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MIGHTY Felipe Massa hopes to feel the sheer joy of victory all over again when he races in the kingdom after thrilling fans by storming to success at last year's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
He returns to the island next week for racing practice and will greet well-wishers and sign autographs at Seef Mall on February 8 as part of the Ithmaar Group 'Yalla Bahrain!' programme of community events.
The Brazilian driving ace will be remembered for getting off to a superb start from pole position at the Sakhir track last April and staying ahead for the rest of the race despite being involved in a classic dual with newcomer, Lewis Hamilton.
GulfWeekly captured his celebrations just seconds after he jumped out of his fearsome Ferrari and in an exclusive interview with this newspaper yesterday, he said: "Sure, it would be great to win for the second time in a row! I like the circuit - there are different types of bends and also a couple of points where you can overtake.
"It was a beautiful victory, most of all because of the way it came. I did the pole and I led the race from the beginning till the end. The team did a fantastic job and I didn't make any mistakes.
"It meant a lot to me since I had been criticised a lot after the earlier Sepang race and winning in Sakhir was the best way to reply."
Massa is back in Bahrain with Finnish champion Kimi Raikonnen and the Ferrari team on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday testing their newly-modified cars in preparation for the F1 season which starts in Australia on March 16.
Massa said preparations for the new challenge ahead were going "quite well", adding: "We started the development of the F2008 in Jerez and the first impressions are very positive.
"Having said this, we know it is still too early to say what will be the pecking order in the field: to have a quick answer, we will have to wait for the race in Australia.
"The February tests we will be doing in Sakhir will be very important."
Success during this period will be vital for the driver if he is to better last year's three wins and six pole positions in a season marred by reliability issues and a disqualification in Canada which put him out of title contention. Nevertheless, he played a vital role in Ferrari's 2007 championship double and was delighted to re-sign for the team until 2010.
During his visits to Bahrain Massa often stays at the Ritz-Carlton hotel and is full of praise for the kingdom and the locals. "The treatment is really very good in that hotel but I have to say people are very welcoming in the whole country," he said.
Massa and Raikonnen can be seen again at the Bahrain International Circuit from February 9-11 as testing continues alongside Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock.
The Bahrain Gulf Air Grand Prix takes place on April 4, 5 and 6.
