2007 Indy Japan 300

March 2016 March 2016 Japan Motegi Twin Ring Motegi oval map.svg Map of the track April 21 2007 Indy Japan 300 3rd IndyCar Series Twin Ring Motegi Permanent racing facility 1.520 2.446 200 304.000 489.241 Cloudy Hélio Castroneves 26.6416 Brazil Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 27.1247Official Box Score – IndyCar Series – Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi – Saturday, April 21, 2007 Indy Racing League http://www.indycar.com/var/historicalstats/2007/2007-03-box-score-motegi.pdf August 8, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20111218204741/http://indycar.com/var/historicalstats/2007/2007-03-box-score-motegi.pdf December 18, 2011 14 Brazil Team Penske Tony Kanaan Brazil Andretti Green Racing Dan Wheldon United Kingdom Chip Ganassi Racing Dario Franchitti United Kingdom Andretti Green Racing The 2007 Indy Japan 300 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on April 21, 2007, at the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. It was the third race of the 2007 IndyCar Series season, the fifth annual edition of the Indy Japan 300 in the IndyCar Series, and the tenth anniversary running of the race (including its five years on the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) schedule). Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan won the race with a 0.4828 second margin of victory over Chip Ganassi Racing's Dan Wheldon. Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top five. Hélio Castroneves, the defending champion of the Indy Japan 300, won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying. In the race, Wheldon gained the lead from Castroneves on lap 44 and led for more than half of the 200 laps, but a pit stop with 14 laps remaining forced him to relinquish the top position. Kanaan took the lead because of a late pit stop by Dixon, and held off a late challenge by Wheldon to secure first place. There were four cautions and nine lead changes among five different drivers during the race. It was Kanaan's first win of the season, and the eighth of his career. The result moved Wheldon into the lead of the Drivers' Championship, three points ahead of Kanaan. Dixon, who led the championship before the race, dropped to third. Background The Indy Japan 300 was confirmed as a part of the Indy Racing League's (IRL) 2007 schedule for the IndyCar Series in September 2006. It was to be the fifth consecutive year the race was held in the series, and the tenth Indy Japan 300, counting the period from 1998 to 2002 when it was a CART event.Fifth Indy Japan 300 Scheduled Indy Racing League September 25, 2006 http://www.indycar.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/29558-fifth-indy-japan-300-scheduled/ July 7, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20061017153732/http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=7608 October 17, 2006Oreovicz John Not your typical victory celebration ESPN April 20, 2004 https://www.espn.com/racing/news/story?id=1784633 August 8, 2010 live https://web.archive.org/web/20040823183431/http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1784633 August 23, 2004 Uniquely in the 2007 season, the race took place at a non-American location.Castroneves claims IRL pole in Japan USA Today Associated Press April 21, 2007 https://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2007-04-20-japan-qualifying_N.htm July 7, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070115/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2007-04-20-japan-qualifying_N.htm March 4, 2016 dead The Indy Japan 300 was the third race scheduled for 2007 by the IRL, out of 17.2007 IndyCar Series Race Schedule ESPN https://www.espn.com/racing/schedule?seriesId=1&year=2007 July 7, 2010 live https://web.archive.org/web/20121105041436/http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/schedule?seriesId=1&year=2007 November 5, 2012 At this early stage in the season, Dixon held the lead in the point standings with 80 points. Castroneves and Wheldon were tied for second with 75 points, and Kanaan and Hornish Jr. were fourth and fifth on 65 and 61 points, respectively.Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg results USA Today April 1, 2007 https://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2007-04-01-stpetersburg-results.htm July 7, 2010 Practice Two days before the race, on April 19, a pair of two-hour practice sessions were held at the Twin Ring Motegi. The racers were split into two groups, which were each allowed to run laps for one hour per session. The first practice session began at 10:30 a.m. Japan Standard Time (JST); five minutes later a yellow caution flag came out due to a crash by Vítor Meira, who was forced into a backup car when he returned later in the day.Indy Japan 300 Daily Trackside Report – April 19 Indy Racing League April 19, 2007 http://www.indycar.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/30177-indy-japan-300-daily-trackside-report-april-19 July 7, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20071114203511/http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=8637 November 14, 2007 A second caution flag was shown at noon local time to allow for an inspection of the track; 30 minutes later the session came to an end. From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m JST, the second practice session of the day took place. Danica Patrick posted the fastest lap of the day, going around the circuit in 26.9585 seconds in an average speed of 202.979 mph km/h.Lewandowski Dave Twin Ring Motegi karma Indy Racing League April 19, 2007 http://www.indycar.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/30173-twin-ring-motegi-karma/ July 7, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20071114185516/http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=8630 November 14, 2007 Japanese driver Kosuke Matsuura, who called the Indy Japan 300 his "most important" race of the season,Perez A. J. Sleepless Matsuura geared up for home race in Japan USA Today April 17, 2007 https://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2007-04-17-matsuura-japan_N.htm June 7, 2012 had the second-fastest lap time of the day, followed by Castroneves, Kanaan, and Wheldon. Before qualifying took place on April 20, there was a third round of practice from 10:30 a.m. to 12:05 p.m JST; the drivers were each allowed 45 minutes of track time. Two caution flags came out; the first came half an hour into the session when Jeff Simmons spun out coming off the track's fourth turn. The other caution was a track inspection, which came 18 minutes into the second group's allotted time.Indy Japan 300 Daily Trackside Report – April 20 Indy Racing League April 20, 2007 http://www.indycar.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/30181-indy-japan-300-daily-trackside-report-april-20 July 7, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20071114183854/http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=8642 November 14, 2007 Kanaan had the best lap of the session; his average speed of 204.465 mph km/h topped Patrick's leading mark from the previous day.Lewandowski Dave Castroneves gets best seat Indy Racing League April 20, 2007 http://www.indycar.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/30178-castroneves-gets-best-seat/ July 8, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20071114183849/http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=8638 November 14, 2007 Qualifying An hour and 25 minutes after the last practice session ended, the 18 drivers determined the starting grid through qualifying. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitors' fastest times. Castroneves, the winner of the 2006 Indy Japan 300, gained pole position with a lap time of 26.6416 seconds; it was the second consecutive year he qualified first. Two-time race winner Wheldon earned the other front-row starting position; his lap was .0328 seconds slower than Castroneves'. Kanaan and Patrick qualified third and fourth, respectively; they were followed by Hornish Jr., who suffered a tire vibration, and Dixon, who would start in the third row. Dario Franchitti and Tomas Scheckter qualified in the fourth row, while Matsuura and Marco Andretti rounded out the top 10.Olson Jeff April 20, 2007 IndyCar: Castroneves Takes Motegi Pole http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/36827/ dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070522214938/http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/36827/ May 22, 2007 September 4, 2026 Speed The difference between the first and tenth-best lap times was less than three-tenths of a second. Qualifying classification + Qualifying results Pos Position No. Car number Driver Team Time Time in seconds Speed Speed in MPH 1 3 Hélio Castroneves BRA Team Penske 26.6416 205.393 2 10 Dan Wheldon UK Chip Ganassi Racing 26.6744 205.141 3 11 Tony Kanaan BRA Andretti Green Racing 26.7217 204.777 4 7 Danica Patrick USA Andretti Green Racing 26.7881 204.270 5 6 Sam Hornish Jr. USA Team Penske 26.8495 203.803 6 9 Scott Dixon NZL Chip Ganassi Racing 26.8561 203.753 7 27 Dario Franchitti UK Andretti Green Racing 26.8600 203.723 8 2 Tomas Scheckter RSA Vision Racing 26.8773 203.592 9 55 Kosuke Matsuura JPN Panther Racing 26.9374 203.138 10 26 Marco Andretti USA Andretti Green Racing 26.9386 203.129 11 15 Buddy Rice USA Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 26.9945 202.708 12 8 Scott Sharp USA Rahal Letterman Racing 27.0035 202.640 13 4 Vítor Meira BRA Panther Racing 27.0523 202.275 14 22 A. J. Foyt IV USA Vision Racing 27.0757 202.100 15 5 Sarah Fisher USA Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 27.1064 201.871 16 20 Ed Carpenter racing driver USA Vision Racing 27.1375 201.640 17 17 Jeff Simmons racing driver USA Rahal Letterman Racing 27.4175 199.581 18 14 Darren Manning UK A.J. Foyt Racing 27.4341 199.460Sources: Race thumb|right|Tony Kanaan won the race after gaining the lead with four laps remaining. The conditions on the grid were dry but cloudy before the event with an air temperature between 70 - 74 F C and a track temperature of 80 F C. Bridgestone CEO Soshi Arakawa commanded the drivers to start their engines. The race began at 1:00 p.m. JST, as Tomikazu Fukuda, governor of Tochigi Prefecture (location of the Twin Ring Motegi track), waved the opening green flag to signify the start.Indy Japan 300 Daily Trackside Report – April 21 Indy Racing League April 21, 2007 http://www.indycar.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/30190-indy-japan-300-daily-trackside-report-april-21 April 21, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20071114203536/http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=8656 November 14, 2007Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 Race Report Honda April 21, 2007 http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?g=honda-racing&id=200707063953 July 10, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20120301193016/http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?g=honda-racing&id=200707063953 March 1, 2012 Shortly afterward, however, Matsuura suffered an accident; he crashed into the turn two wall during the first lap after he spun, and did not return to the race.Armstrong Jim Kanaan bides time before earning win The Beaufort Gazette Associated Press April 22, 2007 6B https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-beaufort-gazette-kanaan-bides-time-b/205289719/ September 4, 2026 Newspapers.com A caution flag came out as a result of the incident; several drivers made pit stops for new tires, fuel and car adjustments during the caution, and Meira made two stops. On lap 9, the field returned to green flag racing, and Castroneves maintained his lead, which reached nearly three seconds by lap 25. The second caution flag of the race was flown on lap 31, to allow for the removal of debris on the track in the fourth turn. A round of pit stops occurred during the caution; Castroneves held on to the lead, with Wheldon and Kanaan in second and third. The green flag came back out on lap 39, and Hornish Jr. immediately took third place from Kanaan. Lap 44 saw a lead change as Wheldon passed Castroneves; he would go on to lead 126 of the race's 200 laps. Wheldon gradually increased the lead to almost two seconds by lap 80. Kanaan had risen to second by this point, ahead of Franchitti and Castroneves. From laps 81 to 90, pit stops were made by all the drivers. After Ed Carpenter's stop, one of his wheels came off while he attempted to return to the track; he would ultimately finish 15th, eight laps behind.2007 Indy Japan 300 Results ESPN https://www.espn.com/racing/raceresults?raceId=200704210105&series=indycar March 14, 2011 live https://web.archive.org/web/20121106061410/http://espn.go.com/racing/raceresults?raceId=200704210105&series=indycar November 6, 2012 At the end of this series of pit stops under the green flag, Wheldon remained out in front, ahead of Kanaan. By the halfway point of the race, Kanaan had begun to narrow his deficit, which by lap 115 was less than a second. Wheldon, meanwhile, was faced with a mechanical problem—his radio was malfunctioning, preventing him from talking to his pit crew; he later said that he and his team "lost radio contact early on". On lap 122, Kanaan made a pass while coming out of turn two, taking the lead from Wheldon. Soon after, the drivers began their third round of pit stops, and Wheldon took back the lead before Andretti was afflicted with oversteer and crashed into the turn four inside wall on lap 135, bringing out a caution flag. The yellow flag period saw pit stops continue. Castroneves stopped twice on pit lane on top of a prior stop just before the caution; during the second yellow flag stop, he overshot his designated area on pit road, and his car needed to be pushed into position by crew members. With 51 laps left, the caution period ended, and Wheldon slowly built a gap over Kanaan of 1.8834 seconds entering the final 20 laps. Wheldon had to make a pit stop for fuel on lap 186, giving Kanaan, who had been conserving fuel since early in the race, the lead. Four laps later, Kanaan stopped,Olson Jeff April 21, 2007 IndyCar: Kanaan Goes the Extra Mile in Motegi http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/36851/ dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070427114017/http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/36851/ April 27, 2007 September 4, 2026 Speed and the lead briefly went to Hornish Jr., before he too pitted and Dixon assumed the top spot. On lap 196, however, Dixon was also forced into the pits. Kanaan had come off pit road ahead of Wheldon after his stop, and therefore was in position to assume the lead. Wheldon closed in on Kanaan, and by the final lap was less than four-tenths of a second behind. Kanaan, though, held off Wheldon to win the race with a .4828 of a second margin of victory. Third place went to Franchitti, who was over 11 seconds off the pace. Dixon was fourth, followed by Hornish Jr., who finished one lap behind the leaders, having stalled his engine on pit road in the closing laps. Scott Sharp was the sixth-place finisher, and early leader Castroneves wound up seventh. Simmons, Scheckter, and Buddy Rice finished eighth through tenth; all other drivers ended the race two or more laps behind. There were nine lead changes in the race; five drivers reached the front of the field. Wheldon's total of 126 laps led was the highest of any competitor. Kanaan led four different times, for a total of 26 laps. The victory was the eighth of Kanaan's IRL career and the first of a series-high five wins he posted in the 2007 season.Tony Kanaan: History Indy Racing League http://www.indycar.com/Series/IndyCar-Series/Tony-Kanaan April 17, 2016 Post-race In interviews after the race, Kanaan credited his team's fuel strategy for being the main factor in his victory. During many of the laps that Wheldon led, Kanaan drafted behind him to use less fuel than normal, and he was able to stay on the track longer than other drivers as a result. He said of the strategy, "that's what probably gave me the win." On the other hand, Wheldon later said that his radio problem forced more "conservative" pit stop planning by himself and his team. Third-place finisher Franchitti said: "We had to take the gamble to try to get the win. I thought we had as good a car as TK (Tony Kanaan) and Dan (Wheldon). I think I could have hung with them, but I don't think I could have caught up with them."IRL: Motegi: Dario Franchitti race report http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/irl-motegi-dario-franchitti-race-report-1/ motorsport.com GMM April 21, 2007 March 4, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102454/http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/irl-motegi-dario-franchitti-race-report-1/ March 4, 2016 Matsuura admitted his first-lap accident was his fault and apologized to his Japanese fans. After his accident on the 135th lap, Andretti was taken to the track's infield care center for a precautionary X-ray scan of his right shoulder which showed a negative result. He said that he struggled with controlling his car but was happy. With his second-place finish, Wheldon gained the season points lead with 118, three ahead of Kanaan and six in front of Dixon. The standings were closely contested, with the top six drivers separated by 27 points. Race classification + Race results Pos Position No. Car number Driver Team Laps Laps completed Time/retired Grid Starting position Laps led Points 1 11 Tony Kanaan BRA Andretti Green Racing 200 1:52:23.2574 3 26 50 2 10 Dan Wheldon UK Chip Ganassi Racing 200 + 0.4828 2 126 431 3 27 Dario Franchitti UK Andretti Green Racing 200 + 11.5538 7 0 35 4 9 Scott Dixon NZL Chip Ganassi Racing 200 + 13.0623 6 2 32 5 6 Sam Hornish Jr. USA Team Penske 199 Running 5 3 30 6 8 Scott Sharp USA Rahal Letterman Racing 199 Running 12 0 28 7 3 Hélio Castroneves BRA Team Penske 199 Running 1 43 26 8 17 Jeff Simmons racing driver USA Rahal Letterman Racing 199 Running 17 0 24 9 2 Tomas Scheckter RSA Vision Racing 199 Running 8 0 22 10 15 Buddy Rice USA Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 199 Running 11 0 20 11 7 Danica Patrick USA Andretti Green Racing 198 Running 4 0 19 12 14 Darren Manning UK A.J. Foyt Racing 198 Running 18 0 18 13 22 A. J. Foyt IV USA Vision Racing 197 Running 14 0 17 14 5 Sarah Fisher USA Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 197 Running 15 0 16 15 20 Ed Carpenter racing driver USA Vision Racing 192 Running 16 0 15 16 26 Marco Andretti USA Andretti Green Racing 134 Contact 10 0 14 17 4 Vítor Meira BRA Panther Racing 50 Handling 13 0 13 18 55 Kosuke Matsuura JPN Panther Racing 0 Contact 9 0 12Sources:Indy Japan 300 results USA Today April 21, 2007 https://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2007-04-21-japan-results.htm July 11, 20101 Includes three bonus points for leading the most laps Standings after the race + Drivers' Championship standings Pos Position +/– Driver Points 1 10px 1 Dan Wheldon UK 118 2 10px 2 Tony Kanaan BRA 115 3 10px 2 Scott Dixon NZL 112 4 10px 2 Hélio Castroneves BRA 101 5 10px 1 Dario Franchitti UK 91Sources:2007 Indy Japan 300 Racing-Reference http://racing-reference.info/race/2007_Indy_Japan_300/O June 6, 2016 Note: Only the top five positions are included for the drivers' standings. References 30em Indy Japan 300 2007 2007 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 2006 Indy Japan 300 2008 Indy Japan 300 Japan Sports Indy Japan 300, 2007 Indy Japan Indy Japan 300 Category:Indy Japan 300