KEY POINTS:
Kiwi Scott Dixon has put the disappointment of just failing to win last year's IndyCar title behind him and is focusing on the Indy 500 crown.
On a short break back in New Zealand to catch up with family and friends, Dixon was looking forward to an assault on the 2008 season with a vengeance.
"That's the funny thing about the Indy 500, it's got a mysticism about it. It only comes around once a year. I would say it's the most difficult thing to win. On the other hand, having won a championship I would definitely love to win it."
After close runs in 2006 and last year, Dixon has an even greater hunger to place another IRL championship trophy in his cabinet.
"We came up a bit short in the last two seasons," said Dixon.
Dixon, in his fifth year of IndyCar racing, had his best chance of winning a second championship with Target Chip Ganassi Racing as the series entered its last round in Chicago. Only three points separated points leader, Scot Dario Franchitti, and Dixon, but it wasn't going to be Dixon's year.
He has no intention, in the immediate future, of following some of his fellow IndyCar drivers to Nascar, as he has two years left of his contract with Ganassi Racing. Having come so close to his second IRL title, Dixon is optimistic that the team is going in the right direction this year.
"Last year we were able to narrow in on the things you wanted to do [to the car]," he said. "For 2008 we're concentrating on the smaller things and the focus has changed. Already they've been doing a lot of pre-season testing and work for the Indy 500, something I've never seen the team do before. Obviously there's been a shift up there in management and they've set that as their focus.
"It's definitely a good way to start the season, as it [the race] comes so early and you can still go for a championship afterwards. Hopefully it's a good thing and we don't peak too early."
Happy the car is continuing to improve and the crew is working well as a team, Dixon wants to work on some of his skills. "I need to work on my qualifying a little more in road racing because as far as the race is concerned, we're fine as we have a very fast race car.
"But I didn't qualify as well as I would have liked. In fact we had a test at Sonoma where we worked on some of that stuff, and there are areas we definitely improved."
Last year's battle for the championships was a street brawl. Andretti Green Racing, and team drivers Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, were more than willing to use team tactics to thwart Dixon's attempt to win the title. It's a better-than-even chance the battle will continue.
"Normally the rivalry has been between Ganassi and Penske but they've always kept it friendly," said Dixon. "But at AGR I think you've got a few key people whose emotions let themselves go. You've got Michael [Andretti], who's very open to blowing his top and probably saying inappropriate things, and TK [Tony Kanaan] who is very similar to that.
"Marco [Andretti] and Dario [Franchitti] are very professional, they have their problems but keep it to themselves. Danica [Patrick] is probably in line with the others."
With two of his biggest rivals, Franchitti and Sam Hornish jnr, moving to Nascar, Dixon must be odds-on favourite to win a second IRL title and finally win the iconic Indianapolis 500.
Dixon is one of the nominees for the 2007 Halberg Awards, which recognise outstanding achievement by New Zealand athletes at home and abroad. He won four races and had nine other top-five finishes in 17 events to finish second in the 2007 championships, 13 points behind Franchitti. The awards will be announced on February 19.
QUICK LEARNER
Scott Dixon, like many of the greats of New Zealand motor sport, started in karts getting his first taste of oval racing at the Mt Wellington track many years ago. He then went on to win two championships in the New Zealand Formula Vee series.
After a successful racing career in Australia and New Zealand he moved on to the Dayton Indy Lights series in North America. There he added another championship in 2000 for PacWest Racing.
Dixon moved up to the CART series in 2001, finishing eighth in the championship and being named Rookie of the Year.
In 2002, Target Chip Ganassi Racing signed him and he had 12 top-10 finishes. But 2003 was Dixon's season. He began with a victory at the season-opener in Homestead, Florida and went on to capture the series.
The following two years were a struggle with an underperforming car and with the addition of a Honda engine in 2006 things improved. He finished fourth that year and second in 2007.
