From: Michael Powell 
 
For Immediate Release
 
HONDAS LEAD FIRST PRACTICE AT TWIN RING MOTEGI
 
MOTEGI, Japan, April 15, 2004 # Honda drivers paced the opening day of
practice 
for the Indy Japan 300 posting three of the five fastest times on a blustery
day 
at Twin Ring Motegi on April 15.
 
Andretti Green teammates Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti posted the top times
 
of the day, posting laps of 26.8357 seconds, 203.907 mph, and 27.0390 seconds,
 
202.374 mph, respectively, in their Dallara/Honda/Firestone entries. Defending
 
Indy Japan 300 winner Scott Sharp was third with a fast lap of 27.1018
seconds, 
201.905 mph, in his Dallara/Toyota/Firestone.
 
The day marred by four separate incidents which damaged the cars of Scott
Dixon, 
Tomas Scheckter, Sam Hornish Jr., and Tora Takagi. All four incidents occurred
 
in Turn 4.
 
Dixon suffered a non-displaced hairline fracture of the tip of fibula in his 
left ankle. He will be re-evaluated by doctors Friday morning.
 
Takagi was airlifted to Dokkyo University Hospital complaining of back pain.
He 
will undergo X-rays of his neck and back.
 
***
 
FASTEST SPEEDS OF MORNING SESSION
 
Pos.    Car     Name            C/E/T   Speed
 
1       11      Tony Kanaan     D/H/F   201.091 mph
2       15      Buddy Rice      G/H/F   200.842 mph
3       6       Sam Hornish Jr  D/T/F   200.119 mph
4       17      Vitor Meira     G/H/F   199.786 mph
5       1       Scott Dixon     G/T/F   199.581 mph
 
***
 
FASTEST SPEEDS OF AFTERNOON SESSION
 
Pos.    Car     Name              C/E/T Speed
 
1       11      Tony Kanaan       D/H/F 203.907 mph
2       27      Dario Franchitti  D/H/F 202.374 mph
3       8       Scott Sharp       D/T/F 201.905 mph
4       3       Helio Castroneves D/T/F 201.876 mph
5       15      Buddy Rice        G/H/F 201.662 mph
 
***
 
TOP COMBINED PRACTICE SPEEDS
 
Pos.    Car     Name    C/E/T     Speed
 
1       11      Tony Kanaan       D/H/F 203.907 mph
2       27      Dario Franchitti  D/H/F 202.374 mph
3       8       Scott Sharp       D/T/F 201.905 mph
4       3       Helio Castroneves D/T/F 201.876 mph
5       15      Buddy Rice        G/H/F 201.662 mph
 
***
 
INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:
 
ALEX BARRON (No. 51 Red Bull Cheever Racing Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone):
#This 
is a great way to test ourselves and prepare for Indy. I feel like we#re
making 
great progress. We made a big improvement from the first session to the second
 
with the balance of the car and have made a lot of good changes to prepare 
ourselves for both qualifying and the race. I#m looking forward to this
event.#
 
ED CARPENTER (No. 52 Red Bull Cheever Racing Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone): 
#We#re making progress and getting better each time out. It was a hard day
since 
I#ve never been here before, so I was concentrating on getting my bearings and
 
getting used to the track. We still have some work to do to make the car as
good 
as it needs to be for the race, but I#m looking forward to posting strong 
results this time out for Red Bull Cheever Racing.#
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): #We 
spent the day working on our baseline setup. It was very windy, and the
Marlboro 
Team Penske car had a bit of understeer which we were able to improve by the
end 
of the day. Tomorrow we#ll work on our qualifying setup and see if we can put 
the car at the front of the grid for Saturday#s race.#
 
A.J. FOYT IV (No. 14 Conseco/A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): #The 
first session, we were just dialing the Conseco car in with the new aero 
package. Also, it#s my first time here with the Dallara chassis because last 
year I ran a (Panoz) G-Force. In the second session, we worked harder on
picking 
up our speed, and I think we have a pretty good race car. It was a good first 
day.#
 
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 27 Alpine Dallara/Honda/Firestone): #This was one of the
 
hardest first days we've had because of the wind and the dust on the track.
The 
team came well prepared with all four cars, but it#s only the first day.
There#s 
no points for the first day. Tomorrow is when the important stuff starts. It's
 
all about Saturday.# 
 
SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): #Our 
focus today was working on race setup. The car had understeer so we were
trying 
a number of changes to improve the balance. Overall, track conditions were 
pretty good, but it got windier later in the day. In the afternoon session, I 
was coming out of Turn 4 when the Marlboro Team Penske car pushed up. I lifted
 
but unfortunately still made contact with the wall. The primary car was beyond
 
repair, so we#re going to our backup. Tomorrow morning, we#ll shake down the
car 
and get ready for qualifying.#
 
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone): #Winning at Twin 
Ring Motegi means everything. It#s like an Indianapolis 500. This is Honda's 
track. They've been trying to win this race for seven years. They've been
close 
every year, so it means everything. This is the last race of the 3.5-liter 
engine, so if one of us wins, I think we're going to have to stand up in the 
museum for a week, ourselves and our cars. I'm sure you guys have an idea how 
important this race is for Honda and for us. We (Kanaan and Dario Franchitti) 
are the two oldest Honda drivers around. We#ve been racing for Honda forever.#
 
KOSUKE MATSUURA (No. 55 Panasonic ARTA Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone): ##I am 
very happy to have the car we had today. I think (race engineer) John Dick and
 
my mechanics did a great job, because at the other two races this year, we 
didn#t have a very good car on the first day, but this time it was quite good.
 
We improved a lot from the first session to the second session again, like at 
Phoenix. I think I could have done a better time in the second session, but I 
cut a tire in the first session, so we used our second set of tires. I am very
 
confident for this race, and I am very happy to drive and enjoy this track.# 
 
VITOR MEIRA (No. 17 Rahal-Letterman BEA Systems Panoz G
Force/Toyota/Firestone): 
#Actually, I wasn#t expecting our No. 17 team to be this good right away. I
was 
new to the team and the track, and the team is new to the series. But after
the 
very first lap, I felt that the car was very, very good, and I was
comfortable. 
Team Rahal and Honda did all of the hard work to give me a strong car. This
car 
had not run until this morning, so I was shocked that everything went so well.
I 
don#t have 100 laps on the car yet, but it feels fantastic. Working with Buddy
 
(Rice) and Roger (Yasukawa) is a big help, too. I#m looking forward to Friday 
and Saturday very much. This is a good team.#
 
BUDDY RICE (No. 15 Pioneer/Argent Mortgage Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone): 
#I think we are looking very good with the three cars. We are able to exchange
 
information, and that is much different than before for me. It#s a huge help
for 
our team. Having teammates puts everyone on the same page. It#s a big help to 
have all of Team Rahal#s resources concentrated on one series. It was spread
out 
before with the different series, and I think you see that now we are running 
together, too. The Honda motor is very strong, and that shows how hard the
Honda 
guys have worked. They have done the same on the new 3.0-liter engine, too.
It#s 
great to see all of the Honda cars up front on the chart.# 
 
SCOTT SHARP (No. 8 Delphi Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): #I am very pleased where
we 
ended the day today. We made great gains between the morning and afternoon 
sessions. Andy (Borme), my engineer, made some really good changes, and the 
Delphi crew worked really hard. We hope to keep gaining momentum and finish 
tomorrow's qualifying in the top 10 which will put us in a great position to
go 
racing on Saturday.#
 
TORA TAKAGI (No. 12 Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing Dallara/Toyota/Firestone): #I can#t
 
remember what happened. I was cautious as I was on a new set of cold tires,
but 
suddenly, I lost it.#
 
ROGER YASUKAWA (No. 16 Sammy Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone): #We had a really 
good day with the new Sammy team. This crew is very professional and 
experienced. I did race last year but I am learning, and guys like Don
Halliday 
(chief engineer) and Dennis Swan (crew chief) are great to give me their 
insight. The car feels good, and now we want to fine tune it for qualifying
and 
the race. We were able to do some race-trim setup, and now we can look over
the 
data and improve the car for Friday. It feels very good to be back in a car 
after sitting out for about seven months. Having teammates is good, too. I 
didn#t have the advantage of that situation last year, and it is good to talk 
with Buddy and Vitor about the car. It is always better to use everyone#s 
information.#
 
***
 
FRIDAY#S SCHEDULE (all times local):
 
8 a.m.  Indy Racing League garage opens
9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.       IndyCar Series practice (two groups)
12:30 p.m.      IndyCar Series MBNA Pole Qualifying
3:45 p.m.- 4:15 p.m.    IndyCar Series warmup
 
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