From: Michael Powell 

TAYLOR PASSES ROOKIE TEST; PHOENIX TESTING CONTINUES

INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Dec. 5, 2003 – Mark Taylor, the 2003 Menards Infiniti
Pro Series champion, passed his IRL IndyCar(R) Series rookie test Dec. 4
with Panther Racing at Phoenix International Raceway. 

Taylor, who won seven races in the No. 4 Fulmar/Panther entry en route to
the 2003 Menards Infiniti Pro Series championship, will team with veteran
Tomas Scheckter at Panther in 2004.

“Mark performed very well during his rookie test,” said Brian Barnhart,
senior vice president of racing operations for the IRL. “He was very smooth
and consistent. The skills he learned on his way to winning the Menards
Infiniti Pro Series championship in 2003 have translated to the faster and
more powerful IndyCar Series cars. 

“His easy transition to the IndyCar Series cars proves that the Menards
Infiniti Pro Series is doing its job as the official development series of
the Indy Racing League.”

Dan Wheldon, who won the 2003 Bombardier Rookie of the Year title with
Andretti Green Racing, concluded two days of testing Dec. 4 at Phoenix. 

“Thursday was a good day,” Wheldon said. “We continued working on some
setup items that gave me a better feeling as to what I wanted the car to
do. We definitely improved that, so that was very good. We also continued
working strenuously with Honda on some things for 2004, and that really
came a long way. 

“Overall, it was really a very productive test. I think there was a lot
that we learned. It seems crazy to say this, but the 2004 season is just
around the corner, and this test should help us quite a bit in our quest to
make sure that all of our cars at Andretti Green Racing are very
competitive. This bit of work gives us a great baseline from which to
start.”

In addition to Scheckter, Taylor and Wheldon, IndyCar Series veteran Alex
Barron and Menards Infiniti Pro Series veteran Ed Carpenter both tested for
Red Bull Cheever Racing.

Scheckter, Taylor and Barron are expected to test again on Dec. 5 along
with rookie Kousuke Matsuura, who is scheduled to test for Super Aguri
Fernandez Racing. 



--- Internet Rex 2.29