernd Schneider and Mark Webber.

That was the title that basically opened the Formula One doors for me the following year.

A lot of fans asked me if I was really pushing 100 percent, taking risks in order to get the record. All I can say is that any experienced driver knows what they're doing in an event like this.

The Toyota team has known me for almost four years, and in that time I haven't had a single accident in this kind of situation. But even when the team asks me to take it easy, they know I'll be doing all within my limits to go as fast as possible.

In this case, I'm glad it was fast enough to break the record...and for three consecutive days, too.

I first broke it on Friday with a 1:07.587 lap, then lowered it on Saturday to 1:06.596.

But I knew there was more to come from the Toyota TF106, and on Sunday morning, with brand-new Bridgestones on my car, I managed to clock a 1:06.309.

For my final run on Sunday afternoon, the team told me to just go out and have fun. And that was what I did, serving up a bunch of donuts for the fans at the track, who seemed to really like it. It felt great.

I've had a fun time at Monterey. Hopefully, there'll be other chances to put on a show again in the future!