Hornish aiming to improve his Motegi form

Team Penske made the grueling trip to Japan this week in preparation for Saturday's Indy Japan 300, the third race of the 2007 IndyCar Series season.

With just two races in the books, Team Penske is batting .500 with a win in St. Petersburg, Fla., earlier this month. In addition, the team has earned one pole and a second-place finish. If 2006 is any sort of indicator for this weekend's event, Team Penske should fare well again this year, as the Team heads into Japan once again off the strength of a victory.

Last season, Helio Castroneves led a race-high 40 laps in St. Petersburg and then led 184 laps in Japan en route to back-to-back victories. This season, Castroneves started on the pole in St. Petersburg and led a race-high 95 laps en route to a second consecutive win on the temporary street course.

Aside from earning his 18th career Indy Car victory in Florida, Castroneves broke Rick Mears' Penske Racing record of consecutive years with a win for the Team. Mears won at least one race for seven consecutive seasons from 1979-1985; Castroneves has won at least one race every year since 2000. Hopefully, this bodes well for Team Penske as it looks to repeat last year's win in the 'Land of the Rising Sun.'

“Japan is one of the most unique tracks that we run on all year because the turns are all so different from each other,” Castroneves said. “Last year, I couldn't have asked for any more from the Team Penske crew. They gave me a fantastic car that allowed me to start on the pole, lead a majority of the laps, and bring home my first victory in Japan. It was one of my favorite memories of last season.”

While Castroneves has found victory in Japan, the 1.5-mile oval represents the only circuit of that length on the 2007 IndyCar Series circuit at which teammate Sam Hornish Jr. has never won. The 27 year-old Defiance, Ohio, native has found victory on every other 1.5-mile oval on which the IndyCar Series competes, so you can bet this year he will head to Japan with his sights set on crossing Twin Ring Motegi off of his list.

“I'm looking forward to going back to Japan this year,” Hornish explains. “We haven't really done particularly well there in the past, but we managed to make progress last year with a fourth-place finish. With Helio's win there and how strong we've been on ovals recently, we're pretty optimistic heading into the race. Hopefully, we'll be able to put the Team Penske car at the front.”

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Team Penske