Absolute Power: Interview with Will Power

For once, Will Power can afford to relax a little during the off-season. After taking pole and then leading his home race in Surfers Paradise before being hit by Sebastien Bourdais, Power rebounded to score his first ever Champ Car podium with a third place in Mexico City.

In doing so, the Team Australia driver sealed Champ Car's Rookie of the Year title, and also became the only driver other than Bourdais to have won the Bridgestone Passion for Excellence Award (given to the driver with the fastest aggregate race lap over the 14 rounds of the season).

So while previous years have seen Power sitting down to Christmas dinner with no idea of where he'll find the budget to go racing again next season, this time around he has the security of another Team Australia deal for 2007, and the satisfaction of having nailed his targets from 2006.

"It does feel good," Power agreed. "The first priority was to win Rookie of the Year, that was always the plan, and to finish in the top 10 in the championship, and to get a podium finish. So all in all, it was a good year.

"The Rookie of the Year award was really important for us to win, because everyone is trying to find their spot as a professional driver in a series like Champ Car, and winning Rookie of the Year just establishes you a little bit more.

Will Power at Long Beach © LAT

"It was important to finish strongly in the overall championship, and to always be the quickest rookie. Basically, at every track but two, where I had some problems, I was the quickest rookie. Really, it was a year where I thought we should have wrapped it up a lot earlier than we did. But I suppose the other guys had their problems as well."

Power carried some good credentials into his first Champ Car season. He spent much of 2005 in World Series by Renault trading blows with eventual series champion Robert Kubica, but his CV is peppered with an assortment of forays into other forms of racing including A1GP, an F1 test with Minardi in 2004, and a couple of one-off appearances in V8 Supercars. Nonetheless, adjusting to a Champ Car took some time.

"Early in the year there were a few races - like Long Beach, the first race - where I felt pretty comfortable in the car, but really, to get the maximum out of these cars and really understand how they've got to be set up and how to qualify them well, you need a year," Power reflected.

"After half a season I was sort of getting into the swing of things, but little mistakes that I was making in the races were costing me a good result. So that was all gone by the end of the year; there were no mistakes at all in the races and also I was really quick and good at saving fuel.

"It's like every series, although Champ Cars is really hard because of the differences in the tracks. I think that once you've gone into a series and then come back the next year, you're always stronger. Always.

"But I have to say, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. A lot harder. You're running against guys that have been in there a long time, whereas when you're coming up through the ranks, you're running against people who are at the same level as you. They just spend a couple of years in a series, and then they're out of there.

Will Power takes pole at Surfers Paradise © LAT

"But when you get to the top - and it's the same for any of these series, whether it's Formula One, Champ Car, V8 Supercars - everyone is there as a professional, and you have all these guys that have been around for a long time, and they understand everything about the series. That's what I have found difficult; the actual pace of everything. I feel as though I have learned more this year than in any other year during my motorsport career."

A lot of the learning came courtesy of Power's veteran teammate Alex Tagliani. Racing drivers are constantly measured against the guy on the other side of the garage, and when you are a rookie going up against a six-year veteran, that doesn't make things easy. "I found it really hard to outdo Alex in the first half of the year," Power admitted.

"I was thinking, 'this is going to be the first teammate I've ever had that I actually can't beat'. I managed to go quicker a couple of times in the first half of the year, but in the second half of the year I was consistently quicker than him.

"But he taught me a lot - he taught me how to drive on ovals, so we were better prepared for when we did Milwaukee. He's a good, experienced driver, and I've enjoyed being his teammate."

Despite the podium in Mexico, the highlight of Power's season was Australia, where he scored his first pole position and was leading the race when, having survived an earlier hit from Paul Tracy, he was cleaned up by Bourdais under braking, causing sufficient damage to put the Team Australia car out of contention on the spot. A lot of Power's post-race reaction was unprintable, but a couple of weeks down the track he's relegated it to the 'what's done is done' pile.

"I moved on pretty quickly," he said. "I've been in motorsport for a long time, and these things happen. I mean, the guy made a mistake and took me out. That's life. At the end of the day we were quick enough to win, and we were saving as much fuel as he was. I don't think about it much.

"Have I spoken to him about it? No. I mean, his apology was, 'Sorry Will, but you weren't going to win because Paul Tracy ran into the side of you and took your downforce away.' Something like that.

"But he's a bit like that. We spoke in Mexico City, and we didn't even mention it. I have a lot of respect for the guy, I mean, he's won three championships and he's really fast. He just doesn't like to be blamed for anything."

Will Power and Paul Tracy tangle as they try to beat Sebastien Bourdais in Australia © LAT

The win may not have come, but even before his car had limped back to the pits to have its damaged suspension attended to, Power felt that he had made his point.

"I think finishing on the podium and having a pole position was important to show that it's not just about me being an Australian driver that got me the job [with Team Australia]," he said.

"I've proven myself in other series. But you know, as the saying goes, you're only as good as your last race. You've got to keep working at it, and keep being willing to learn. And that has been how I have approached my whole racing career - always learning. You're never the best, you're never as good as you can get.

"So I just keep being very willing to learn about how to drive fast, how to understand the car more, how to use the data better. All of that stuff."