Overheard in Houston

During the ALMS race the grandstands were at least 50% full and the fans saw one heck of a good finish…..Alex Figge said that it's the bumps in the Houston track that were hurting his back. If it had been a smooth track he probably would have raced…….There is still no permanent replacement for the departed Eric Mauk (PR for Champ Car) yet……Word is that the shifting on the cars is getting more reliable and faster. Initially the engineers went conservative with the software on up-shifts but now the gearbox is shifting as fast or faster than a driver could do it with the old sequential shifter in the Lola…..Some drivers like Tristan Gommendy predict it will be a long race tomorrow and he's worried about the strength in his arms because he has been sick all week. However Sebastian Bourdais does not agree. "I don't know if I would agree on the physical aspect of the track. I think it's hard because you don't breathe a lot, but if on the cardio side you're doing good, I think you're actually having quite an easy time because the steering effort isn't that high and the Gs obviously aren't that high. So it's for sure going to be a little warm and it's the first time we race in these conditions since last year. So it's been a while. But, you know, we'll see. It all depends also how the race unfolds, if there are yellows and everything. But, no, I think we should be — I'm pretty on top of things physically, so we should have a good day tomorrow." Justin Wilson did not agree with Bourdais because of the bumps and 90-degree heat. “I think Sebastien is putting on a pretty brave face," he said. “I think it’s going to be a long, tough race. I don’t know who Sebastien thinks he’s kidding."