Round Four of the IndyCar Series in Japan

PATRICK CARPENTIER NEWS BUREAU UPDATE

Round Four of the IndyCar Series in Japan

CARPENTIER WILL START FROM ROW SEVEN IN JAPAN

Montreal, April 29, 2005 - Patrick Carpentier will start from row 
seven for Saturday's Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. The 
Canadian driver posted the 14th best lap time in the single car 
qualifying session, driving around the 2.414-kilometre (1.5-mile) 
oval track in 27.2551 seconds for an average speed of 323.107 km/h. 
Carpentier was satisfied with the changes made to his car before the 
qualifying session. In the practice session prior to qualifying, the 
Red Bull Cheever Racing driver ended near the rear of the field in 
21st place. 

''Before qualifying, we seemed to be going backward every time we 
went out,'' Carpentier said. ''My teammate (Alex Barron) thought he 
found something that improved the handling during the third practice, 
and the engineers decided to take some of his set ups and put them on 
my car. This makes it more difficult to go out and qualify well in 
just two laps when you don't know how the car is going to react with 
last minute changes. But it went well. We are using new dampers this 
weekend and they make the car more predictable. We had troubles with 
handling on the first day because the springs were too hard. The rear 
of the car was sliding a little too much for my taste. We are still 
learning how the new dampers work, but I'm very confident for the 
race. I have to be patient on this track and go easy with the car. 
Last year, eight drivers did not finish the race.'' He will share row 
seven with Australian driver Ryan Briscoe.

His teammate Alex Barron finished 16th overall with a lap time of 
27.3357 seconds (322.108 km/h). He will share the eighth row with 
Bryan Herta of the United States. 

Sam Hornish Jr. was fastest of the 23 drivers qualifying for Round 4 
of the 2005 Indy Car Series. The American driver captured his first 
pole of the season, the fourth of his IRL career with a lap time of 
26.7276 seconds (329.496 km/h). Sharing the front row with him will 
be Danica Patrick, who made history by becoming the first woman to 
start a major single-seater race from the front row. The American 
driver posted her quickest lap in 26.7577 seconds and held 
provisional pole for quite some time before Hornish came along. 
Another American driver, Scott Sharp, qualified third, ahead of 
Brazilian Helio Castroneves. The third row belongs to British driver 
Dan Wheldon, the points' leader, and Tomas Scheckter of South Africa.

THE GREEN FLAG FOR THE INDY JAPAN 300 WILL BE GIVEN AT 12:01 A.M. 
EASTERN TIME SATURDAY MORNING. THE 200-LAP RACE WILL BE TELECAST BY 
TSN AT 3:30 P.M. (EDT) ON SATURDAY, APRIL 30 (TAPE-DELAY). A FULL 
NEWS REPORT ON SATURDAY'S RACE WILL FOLLOW.

Late night fans with high-speed data connection can watch the race 
live on the internet at www.espn360.com. The video offered by ESPN360 
is encoded at a high bit rate that enables a fast transmission for 
viewing high-quality video content. The broadband outlet ESPN360 is 
available free April 27-May 1 as part of ESPN "All-Access Week". 
Coverage of the race will begin Friday at 11:59 p.m.  

Media Contact:
Max d'Orsonnens	(514) 990-4988, maxdo@videotron.ca

Indy Japan 300  @ Twin Ring Motegi
On-Track Race Schedule

		Eastern Time
Saturday, April 30	IndyCar Race	12:01 a.m.   -                
	(200 laps - 483 km/300 miles)