03.08.2004 "The race was a bit of a banger race out there, cars all over the place, spinning and being hit from other cars" as the ALMS series heads for Mosport, David Brabham reflects on Portland

"Portland is one of my favourite paces we race at. The town is a great place with nice restaurants, it's clean and people are open and friendly. The track has been kind to me with two overall wins in the Panoz with my mate Mags.

"I knew this week was going to be tough repeating this tradition, but I didn't expect what happened.

"The weather was scorching hot. On Friday it was 107 and we were dying in the cars. It was so hot in the car, that your mind had trouble blocking it out. Thankfully, it got cooler on Sunday

"It all started with a crash between the two Lambo's. Tracy Krohn was just in front of me when we were steaming into the first corner, when Tracy hit the brakes hard to avoid some cars slowing up quicker than he expected. The rear tyres on his car locked up and he started spinning. I was trying to slow down as fast as I could as well as I was right behind him. Then my rears locked up and I also started spinning. Bang! I hit him hard in the side of the car.

"What concerned me was that I hit the drivers door and he may have been hurt, not to mention I just hit the Boss! He was fine, but it was a bit embarrassing to see the two cars in a heap together.

"I was also thinking that the guys will have their work cut out fixing these cars in time for qualifying. I knew we were low on the spares, so we didn't this at all. The car being the way it is at the moment, it is difficult to control if you get into situations like this.

"I am sure people were thinking Tracy's experience had something to do with this, but with 21 years of racing experience, I did it as well. The team did have just enough spares to fix the cars, and they did a cracking job getting them ready.

"They did so well, we got out for the practice session before qualifying. Peter did the qualifying this time, and he did his usual great job. We are still behind the Vetts and the Saleen, and don't expect that to change until we get some testing done. I hope that Lamborghini have some new things for us to try soon. Nick Jonsson joined the team in place of Scott Maxwell, who will be back in the car at Mosport.

"The race was a bit of a banger race out there. There were cars all over the place, spinning and being hit from other cars, and my mate Mags wasn't even there! He would have loved it out there..... Hope the wedding went well mate. Sorry I missed it.

"Peter started and he got through the first corner without any problems. He was giving chase to the Saleen and was doing a good job keeping Terry in sight. A yellow came out and I jumped in. The Saleen didn't pit to try a different strategy, hoping another yellow would come out. It didn't, so when they pitted we were up to 3rd. Johnny was catching me and I didn't put much of a fight on, because our mirrors on the car are really bad and I didn't see him.

"I didn't see him, but I did hear him when he was beside me. I knew he would get past as he still has a good advantage on us. Then I saw I was third again when the no 4 Vette had a problem. He came up very quickly and passed me as if I was in a GT car! I know if we had the Ferrari 550's here, we would struggle to beat them.

"I then handed to Peter again and he took off in pursuit of a finish. This didn't materialise, as a Porsche hit him and bent the suspension. Our other car also went out with drive train problems. So no points again.

"So off to Mosport in Canada, another great track and a great city, Toronto."