Time. It’s a strange thing time. Even our very perception of it changes completely depending on our perspective. For example, two years feels like a lifetime when thinking about the last time we saw, held or spoke to a lost loved one. But when thinking of the tragic, violent way they were taken from us, each of those 24 months melt away until it feels just like yesterday.

Right now the 16th October 2011 feels just like yesterday for many of us.

I didn't lose a husband, father, son or brother that day like the remarkably strong and inspiring Wheldon family did. But I did lose a friend. And that’s one of the many things that made Dan Wheldon so very special, because two years ago today the whole world lost a friend.

There can be no denying that today will be hard for us all. But as painful, tearful and difficult as it will be, we can only imagine how hard today is for his family. Dan was always known for his Lionheart spirit but in the two years following his loss the Wheldons have shown such incredible strength and dignity that it’s easy to see where he got it from. His young sister, Holly in particular has shown immense courage, often inspiring and lifting us with a Lionheart spirit that would make Dan very proud. We can only wish them peace and comfort as they face their loss and grief again today and every day.

They say that time is a great healer too. Yet somehow the loss and grief seems just as vivid and strong today as it did on that fateful day in Las Vegas. Perhaps the recent tragic loss of Maria de Villota and Sean Edwards has heightened our already fragile emotions. Not forgetting Dan’s close friend, Dario Franchitti’s horrendous Houston accident last week too. That couldn't fail to make us all hold our collective breath once again; conjuring up images and thoughts we’d just as soon try to forget.

This emotional roller coaster certainly hasn't made Dan’s memorial any easier to cope with, but I think the depth of loss we feel is due to something more. Because Dan was something more. He wasn't just another driver; he was a friend, he was family, he was one of us. He had that incredible ability to make everyone feel special and important. You met him once and you were a friend for life. Even those who hadn't met him personally still felt a bond with him as it was virtually impossible not to be captivated by his whiter than white smile, that mischievous glint in his eye, that cheeky school boy charm. Everyone fell under the spell of the neat freak Brit with a shoe fetish and too tight overalls who never failed to make you feel happy.

Indeed one memory that keeps coming back to me is of him laughing hysterically after Jenson Button almost ran me over during their early Formula Ford days.  It wasn't even that funny, but I’m pretty sure he made us all laugh so hard that eventually our ribs hurt even more than my pride did…

We all have and share our own similar stories and memories of this wonderful, much loved and deeply missed man.  Because although Dan wasn't given anywhere near as much time as he deserved another thing that made him so special is that he always found time for others. At Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2011 he was called to dinner with Lord March but told him he’d have to wait as he hadn't finished signing autographs and meeting people. Nobody could have known then just how precious that time he spent with those fans was to become only a few months later.

Which brings us back to that word again: Time. It’s a paradox, a healer, a precious gift and, all too often, cruelly short.

Time may one day help to numb the pain and loss we feel on the 16th October a little. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that our hearts will never let us forget Dan and the special part he played in our all our lives. 

So today I’m taking time to remember and pay tribute to Dan Wheldon - the awesome race-driver, devoted husband, caring brother, loving son, doting father.

And friend to us all.

Here’s to you Lionheart

... It is a reality.

The inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be held on 8-10 May 2014

My feeling towards this race swing from 30-70 against when it was first seriously muted amongst the media to 70-30 for as we are today, post press conference. 

My original reasons against were from a traditional stand point, May should be about the 500, end of. But after hearing from those in charge of the series and also IMS discuss the virtues of having a road course race at the track it really hit home a number of key issues. Here are just a few thoughts on them and also about the race itself coming up...

1 - Indycar is no longer in the position it once was a decade or more back. Eyes on cars, cars on track has to be a good thing. (ABC/ESPN eyes too).

2 - The 'month' of May has been becoming shorter, this way we have more on track activity. I was watching the opening day stream earlier this year and stood near a car with no one else in sight was a friend of mine on her own, more people through the gates can not be a bad thing.

3 - Reality of modern life is that sport is a business and it has to pay. To have a racing facility just sat there for the majority of the year is wrong from a commercial stand point.

4 - Pricing, on the whole as a stand alone event, mixed to positive. I have seem some grumblings and do agree that with the close proximity of the 500, it wont hurt the 500, it will hurt the RC race. £12-£45 for a high quality race, compared to many sporting events this side of the Atlantic, I call that a great deal!

5 - I have attended races at Spa and Detroit in recent years, with very limited viewing of the cars on track.  This will not be the case at IMS, improvements to the mounds and addition infield seating will allow greater viewing of the cars, something I can actually agree with a higher price for!

6 - The schedule as it stands is still looking a little bare, although personally I would love to see more ovals, we have to be realistic with what actually works and where the series can get a race.

7 - Having the full 'Road to Indy' on the same weekend will be great for them, the drivers, teams and sponsors to have a race associated with IMS, great exposure to new fans and especially Indy Lights as the series goes forward.

8 - The track itself will have a number of improvements, this is not the F1 track from ten years ago, and lets be honest, the DW12 races well pretty much anywhere.

Not a definitive list of thoughts and issues but some I have had on my mind for the past few weeks. The time to complain about tradition for the track passed in 1994 when stock cars took to the Brickyard. For too long Indycar has stood still, whilst others have galloped past, time to get on that pony.