Barrichello labels first IndyCar oval test at Texas a 'truly awesome' experience

The Brazilian said he was able to feel comfortable running on the 24-degree banking at the 1.5-mile circuit, and that the main challenge was not getting flat but maintaining his line and vision at over 200mph.

"It's different from anything I've tried," Barrichello said. "On my second run, after I broke the 200s, I was so excited. It was truly awesome.

"I've been to places in Formula 1 that you have to have the courage to take it flat to gain a hundreth [of a second]. Here, it wasn't the case of getting flat because it's not that difficult, but it's keeping the line and the vision on it.

"I'm truly excited, but my mind is still processing everything from the time on the track. I am comfortable running, but I just need another 5,000 days to get it to the level of [2004 IndyCar champion and friend] Tony [Kanaan]."

Barrichello said his main challenge was learning to run in traffic and use more than one lane, but said the excitement of learning to adapt was precisely why he had moved into IndyCar.

"I told the officials to let everyone running close to me give a margin because I'm still not so comfortable running just one lane; maybe one and a half lanes," he explained.

"I'm not totally at peace with the car. I'm driving okay, but I'm not driving my best just yet because I'm not familiar with everything just yet."

"I'm definitely a newcomer and it's an exciting challenge. [If it wasn't] I would have stayed home. I truly love this."