From: Michael Powell 
 
Rookie Mark Taylor Top Chevy Qualifier In Japan
 
MOTEGI, Japan, April 16, 2004 - Englishman Mark Taylor, an IRL rookie, was the
fastest of the five Chevy-powered drivers for Saturday's Indy Japan 300. Taylor
qualified the Menards/Johns Manville Chevrolet Dallara in the 14th spot at
203.787 mph. His Panther Racing teammate Tomas Scheckter was 16th fastest at
202.952 mph. Red Bull Cheever Racing teammates Alex Barron and Ed Carpenter
qualified 19th and 20th respectively, and Robbie Buhl was 21st in the Dreyer &
Reinbold Racing Team Purex Chevrolet Dallara. 
 
Honda drivers Dan Wheldon and Greg Ray will start on the front row after
qualifying at 205.762 and 205.722 mph respectively. 
 
The egg-shaped 1.5-mile oval north of Tokyo has a challenging configuration
with sweeping turns in the first two corners and tight-radius turns in the
third and fourth corners. Gusty winds at the mountaintop track added to the
degree of difficulty. 
 
"I've never been here before, and it's a completely different track to
anything I've driven on," said Taylor. "With the wind picking up,
we knew it
was going to be tough this afternoon. The car's good - it's just a matter of
getting time on the track. 
 
"We had some problems in practice yesterday, so it was good to get out this
morning and get comfortable with the car," Taylor continued.
"Therefore I was
able to push it a bit more than I did yesterday. I was happy with the
qualifying lap, but there is always room for improvement. We're going in the
right direction, and that's what matters. Whatever happens tomorrow, it's going
to be a long, hard race and should be good fun." 
 
Scheckter rebounded from an accident yesterday in practice and qualified his
spare Pennzoil Chevrolet Dallara today. 
 
"I didn't get Turns 3 and 4 right and tried to carry a little too much
speed,"
Scheckter said. "That cost maybe a mile and a half on the qualifying lap. I'm
disappointed because everyone at Pennzoil Panther Racing and Chevy has worked
hard. It's been a tough weekend so far, and I just made it a little tougher for
myself, but I think we'll have a good race car." 
 
According to GM Racing aerodynamics and chassis engineer Kevin Bayless, the
Twin Ring Motegi circuit makes unique demands. 
 
"Motegi requires a compromise on chassis setups because in essence you have
two different tracks in one lap," Bayless explained. "It takes a delicate
balance to get through the slow end of the track as fast as you can without
sacrificing speed on the fast end of the track." 
 
The Red Bull Cheever Racing team elected to change engines in Alex Barron's
Dallara after qualifying and consequently Barron will start at the back of the
field. 
 
"We thought the car would be quicker than that," said Barron.
"We made some
last-minute changes to the car, and we didn't have much time to prepare. We got
in the qualifying line and thought everything was going to be OK. We had a
really good balance with the car but didn't have the speed." 
 
Rookie Ed Carpenter recovered from a spin on the front stretch in the morning
session before making his qualifying run for his first race at Motegi. 
 
"We've been struggling a little all weekend," Carpenter conceded.
"We had a
little accident at the end of the last practice session that set us back. We
tried a different approach for qualifying. We're going to continue to work on
our race car and hope for a better tomorrow." 
 
"We had a lot of movement in the car in the corners," Buhl
reported after his
qualifying laps. "We have to focus on having a good car with a setup we can
drive all day. We haven't been at the front so we have to concentrate on being
on a good race pace." 
 
The Indy Japan 300 will get the green flag at 12:30 p.m. local time on
Saturday, April 17. The 200-lap, 300-mile race will be televised live in the
U.S. on ESPN2 at 11:30 p.m. on Friday night, April 16. 
 
INDY JAPAN 300 QUALIFYING SUMMARY: 
 
Pos./Driver/Engine/Speed 
 
1. Dan Wheldon, Honda, 205.762 mph 
2. Greg Ray, Honda, 205.722 
3. Tony Kanaan, Honda, 205.690 
4. Kosuke Matsuura, Honda, 205.629 
5. Buddy Rice, Honda, 205.408 
14. Mark Taylor, Chevrolet, 203.787 
16. Tomas Scheckter, Chevrolet, 202.952 
19. Alex Barron, Chevrolet, 199.835 
20. Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 195.454 
21. Robbie Buhl, Chevrolet, 195.358 
 
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest vehicle manufacturer,
employs about 325,000 people globally. Founded in 1908, GM has been the global
automotive sales leader since 1931. GM today has manufacturing operations in 32
countries and its vehicles are sold in 192 countries. In 2003, GM sold nearly
8.6 million cars and trucks, about 15 percent of the global vehicle market.
GM's global headquarters is at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More
information on GM and its products can be found on the company's consumer
website at www.gm.com. 
 
___ Internet Rex 2.29
 


--- GTMail 1.26