Honda Car Forum

Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 Race Report

Circuit: Twin Ring Motegi (1.5-mile oval) Tochigi, Japan

2006 Winner: Helio Castroneves (Honda) 153.248 mph average

Weather: Mostly sunny, mild, 74 degrees F

Race Results:

Kanaan Fast & Efficient To Win Twin Ring Motegi

Tony Kanaan not only had one of the fastest IndyCars today at the Honda-owned
Twin Ring Motegi circuit, it also was the most fuel-efficient and that combination
proved impossible to beat as the Andretti Green Racing driver and 2004 series
champion claimed his first victory of 2007 at the Bridgestone Indy Japan
300.

It was yet another successful race weekend for the new 3.5-liter Honda
HI7R IndyCar Series engine, which races on 100 per cent fuel-grade ethanol
in all
IndyCar Series events in 2007. The 18 drivers and teams competing at Motegi
completed 5,691 laps of practice, qualifying and racing this weekend - a
total of 8,536.5 miles - without a single engine-related failure once
again.

Starting third, Kanaan and series points leader Dan Wheldon broke away
from the rest of the 18-car starting field several times, and along with Team
Penske's
Helio Castroneves were the quickest cars in the field. But while Wheldon led
126 circuits of the 200-lap race distance, Kanaan was more often content to
sit in the slipstream of his former teammate, conserving fuel in the process.
As a result, Kanaan was among the last cars to pit each time he stopped, while
Wheldon was forced into a more conservative race strategy when he lost radio
communications with his Target Chip Ganassi team early in the race.

Kanaan assumed
the lead for the fourth and final time after the final round of "splash
of fuel only" pit stops with less than 10 laps remaining,
and held off a charging Wheldon by just four-tenths of a second to record his
eighth career IndyCar win.

Dario Franchitti rounded
out the top three finishers Saturday in his Andretti Green Racing Honda, with
Scott Dixon fourth. Sam Hornish Jr. lost precious seconds when he stalled during
his final stop, dropping him to fifth. Rahal Letterman Racing's Scott
Sharp had his best result of the year, sixth.

The IndyCar Series is wasting
no time in returning home, with teams packing immediately after the conclusion
of Saturday's race in preparation for
the long trip back to the USA, followed next Sunday's race at Kansas
Speedway.

IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship (after 3 of 17 races)

Tony Kanaan (#3 Team Penske Honda) Started 3rd, finished
1st, his 8th career IndyCar victory and first at Honda-owned Twin Ring Motegi: "Our car was
very strong today throughout the race, but this was a day when you had to be
patient, and patience paid off for us today. This was a very important win
for the entire Andretti Green Racing team. Ganassi and Penske have been so
strong on the one-and-a-half-mile tracks for the past year or so, while it
was an area were we had to make some improvements. Our team worked very hard
over the winter to improve our performance on the big tracks like Motegi, and
that makes this win very sweet for us."

Robert Clarke (President, Honda Performance Development) on
today's race: "Another
perfect weekend for Honda, with 100 per cent reliability throughout the weekend.
I think it was a very good race for the fans. The changing weather conditions
over the course of the weekend made it challenging for the teams. There was
a lot of passing and other action on the track, and the various fuel strategies
at the end made it tactically interesting as well. The job doesn't get
any easier for us, as we will be racing in Kansas next weekend and then on
to Indianapolis for the 'Month of May', but I believe we are very
well prepared once again."



Dan Wheldon (#10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started
2nd, finished 2nd, takes over series championship lead after three of 17 races: "I think
when you consider the pace of our car, we were one of, if not the fastest,
ones out there. Once again, Honda provided us with a great engine, as they
do for everyone in the field. That makes it a bit tougher for us, as I remember
when we had a horsepower advantage and that certainly made it easier! We lost
radio communication with both the pits and my spotter very early in the race,
so we had to be a bit conservative with our pit strategy as a result. The way
pit strategy came into play late in the race, I think that was very costly
for us."