CARPENTIER FINISHES 13th IN JAPAN

Race Result of Round Four of the IndyCar Series in Japan

Montreal, Saturday, April 30, 2005 - Starting 14th on the grid for 
the Indy Japan 300, Red Bull Cheever Racing driver Patrick Carpentier 
gained one position in the race to finish 13th overall in Saturday's 
Round 4 of the 2005 IndyCar Series held at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. 
The race was slowed down eight times for 59 laps and there were eight 
cars that retired, but even that did not help Carpentier who finished 
four laps down from race winner Dan Wheldon. The Canadian driver had 
to make two late pit stops during the last six laps of the race.

For Wheldon, it was his third win of the season, his second 
consecutive in Japan and his sixth in the IRL. The Andretti Green 
Racing driver took the lead on lap 198 of 200, moving pass South 
African Tomas Scheckter who was running out of fuel. Wheldon took the 
checkered flag three seconds ahead of Scott Sharp of the United 
States. Buddy Rice, another American driver, finished third, 21 
seconds back of the winner. Rookie Danica Patrick, who started 
second, finished fourth ahead of Bryan Herta. Only these five drivers 
finished on the lead lap. For Danica, it was her best finish in IRL.

There was plenty of action near the end of the race with several of 
the lead drivers having to pit for a splash & go, Scheckter's fuel 
problem and the accident of Helio Castroneves on the final lap. 
Several teams gambled that there would be another caution between lap 
150 and 200. That situation would have given their drivers a chance 
to save on fuel, but it was not to be. Brazilian Tony Kanaan, who was 
third with two laps to go, had to come in and lost one lap and three 
positions to finish sixth. Same thing for polesitter Sam Hornish Jr. 
who went from fifth to seventh following his brief stop on lap 193. 
Darren Manning, who finished eight, and Kosuke Matsuura, ninth 
overall, both lost two positions and one lap when they came in on lap 
194. As for Scheckter who took the race lead on lap 151 after the 
last caution period, he had a two-second lead before he ran out of 
fuel. He was classified 10th. Seven drivers exchanged the lead 10 
times during the race.

As for Carpentier's teammate Alex Barron, he also did not have a good 
day. He hit the wall on lap 12. The Red Bull Cheever Racing mechanics 
fixed his Dallara Toyota and Barron returned to the race 78 laps down 
on the leader. When he moved up to 19th place, his team manager 
decided to call him in for the day once there were no further 
positions to gain.

Point standings: Wheldon 184, Kanaan 138, Hornish 131, Herta 104, 
Castroneves 101, Sharp 99, Manning 98, Meira 96, Franchitti 95, 
Carpentier 89.

Drivers will now prepare for the month long testing that will lead to 
the running of the 89th Indianapolis 500 on May 29.