Looking back.

This time last year, I was sitting down to my Christmas dinner waiting for a 'phone call from Kevin Kalkhoven confirming whether or not I had a drive in the Champ Car World Series.

Some things don't change, but at least, this year, I have a season of experience under my belt, and the feeling that I will be back out there in 2007.

As those of you who have read my columns these past twelve months will know, it was something of a year of ups and downs – with rather more of the latter.

The first, and biggest, lesson I learned this year was that Champ Car is pretty hard. I will admit that I expected to go in there and, by the end of the season, be in the top six and be looking at the podiums ready for next year. It did not happen like that, unfortunately.

I can't say that there was one massive lesson that I learnt, because I learnt so much about strategy, the 'push to pass', the pit-stops, race strategy and car set-up – an area where my feedback improved enormously. There was also the politics to think about….

In fact, there were so many issues that I did not even consider that deeply when I was running in Atlantics. I thought you just went in there and drove the car as fast as you could. Believe me, that is not the case at all.

My best moment probably came at Long Beach, round one, but we had no outstanding moments. Milwaukee was good because it was my first time on an oval and we had a great car and I think we achieved a lot, and Road America was a good moment up until we had 'the accident', because we were running a legitimate sixth and would have finished inside the top six.

So there were two or three good moments, but also a few terrible moments, some of which were my own doing, some of which weren't - such as the end at Road America. Nothing stands out one way or the other - it is a season I'd rather forget, but one that has made me even more motivated and determined for next year. With a different situation, with the new car coming in, I am really looking forward to getting stuck in.

Having done a year in Atlantics, I already knew most of the tracks but, with the year that we had, it is difficult to pick out any favourites. A lot of the circuits we race at feel different in the Champ Car, but it does help to know where you are going. There are some circuits I prefer to others for various reasons, but I think you have to go to each one with a positive mindset, thinking that they are all equal, otherwise you are mentally leaving something on the table.

With some of the biggest names in American motorsport racing in Champ Cars, the scope to name the likes of Paul Tracy or Sebastien Bourdais as your biggest rival is obvious. However, in my case, it started off being Dan Clarke, because he seemed to be a magnet for my car and couldn't stop hitting me. But he seemed to do really well towards the end of the year, perhaps because he kind of grew up and stepped out of his earlier mentality. That impressed everybody, because it was obvious that he had a lot of speed.

Will Power was another big rival, not just because he was also in the rookie class of '06, but because he was Mr Consistent and did a great job of finishing races. He was a deserving champion.

I was very disappointed with where I finished in the championship because, at the beginning of the year, perhaps until two-thirds of the way through season, we were still in the rookie chase. A lot of things didn't go our way, but I also made a lot of mistakes. There were a lot of good people in the rookie category this year, and those things proved costly.

At times, we struggled and, to be brutally honest, if it was not for the fact that I could not qualify this year then, probably, we would have won rookie of the year. I think we had some of the best races of anyone. I always seemed to post lap times that were within the top ten, so racing was not the issue most of the time. It was all about getting used to those 'red' tyres.

I was fine with the 'black' tyres but, with the 'reds' there was definitely an issue, at least until Mexico City, where we seemed to find time on the reds for the first time all year. We jumped around and congratulated ourselves and, hopefully, that is the end of my drought for qualifying, because I have never had a problem with qualifying before. If it is, then that is great because it is one less thing that I have to focus on in pre-season testing. If I can qualify higher up the grid, then I know I can race up there too, so I don't want it to be an issue.

Of course, as a rookie, I relied on a lot of other people for help and guidance this season. Firstly, there was Kevin Kalkhoven and his family, because they were 110 per cent supportive of me through thick and thin. That was nice to have, because there was a lot of adversity around this year.

Then, obviously, I had my engineers and my crew, who were fabulous. They were there for me too. You have your supporters and your doubters, people who are there to help and others there to hinder you, so you really appreciate the people who are there for you when you are in for a tough ride, especially when their lives and their careers are on the line too.

I might be sitting here waiting for the 'phone to ring, but I am already looking forward to getting back on track and building on the things that I have learned this year.

Thank you all for your support in 2006. Here's to 2007.

Katherine