TOUGH DAY FOR CARPENTIER AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
First Day of Practice at Homestead TOUGH DAY FOR CARPENTIER AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI Homestead, Florida, Friday, March 4, 2005 - Patrick Carpentier found the going pretty rough on his first day in the Indy Racing League IndyCar® Series. Carpentier finished 19th overall after the first two practice sessions for this weekend's Toyota Indy 300, which were held Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The day started out badly when morning sessions were canceled due to inclement weather. It would turn out to be early afternoon before the 22 drivers registered for the opening round of the 2005 season were able to get on the track. Following the cancellation of morning practice, race officials decided to add an extra late afternoon session, however the added track time did nothing to improve Carpentier's situation. The day's results did not meet the Canadian driver expectations. Eighteenth overall following his first practice session, Carpentier dropped two spots on the final tally sheet, even though he posted his best time in the late afternoon session. He drove his Dallara Toyota around the 1.5-mile (2.414-km) oval track in 25.5669 seconds for an average speed of 336.510 km/h. He finished the day a little more than half a second behind the Panoz Honda driven by American driver Buddy Rice who was quickest on the day with a lap time of 25.0382 seconds for an average speed of 343.617 km/h. Californian Alex Barron, Carpentier's teammate at Cheever Racing, finished the day 18th overall, posting his best lap of 25.4070 seconds. ''I guess that's what they call a learning process,'' Carpentier said. ''Obviously I'm disappointed to find myself at the back of the pack, but I'm learning how things work with a new car and a new team. Unfortunately, I was unable to draft a fast car and the results show that. We don't have the quickest car in the field, but it's not the worse either. I know I can do better with this car. At this point, all we can do is hope that we have a better day tomorrow.'' Second quickest behind Buddy Rice, was his fellow American Bryan Herta driving the Andretti-Green Panoz Honda. He posted his best lap in the first session, circling the track in 25.0812 seconds (343.0277 km/h). He elected not to go out during the second session, dropping from first to second. Third place went to the Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet of South African Tomas Scheckter (25.0957 seconds), followed by the Panoz Honda of Brazilian Vitor Meira (25.1539 s). British driver Dan Wheldon rounds out the top five. Drivers will return to the track on Saturday morning at 9:45 for the third practice session of the weekend. The only qualifying session for Sunday's race will begin at noon on Saturday. The IRL IndyCar Series opens its 10th season of competition with the Toyota Indy 300 at 2:00 p.m. (EST) on March 6, 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will be televised live on TSN. Media Contact: Max d'Orsonnens (514) 990-4988, maxdo@videotron.ca Patrick Carpentier's Homestead-Miami Speedway Record in Champ Car 1997 Team Bettenhausen Started: 9th Finished: 9th 1998 Team Player's Started: 9th Finished: 11th 1999 Team Player's Started: 3rd Finished: 7th 2000 Team Player's Started: 12th Finished: 5th HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY FACTS: Speedway Length: 1.5 Miles (2.414 km) Turn Radius: 650 feet (198.12 meters) Turn Banking: 20-degree, variable banking Turn Width: 80 feet (24.382 meters) Straightaway Length: 1,760 feet (677.248 meters) Straightaway Banking: 4-degrees Straightaway Width: 55 feet (16.764 meters) Seating: 65,000 Opened: 1995 First IRL Race: April 8, 2001 Toyota Indy 300 IRL On-Track Race Weekend Schedule Local Eastern Time Saturday, March 5 Practice (Group 1) 09:45 a.m. - 10:05 Practice (Group 2) 10:05 a.m. - 10:25 Qualifying 12:00 p.m. - 01:05 Practice 02:15 p.m. - 02:45 Sunday, March 6 Practice 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 Race 02:00 p.m. - (200 laps - 300 miles)