Torrance, Calif. 03/21/2004 --
Honda Racing Report
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Copper World Indy 200 Race Report
Circuit: Phoenix International Raceway (1.0 mile oval), Avondale, AZ
2003 Winner: Tony Kanaan (Honda Dallara) 151.094 mph average speed
Weather: Clear, hot, windy, 96 degrees F
Race Results:
Ps.
|
St.
|
Driver
|
Team
|
Engine
|
Chassis
|
Laps
|
Average Speed/Notes
|
1.
|
2.
|
Tony Kanaan
|
Andretti Green Racing
|
Honda
|
Dallara
|
200
|
127.981 mph avg. speed
|
2.
|
5.
|
Scott Dixon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Toyota
|
G-Force
|
200
|
-0.534 seconds
|
3.
|
1.
|
Dan Wheldon
|
Andretti Green Racing
|
Honda
|
Dallara
|
200
|
-6.995 seconds
|
4.
|
17.
|
Alex Barron
|
Cheever Racing
|
Chevrolet
|
Dallara
|
200
|
-7.322 seconds
|
5.
|
6.
|
Darren Manning
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Toyota
|
G-Force
|
200
|
-7.578 seconds
|
6.
|
3.
|
Helio Castroneves
|
Team Penske
|
Toyota
|
Dallara
|
200
|
-8.916 seconds
|
7.
|
9.
|
Bryan Herta
|
Andretti Green Racing
|
Honda
|
Dallara
|
200
|
-10.058 seconds
|
8.
|
14.
|
Tora Takagi
|
Mo Nunn Racing
|
Toyota
|
Dallara
|
199
|
Running
|
9.
|
12.
|
Buddy Rice
|
Team Rahal
|
Honda
|
G-Force
|
198
|
Running
|
10.
|
11.
|
Greg Ray
|
Access Motorsports
|
Honda
|
G-Force
|
198
|
Running
|
11.
|
10.
|
Kosuke Matsuura
|
Super Aguri Fernandez
|
Honda
|
G-Force
|
198
|
Running
|
17.
|
7.
|
Dario Franchitti
|
Andretti Green Racing
|
Honda
|
Dallara
|
180
|
Not running-contact
|
20.
|
13.
|
Adrian Fernandez
|
Fernandez Racing
|
Honda
|
G-Force
|
0
|
Not running-mechanical
|
Kanaan Dominates Phoenix Field, Takes Championship Lead
Tony Kanaan put his stamp of authority over the Copper World Indy
200 field Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, moving to the
front on the first lap and going on to lead 191 of the 200-lap
contest to score his first Indy Racing League IndyCar Series win of
2004.
Kanaan's victory, a repeat of his 2003 win here, moves him to the
top of the early-season points standings, with a six-point (77-71)
lead over Helio Castroneves and one more point over his third-place
Andretti Green Racing teammate, Dan Wheldon.
Wheldon, the 2003 Rookie of the Year, started from the pole but
yielded the lead to Kanaan as the pair entered the third turn on the
opening lap. Wheldon ran in the top six throughout the day, moving up
to third when a late-race collision eliminated both Dario Franchitti
and Tomas Scheckter. The latter pair were battling hard for third
place on Lap 180 when Robbie Buhl crashed in Turn 4. Franchitti made
contact with the back of Scheckter's car and both machines then piled
into Buhl's stationary car. No one was injured, but all three were
out of the contest.
Bryan Herta ran in the lead group throughout the day, finishing
seventh in his XM Radio/Andretti Green Honda, while Buddy Rice
persevered despite handling problems to finish ninth for Team Rahal.
Adrian Fernandez became the latest owner/driver in IndyCar racing
this weekend, but his debut was a short one as transmission failure
ended his race on the opening lap. However, rookie teammate Kosuke
Matsuura had his best finish of the young season, starting 10th,
surviving a brief mid-race brush against the Turn 4 wall and
finishing 11th after a long battle with fellow Honda driver Greg Ray.
The IRL IndyCar Series now takes a four-week break before resuming
April 17 at Honda's "home" circuit, Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.
Drivers' Championship (after 2 of 16
races)
|
1. Tony Kanaan
|
77 points
|
9. Alex Barron
|
46
|
2. Helio Castroneves
|
71
|
10. Tomas Scheckter
|
44
|
3. Dan Wheldon
|
70
|
11. Bryan Herta
|
43
|
4. Sam Hornish Jr.
|
65
|
12. Scott Sharp
|
39
|
5. Darren Manning
|
58
|
13. Kosuke Matsuura
|
38
|
6. Tora Takagi
|
56
|
14. Greg Ray
|
36
|
7. Scott Dixon
|
52
|
19. Dario Franchitti
|
26
|
8. Buddy Rice
|
48
|
20. Adrian Fernandez
|
12
|
Manufacturers' Championship:
|
Rookie of the Year:
|
1. Honda
|
17
|
1. Kosuke Matsuura
|
38
|
2. Toyota
|
17
|
2. Ed Carpenter
|
30
|
3. Chevrolet
|
10
|
Mark Taylor
|
30
|
Tony Kanaan (#11 7-Eleven Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started
2nd, finished 1st, 1st win of 2004, 2nd consecutive win at PIR, 2nd
career IRL victory: "It was a great team effort, we had the best car
out there today and Honda did a great job in making the improvements
we asked for after the test here last month. After warm-up this
morning I felt that we had the car to do the job. It was still a
tough race, it was very hot and all the cars would start to slide
around after about 50 laps. I'm extremely happy with the victory. It
gives us great momentum going to the next race in Motegi [Japan]."
Dan Wheldon (#26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam Andretti Green Racing Honda)
Started 1st, finished 3rd: "We started strong, but my main problem
was that the car would go 'loose' [oversteer] near the end of each
run. I adjusted everything I had inside the cockpit, but that just
made it worse. I finally moved everything back to how it was at the
start of the race and just dealt with it. I was sorry to see Dario
[Franchitti] go out, but two third places is a great start to the
season for us."
Bryan Herta (#7 XM Satellite Radio Andretti Green Racing Honda)
Started 9th, finished 7th: "Given the way the weekend started for us,
a seventh-place finish is great. We missed out on a lot of track time
Friday with some mechanical issues, and I had to rely on a lot of
help from my teammates and they really came through for me. We might
have pulled out a top-five finish, but I lost two positions during my
last pit stop. I'm not sure why; we'll have to take a look at the
[video] take and see where we had a problem."
Buddy Rice (#15 Pioneer/Argent Team Rahal Honda) Started 12th,
finished 9th: "That wasn't the day we had planned. I got a decent
start, and we picked off a couple of guys in the first 10 laps. But
the car just wanted to push [understeer] towards the wall. I ran with
Bryan [Herta] for a long time and I thought I was quicker. But by Lap
20, it was all I could do to hang on and turn the car. After the
first pit stop, I probably drove the car too hard and burned off the
tires too quickly. After that we went back to our original setup and
the car wasn't as bad as the second run. But it never did turn into
the corners like we wanted."
Greg Ray (#13 Access Motorsports Honda) Started 11th, finished
10th: "We went too long on our gearing for the race, and that hurt us
in terms of making much progress during the race. We knew the pace in
the race would be slower than in practice, but we didn't think it
would be as slow as it turned out. I spent most of the race in third
gear as a result, fourth was a bit too long and I never used fifth or
sixth at all. We still managed our first top-10 finish of the year,
and we'll take that with us to Motegi."
Adrian Fernandez (#5 Quaker State/Telmex/Tecate Fernandez Racing
Honda) Started 13th, finished 20th (not running - mechanical):
"Obviously, we are not happy but that's racing. I made a mistake on
the downshift prior to the start of the race. The throw [distance the
shifter moves] is a lot longer than what I am used to, so when I went
down the gears I actually didn't go down as far as I should have and
that broke the gearbox. But we learned a lot of things to prepare
better for Motegi. The guys did an amazing job and it was just
unfortunate that we couldn't finish the race to at least get the
miles."