Kosuke Matsuura:
“This is the biggest race of the year for me. For most people in the league, it’s the Indy 500, but the Motegi race is very special for me as a driver. I’ve enjoyed working for Super Aguri Panther Racing so far this season, and just wish we would have had a better result. I’m going to make sure I stay away from Jeff Simmons this weekend. ”
Vitor Meira:
“I’m excited. There are a lot of my friends from Delphi that attend this race and I know it’s very special for my teammate Kosuke Matsuura. More than anything, I want to get back on the right track after our problem in St. Pete. We had an amazing setup in Motegi last season, but we had a shock break that didn’t help us. I think this is going to be a good weekend for all of us. ”
Panther Tracks: Both Panther Racing and primary sponsor Delphi are entering their 10th season in the IndyCar Series, the sponsor and team combined for 30 victories and three championship in the Indy Pro and IndyCar Series …. Panther Race Engineer Bill Pappas was an Engineer with Juan Pablo Montoya when he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000. Pappas joined Panther after spending the past seven seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing. During his tenure there, Pappas engineers cars that led the Indy 500 in every race from 2000-2004, and also engineered 2002 pole winner Bruno Junqueira … Matsuura’s Race Engineer Brent “Woody” Harvey helped engineer former Panther driver Mark Taylor to the Indy Pro Series Championship in 2003, when the team won seven of the 11 races in which they competed … Matsuura’s Chief Mechanic, Jason Weatherford was in the same role for A. J. Allmendinger last season when the Champ Car driver won five races and finished third in the championship… Panther has a total of 15 IndyCar Series victories and seven Indy Pro Series victories …. Panther Racing won back-to-back IRL Championships in 2001 & 2002 and the Indy Pro Series Championship in 2003 … A total of thirteen drivers have started a race for Panther: Sam Hornish Jr. (44), Tomas Scheckter (33), Scott Goodyear (30), Vitor Meira (16), Tomas Enge (14), Townsend Bell (11), Buddy Lazier (6), Mark Taylor (6), Dave Steele (2), Dan Wheldon (2), Kosuke Matsuura (2), Billy Boat (1) and Robby McGehee (1).
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