I’ve come close in the last couple of years, but this is my best chance yet. I’ll be giving it everything to ensure I finish the weekend as World Champion.
Two races are all that stand between me and my goal. I’m leading my Chevrolet team-mate Alain Menu by 35 points with a maximum of 55 points available this weekend.
The last event in Shanghai was key to my title dream. My other team-mate, 2011 WTCC Champion Yvan Muller, and I started the weekend sharing the championship lead. He had a bad weekend, whereas I won a race and finished second in the other.
While I’m in a good position, there’s still a lot of racing to go. And, as Shanghai showed, anything can happen, especially at a street circuit like Macau.
The Circuito da Guia is like nowhere else we race, with wide, high-speed straights funnelling into tight, low-speed corners. Throughout, you’re surrounded by barriers; there’s no margin for error.
I’m feeling fresh after a good week back at home. Admittedly, it was a long week, waiting to go racing in Macau, but at least I had plenty of Twitter and Facebook messages of support to go through. Thanks to everyone who got in touch, it means a lot.
Speaking of support, I’ve got a huge group of friends who have made the trip over here to cheer me on this weekend. Macau’s always a good place for a party, hopefully I can really give them something to celebrate on Sunday night.
But before that, I’ve got two of the most important races of my life.
We started with a 30-minute test session today, in which I set the third-fastest time. The Cruze felt good straight away and there was more time in it; we actually pitted on a lap in which I was set to go nearly a second faster.
There wasn’t a lot of grip out there, but that will change during practice and qualifying on Friday. Then, after a day off on Saturday, Sunday is the big day, with a pair of nine-lap races. I won both of them last year, and I’ve won a race each time I’ve been to Macau since 2008, so I’m feeling good.
I’ve always loved racing here, hopefully I’ll love it even more by the end of the weekend.
