 Darren
Manning and the ABC Supply team soldiered through a tough weekend to finish
twelfth in the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi Saturday afternoon.
From the
outset on Thursday, the team struggled to make Manning feel comfortable in the
No. 14 Dallara/Honda. The team took a different direction with set-up on Friday
which Manning liked. However, qualifying didn't go particularly well and
although he was starting 18 th, Manning was confident that he had a
good race car for the race.
In the race
Manning advanced to 13th by lap 10, a position he held through the
first couple of pit stops. A long pitstop on lap 87 under green contributed to
his losing two laps to the leaders. However, he was able to gain a lap back on
the following pit stop when a yellow came out after the leaders had pitted. He
moved up to 11 th which is where he ran until he had to duck into the
pits for a splash of fuel with four laps to go, dropping him to 12th.
 "I'm
not worried about the results just yet because we're still learning and
improving as a team," said Manning afterwards. "It's just our second oval race
together and I'm licking my lips to get to Indy because of all the testing time
we'll have there. Today, the car was a bit of a struggle in the middle part of
the race but the last quarter of the race it was really sweet--I could race with
the guys.
"I'm happy
to be heading to Kansas because I think we have a good baseline now," he
continued. "If we had only started with the set-up we ended up with, we would
have had a much better showing. The important thing is we continue to improve
every time out."
Tony Kanaan
won the race after a close last lap duel with Dan Wheldon. Finishing third
through fifth were Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Sam Hornish Jr.
The IndyCar
Series returns to the States to compete at Kansas Speedway next Sunday, April 29th.
The race will be broadcast live on ESPN2 starting at 4:30pm eastern time.
NOTES & QUOTES: Bridgestone Indy Japan 300
Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Darren Manning on Twin Ring Motegi: “You have a fast corner in
one and two which you can run flat and a slow corner in three and four
so the track is a combination of downforce and handling which makes it
very interesting. I like this track a lot.” Manning on Japan: “I spent a lot of time here in ‘99 when I ran
the All Japan F-3 Series. They still remember me. I love the people
and I love the food. I usually come back here at least once a year to
race something.” Manning won the All Japan F-3 championship in 1999,
winning six consecutive races.
Past IndyCar races in Japan: Manning has competed twice at Twin
Ring Motegi. In his initial visit, he qualified 10th and finished
fourth, his career best finish to date. In 2005, “we were running
fourth again when I ran out gas. We finished eighth.”
A.J. Foyt spent his first night ever in Tokyo since he began
coming to Japan in 2003. Usually going straight from the Narita
airport to the Motegi track, Foyt came in a day early to attend a
Honda-hosted reception for the owners and drivers at the Westin hotel
in Tokyo. “I was amazed at the size of Tokyo,” said Foyt. “It’s about
four times the size of Houston. I knew it was a big city but I had no
idea it was that big! I couldn’t believe how many skyscrapers they had
and how close together the buildings are. I really enjoyed my visit
there, I wish I could have stayed a little longer. My wife Lucy came
to Tokyo about 16 years ago when I owned a Honda dealership and she
was very impressed. Now I know why.”
Tetsuo Kuramochi, the young Japanese law student who befriended
the Foyt team during their initial visit to Japan in 2003, will make
his fifth straight IndyCar race, dating back to last year. However,
Kuramochi will be commuting from his home in Utsonomiya. Kuramochi
worked with the team for the final two events of last year and flew
over in March to work both the Miami and St. Petersburg events. It was
his first trip to Florida. Last May he celebrated his 20th birthday on
pole day in Indianapolis. “It rained but it was the best birthday of
my life,” said Kuramochi. “A.J. gave me a great present—letting me
join his team at Indy. I really appreciated that and I thank him very
much from my heart.”
Last Race: Manning competed in the Indy car race through the
streets of St. Petersburg for the first time since 2005. He qualified
fifth and was running in the top four (and as high as third) for most
of the race until he spun on lap 72 while battling with Tony Kanaan.
Manning restarted but had lost a lap before corner workers pushed him
off. He placed 13th.
The Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 will be broadcast on tape delay on ESPN
April 21, Saturday at 12:00 noon eastern time. |
