May 2012

“Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a special place," said Sato.  "When I first came to the Indy 500, I already had a special memory of the place from 2004 when I finished on the podium. That was a great day.  It wasn’t an easy finish. At one stage, in the middle of the race, we were at the back of the grid.  Every time I come back to Indy I think of that memory. It was very special and now coming for the Indy 500 – there are no words to describe how special it is. The event is always very impressive.”

“It was fantastic!" said Jourdain of getting back in an Indy car for the first time since 2004.  "I was thinking in the car when I was doing the laps ‘This is so much fun.’ I’m not going to say that it feels like yesterday that I was here but it doesn’t feel like 16 years ago.  The car feels really stable. The team did a test here about a month ago with Takuma and the car feels really stable; perfect to do the refresher phases today.  I thought I was going to be much more nervous but it felt really good.  I was quite comfortable and relaxed – at home. I treated it with a lot of respect and built up to the speed.  In the beginning I tried to not feel any pressure to do a certain lap time.  I just tried to be smart and patient. The only goal was to get through these phases today.  Tonight I have a lot to sleep on. The last couple of years I haven’t been sleeping that good but I slept through the night last night and woke up to the alarm which was really good.  These things make me quite happy. I feel relaxed; I don’t know how I look but I feel really good.  I felt at home in the car and I’m very, very happy.”