Wilson's world

First came Milwaukee, which was not so great. I used the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard because we didn't want to damage our Lola on the walls. It was great in clean air, but I just couldn't follow anyone closely, which made it difficult to pass even backmarkers. That's what made me spin and damage the car. We finished 11th, but it was very frustrating.

Then I jumped on a plane to get to France in time for qualifying at Le Mans. But it turns out that someone else, without a passport, had jumped on the plane before the rest of the passengers got there. Once he'd been escorted away (handcuffed!) we waited two hours while the plane was confirmed bomb-free. When I arrived at Paris 12 hours later, I discovered that my crash helmet and overalls had stayed at Heathrow when I made my final flight connection...

I'd hoped that's where the bad luck would stay, but the Racing for Holland Dome chassis I shared with Tom Coronel and Ralph Firman had different ideas. The Le Mans weekend as a whole was a great experience. I thought the track was awesome. The car felt fantastic to drive and the atmosphere at Le Mans is like no other race on earth. Driving at night was pretty amazing. Coming into the first chicane after the pitstraight when you brake down from high speed is like the view from a spacecraft coming out of hyperspace in a Star Trek movie!

And we had the speed. During the night I followed the winning Team Goh Audi for several laps without losing any distance to him. Then in the early hours of the morning I actually passed Emanuele Pirro's Champion Audi. I think we could have been right up there if we hadn't had so many problems. Certainly we could have finished right behind the Audis and don't forget they had their problems. But, eventually, so did we, in fact we didn't even finish! I would do it again in a flash though, so long as the car was competitive.

The Portland Champ Car race was also disappointing because you never like to finish lower than you've qualified (which was fourth), and although we finished fifth we never got the car 100 percent.

There isn't a time limit on when we start running at the front in Champ Cars, but obviously I want it to happen as soon as possible. I want to remind people that I can still do the job. The ability to win doesn't go away overnight, and although a lot of people who know me already know that, it would be nice to be winning again.

The thing is teams like Newman/Haas and Forsythe have huge amounts of experience to draw from and their cars are quite often in good trim before the meetings begin. For me it's still pretty hard. Particularly when the car is new to the team and I'm new to the series. So while I'm using up tyres learning the car and the circuits they're saving theirs for the race. If you get a good base set-up to start with then it helps but otherwise you're at a disadvantage from the start.

Last weekend was one of those weekends where I had a great set-up for the start, which allowed us to advance much quicker. I found my way around the track fairly quickly because the set-up was good and we knew we had a bit left in the bag for the race.

The car felt good all weekend and we kept making improvements and when it came to qualifying we put it altogether and we found ourselves on the front row. Each week we learn more about the Lola. We know how to fix the problems with it a lot quicker and get more done in the time available.

The Cleveland circuit, built on an airport, is great fun. The road is wide open and you carry a lot of speed and you can really attack the track.

Obviously the race was disappointing. I was on the front row and Alex Tagliani started on the third row but we still met at the first corner! I tucked in behind Paul Tracy at the start, who was in the lead, then into the first corner I braked a little late. I was looking to cut the inside of the corner off and go to the apex, maybe go past Paul, but at least let him know I was there instead of running into the back of him.

I started to turn in and as I got halfway across the track I saw somebody alongside me going much quicker than I was. I turned back the other way as quickly as I could, but Tag hit me and damaged by sidepod, floor and everything. At the same time I had turned hard left to try and avoid the impact but Paul was already turning in and I just hit him.

The crash took me out on the spot. Paul's radiator was punctured and he managed to get around a couple more laps but then he had to stop. But Tag continued and finished third!

It could be said that this was our best chance so far but we want to convert the chance. The key word in that sentence is definitely 'so far' though. We are very positive and optimistic that we are going to get the chance. I'm over here to win. Next week we are back to street racing in Toronto. It looks like quite a good track and if I can get a good starting set-up I could be in with a real chance.