Panther Racing finished the first day of practice on Friday for the upcoming Detroit Indy Grand Prix, which will be held on Sunday afternoon. This is the first year the IndyCar Series has raced as the street course raceway at Belle Isle.
Panther drivers Vitor Meira and Kosuke Matsuura finished seventh and 13th on the speed chart, respectively.
The Detroit Indy Grand Prix will be held Sunday at 3:30 p. m., and will be broadcast live on ABC with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio channels 144 and 145.
This is the final road course event of the season, and the IndyCar Series will conclude next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, where Panther driver Hideki Mutoh will make his debut in the series.
Vitor Meira - #4 Delphi Panther Racing
Top Speed: 99.777 mph
Top Time: 1:14.6865
Rank: 7th
Meira Quote
“We spent a lot of time today working on our shock and spring package. The Delphi car was really fast off of the trailer and that’s always a good sign. We keep making improvements and it keeps getting better and better. It’s fun to get back onto a street course but, then again, that always presents a new set of challenges for us. We like our chances to get into the Firestone Fast Six tomorrow. ”
Kosuke Matsuura - #55 Panasonic Panther Racing
Top Speed: 98.876 mph
Top Time: 1:15.3675 seconds
Rank: 13th
Matsuura Quote
“Today was the first time to run here in Belle Isle. The course was very bumpy and there’s not much passing points so it will be a very tough race. I had a problem getting the rear grip, which is similar to Sonoma car condition, so we are trying to fix that problem. We still have enough time to find the setup for the race so we will just use our practice time as productive as possible and get ready for the race. ”
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