A frantic week of preparation for the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 ended Sunday with the conclusion of the 200-lap event, where Delphi Panther driver Vitor Meira finished eighth and teammate Kosuke Matsuura collected an eighteenth place result after a mechanical failure.
Meira, who started eighth, worked throughout the race to perfect the balance of his number four car. After dropping as low as 11th early in the event, Vitor drove his way back to within sight of the Top Five and eventually settled on his eighth place result. This was his second Top Ten finish of the season, and leave his team ready to head to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in two weeks.
Matsuura and his Panasonic Panther team didn’t fair as well after a mechanical failure ended the Japanese driver’s day in 18th place. Matsuura had qualified in twelfth place and was prepared to collect in his best finish of the season before the failure.
The IndyCar Series will take one weekend off prior to the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for competition in the 91st Indianapolis 500. Practice begins for all cars on May 8th in preparations for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Vitor Meira:
“We were really conservative today. This race we were thinking about the Speedway because we needed get both feet back on the ground and shake off Japan. It wasn’t the result we expected but we finished and now we’re going to Indy in full force, and that’s what we wanted. The Delphi Panther car gradually got better during the race and it was great at the end of the race. ”
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