2008 Indy Japan 300

IndyCar Series event

2008 MotegiRace details

3rd (A) round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season
Date| April 20, 2008
Official name| Indy Japan 300
Location| Twin Ring Motegi
Course| Permanent racing facility
1.520 mi / 2.446 km
Distance| 200 laps
304.000 mi / 489.241 km
Weather| 54 °F (12 °C), Mostly cloudy
Pole position
Driver| Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Time| set by driver points[1]
Fastest lap
Driver| Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Time| 27.6476 (on lap 12 of 200)
Podium
First| Danica Patrick ( Andretti Green Racing)
Second| Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Third| Scott Dixon ( Chip Ganassi Racing)

Motor car race

The race, with Marco Andretti spinning out.

The 2008 Indy Japan 300 was the third round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, for drivers who competed in the series in 2007 and teams that had entered for 2008 who were not former Champ Car teams that were in transition. This was because the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach occurred on the same weekend and there was no way of changing dates to avoid the clash when the reunification took place. Originally scheduled for the afternoon of April 19, 2008 at the 1.52-mile (2.45 km) Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, the race was delayed by 22 hours until the morning of April 20, due to water seeping up onto the track from previous heavy rains.[2] Danica Patrick won the race, becoming the first female winner in the history of top-level American open-wheel racing.[3]

## Qualifying[edit]

Due to rain in the Tochigi region, qualifying was cancelled and the field was set by driver points.[1] Thus, the grid was:

Qualifying grid for the 2008 Indy Japan 300  Pos  | No.  | Driver  | Team

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1  | 3  |  Hélio Castroneves | Penske Racing
2  | 9  |  Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing
3  | 11  |  Tony Kanaan | Andretti Green Racing
4  | 26  |  Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing
5  | 10  |  Dan Wheldon | Chip Ganassi Racing
6  | 7  |  Danica Patrick | Andretti Green Racing
7  | 20  |  Ed Carpenter | Vision Racing
8  | 2  |  A. J. Foyt IV | Vision Racing
9  | 27  |  Hideki Mutoh (R)  | Andretti Green Racing
10  | 17  |  Ryan Hunter-Reay | Rahal Letterman Racing
11  | 15  |  Buddy Rice | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
12  | 14  |  Darren Manning | A. J. Foyt Enterprises
13  | 4  |  Vítor Meira | Panther Racing
14  | 24  |  Jay Howard (R)  | Roth Racing
15  | 6  |  Ryan Briscoe | Penske Racing
16  | 23  |  Townsend Bell | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17  | 25  |  Marty Roth | Roth Racing
18  | 77  |  Roger Yasukawa | CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports

## Race[edit]

The race's average speed was 164.258 mph (264.348 km/h) and it featured five lead changes between four drivers, as well as cautions on four for 29 laps.

Outcome of the 2008 Indy Japan 300  Finish  | Car
No.  | Driver  | Team  | Laps  | Time/Retired  | Grid  | Laps
Led  | Points

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1  | 7  |  Danica Patrick | Andretti Green Racing | 200  | 1:51:02.6739  | 6  | 3  | 50
2  | 3  |  Hélio Castroneves | Penske Racing | 200  | +5.8594  | 1  | 94  | 40
3  | 9  |  Scott Dixon | Target Chip Ganassi | 200  | +10.0559  | 2  | 101  | 38
4  | 10  |  Dan Wheldon | Target Chip Ganassi | 200  | +13.1116  | 5  | 2  | 32
5  | 11  |  Tony Kanaan | Andretti Green Racing | 200  | +16.0731  | 3  | 0  | 30
6  | 20  |  Ed Carpenter | Vision Racing | 200  | +16.2872  | 7  | 0  | 28
7  | 17  |  Ryan Hunter-Reay (R)  | Rahal Letterman Racing | 200  | +17.5193  | 10  | 0  | 26
8  | 14  |  Darren Manning | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 199  | +1 Lap  | 12  | 0  | 24
9  | 6  |  Ryan Briscoe | Penske Racing | 199  | +1 Lap  | 15  | 0  | 22
10  | 23  |  Townsend Bell | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 199  | +1 Lap  | 16  | 0  | 20
11  | 27  |  Hideki Mutoh (R)  | Andretti Green Racing | 199  | +1 Lap  | 9  | 0  | 19
12  | 15  |  Buddy Rice | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 198  | +2 Laps  | 11  | 0  | 18
13  | 24  |  Jay Howard | Roth Racing | 192  | +8 Laps  | 14  | 0  | 17
14  | 77  |  Roger Yasukawa | CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports | 134  | Brakes  | 18  | 0  | 16
15  | 2  |  A. J. Foyt IV | Vision Racing | 103  | Accident  | 8  | 0  | 15
16  | 4  |  Vítor Meira | Panther Racing | 92  | Accident  | 13  | 0  | 14
17  | 25  |  Marty Roth | Roth Racing | 44  | Accident  | 17  | 0  | 13
18  | 26  |  Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing | 0  | Collision  | 4  | 0  | 12

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Rain hands Castroneves Motegi pole". autosport.com. 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
2. ^ "Motegi race rescheduled for Sunday". autosport.com. 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
3. ^ "Motegi results" (PDF). Indycar.com. 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2009-02-13.[permanent dead link]

Preceded by

2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

|  IRL IndyCar Series
round 3A
2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (transition teams; 3B)

2008 | Succeeded by

2008 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 (round 4)

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