I originally tried playing it with motion controls (pitch and steering) but I just couldn't get it to feel natural. It was hard for me to gauge how precisely my movements were translating into the degree I turned. The minute I switched to the analog stick, I was comfortable.

As for the other controls, after playing the game for a few hours, my hand started cramping. I tweaked a few things so the buttons weren't so crowded and didn't rely on the face buttons so much:

L2+R2 - air brakes
L1 - use/fire pickup
R1 - absorb pickup
Square - accelerate

This way, I can use five fingers to press five buttons, as opposed to three fingers with my thumb doing triple duty. And I moved accelerate to square simply because it lets my thumb reach more so it's not as bent... it's all about my hands not being cramped. Works great so far.