“It’s a mythical circuit that everybody in motor racing has heard of, ” he said. “It’s a spectacular sight when you go through the tunnel for the first time, and find yourself in the infield.
“The oval is huge, and makes the F1 circuit look very small alongside! I think it is an interesting circuit for us to race on, though. The section on the oval is very high speed, while the infield offers some interesting combinations of corners. I am looking forward to discovering what it feels like from the cockpit. ”
After finishing a strong second place in the Canadian Grand Prix, Nick Heidfeld and the BMW Sauber team are hoping for another good result in the United States Grand Prix.
“Our form is very much on an upward curve, ” said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. “Six races into the season, we have collected two points more than in the whole of 2006. We achieved our aim for the season for the first time in Montreal in what was the best overall result so far for the team. But this should not be our only podium finish of the season. ”
Sebastian Vettel will make his Formula One racing debut at this event for BMW Sauber. Vettel, 19, replaces Robert Kubica, who was not cleared to drive in this race by FIA Medical Delegate Dr. Gary Hartstein after his massive accident June 10 in the Canadian Grand Prix.
This weekend marks Speed’s third appearance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 2005, he drove the third Red Bull during the Friday practice session for the United States Grand Prix.
In 2006, he made his race debut in his home Grand Prix. He qualified his Toro Rosso 13th but was eliminated in the multi-car crash on the first lap.
So far in 2007, Speed has not finished four of the six races he started. But he is pleased with the improvements made to his Toro Rosso Ferrari.
“For me, I think, the beginning of the year has been very good, ” he said. “We’ve had good races; we’ve just been, I think, very unlucky. We haven’t finished any. I think especially starting from Barcelona, we’ve been at the right pace or at a pace that was better than we kind of expected.
“So this weekend I expect to be at a similar pace to where we were in Canada. But once we get back to Europe, I think we have another improvement waiting for us. ”
Once again, the battle to rule the mid-pack will be fiercely contested between AT&T Williams, Panasonic Toyota Racing, Red Bull Racing and ING Renault.
And, as Takuma Sato proved with his sixth place in Canada, a surprise result from the rest of the teams – including Sato’s Super Aguri Honda, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Honda and Etihad Aldar Spyker – is possible in various circumstances.
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