Kazuki's Melbourne Blog: Sunday

Posted on Sunday 29 Mar 2009 and tagged with australia, kazuki.

Ouch! I was very disappointed to end my Australian Grand Prix in the wall because my race had gone really well until that point. I made good progress during the early laps and was up to fourth place – from 11th on the grid – by the time of my accident.

On lap 17 I ran a bit wide at the exit of Turn 4 and ran over the middle of the kerb, with the result that the car bottomed out. Before I knew it, the rear end had come around too far to get back and I was heading towards the inside wall. It was quite a big impact, but I’m fine except for a sore knuckle on my left hand. I’ll be fine to race in Malaysia next weekend.

Overall, the FW31 showed an encouraging turn of speed in Melbourne and I think I could have finished in the points if I’d managed to stay on the racetrack. Nico managed to do that and even set the fastest lap of the race, so there are many positives to take from this race.

I’m staying in Melbourne until Wednesday of this week, rather than flying straight to Kuala Lumpur as I did last year. I did a 10-day training camp in Malaysia in January, so I know what to expect when I get there. The training facilities at the hotel are better in Melbourne than they are in KL, so I think I’m better off minimising the amount of time I spend in Malaysia before the race.