Race Report - Indy Japan 300
MOTEGI, Japan April 20, 2008—History was made in IndyCar
racing at Japan’s Twin Ring Motegi superspeedway when Danica Patrick
used patience and team strategy to become the first woman ever to
win an IndyCar race Sunday afternoon. Conserving fuel in the last
quarter of the race, Patrick completed the 200 laps with one less
fuel stop than most of her male competitors. Only championship
points leader Helio Castroneves was on the same fuel strategy and
Patrick passed him on lap 198.
Darren Manning drove one of his best oval races to date since
joining A.J. Foyt’s team last year and while the yellow flags worked
to Patrick’s advantage, Manning wasn’t so fortunate. Starting 12th
according to points when qualifying was rained out, Manning jumped
into the top ten immediately.
He moved steadily up through field and was running sixth when he
pitted during the first round of pitstops. However, the yellow came
out halfway through that cycle so the crew waved him through the
pits and he had to pit again when the pits opened. He lost some
track position and was seventh on the restart. He passed Townsend
Bell on the restart and ran sixth until lap 91 when another yellow
(for debris) came out.
Manning pitted and maintained his sixth position but on the restart
he was passed by Patrick who also passed Ryan Briscoe for fifth.
Manning ran in seventh until he pitted again under green on lap 140
only to have the yellow wave again a lap later when Roger Yasukawa
stopped on track.
The leaders pitted, putting Manning at the tail end of the lead lap.
He dropped to ninth at that point but passed Bell to take eighth
which is where he ran until the checkered flag fell.
Following Patrick and Castroneves across the line were Scott Dixon,
Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan.
“Darren drove a good race and our ABC guys gave Darren solid pit
stops but we just didn’t have any luck with the yellows,” said Team
Director Larry Foyt. “Still it’s our best run ever at this track so
we’re encouraged by that.”
The IndyCar teams’ tight schedule became even tighter as the race
was delayed a day by morning rain on Saturday and subsequent weeping
track conditions which couldn’t be adequately repaired until late
that day. The teams will leave Tokyo on Monday and arrive in Indy
Monday evening, uncrate their cars and equipment and head to Kansas
Speedway on Friday.
NOTES & QUOTES: Bridgestone Indy Japan 300
Darren Manning: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Darren Manning on Twin Ring Motegi: “I am glad to be back here
because I like this track a lot. Although we struggled to find a
good set-up here last year, we finally did find it by the end of the
race. The car was really good so we have a good baseline to start
with this year. With the weather looking iffy, we need to get the
most out of our time on track Thursday because Friday could be a
wash-out.”
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 three times 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.” In
2007, Manning started 18th and was running 11th when he had to duck
into the pits for fuel, he finished 12th. “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,” Manning
said afterwards..
Post-race Get-together: Following his first race in Japan, Darren
Manning organized (loosely) a post-race driver party in Tokyo the
night of the race which has become a tradition among the drivers.
“It started out with a just a few of my friends and now it has grown
so that nearly everyone goes,” said Manning. “It’s a good way for
the drivers to bond at the start of the season.”
Tetsuo Kuramochi, the young Japanese law student who befriended the
Foyt team during their initial visit to Japan in 2003, has been to
every race here in Twin Ring Motegi and has been to the last two
Indy 500s among other races on the IndyCar circuit. Kuramochi will
be commuting from his home in Utsonomiya.
Last Race: Manning started 11th in the Honda Grand Prix of St
Petersburg and ran as high as fourth but a faulty gearbox forced him
off the pace as he couldn’t shift out of third gear on lap 76. He
managed to stay in the race thanks to a timely yellow (with about 10
minutes to go) and placed 13th.
The Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at
12:00 am midnight early Saturday morning. The race will be shown
again on ESPN on Saturday afternoon starting at 3 pm. All times are
eastern. |
