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予選を終えて・・・

今日は朝起きてサーキットに向かい、ガレージで荷物の整理。ガレージ内で方付けを始めたら改めて、今年のIndy500は終わっちゃったんだな・・・と実感。悔しいです。（泣）でも、今から来季に向けての話を進めないと。

After getting some sleep last night...I must confess, I was pretty nervous the previous night and wasn't able to get any sleep... I headed to the garage and needed to pack up my stuff. Obviously that reaffirmed in to my brain that we were not in the show and it was pretty sad putting all my race gears back in to my bag. However, I need to start working really hard for 09 season starting today!!

チームと色々とまた話し合い、他の複数のガレージに行って、色々とセットアップの相談に乗ってくれたエンジニアさんに挨拶回り。皆からの情報があったからこそ、助けられたので本当に感謝です。そして、何よりも人とのネットワークの重要さを感じました！

Once I was done cleaning up, I strolled through the garage and thanked all the team and the engineers who was able to give me some advice on the set ups. With limited time on track, it was very important to have some numbers to compare and it certainly gave us some direction to work with. I really appreciated all their help. Having a good relationship with all the guys you have worked with in the past is my asset on being able to come back every year and do well here at Indy with limited time.

一段落したら、今度はスポンサーのアレンジ。決勝前にイベント等はそのまま続行で、でも残念ながら自分の車は決勝に走る事ができないので、他のチームにロゴを貼ってもらう交渉。契約外の事ですが、やっぱりスポンサーに応援してあげて良かったと思って頂けるようにしたいので、全力で交渉中です。でも、ここでも回りの協力に本当に感謝です！！困った時に助けてくれる・・・、だからこそ自分に余裕ができた時には必ず恩返しをしないとって、なんだか今回のインディー５００は人生の勉強になった気がします！

Than I needed to arrange some sponsorship details for this week. Obviously not being able to be in the race will change a lot of things, but we are still planning to have couple of appearances during this week. I also would like to negotiate with other teams on being able to have some signage space for our sponsor in the race and I really appreciate the cooperation with the teams that we are talking to. We as a team will like all our partners to feel good about the experience and I want to do my absolute best on making sure not regretting being on board with us. I must say, that this year's Indy 500 was more of a lesson for me about life than racing. I have many people who are willing to help me when I'm struggling but that means I definitely need to help them out when they are in need of hands!! I am really looking forward to next year's 500 and I must say that there is nothing more satisfying than being part of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.