Bourdais ready for oval debut

The Frenchman has made an instant impression in the Champ Car World Series since he joined the Newman/Haas squad at the start of the year, and has claimed two poles and one win in the four events held so far. But Bourdais has yet to race on an oval, which provides a vastly different set of challenges to a racing driver.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge of racing on an oval," said Bourdais. "I tested for two days in Phoenix and it was quite an eye-opening experience. I watched the oval races on TV but I didn't fully appreciate the skill needed until I did it for myself.

"Before I thought 'Wow, how hard can it be?' But it is a real test of ability and it's definitely mentally challenging. You don't know where the limit of the car or yourself is but you don't want to have a big moment. It requires 110 percent concentration 110 percent of the time. I'm looking forward to this new challenge."

Bourdais had encountered numerous problems in his first three races before finally claiming victory at Brands, but the driver reckoned this made the win even sweeter. "It was great to win a race after a few lost opportunities to do it sooner," he said.

"The feeling was unbelievable. Everyone on the team was really happy about this accomplishment. It was good to get that behind us and earn some points in the championship and move up to sixth place."