Motegi race rescheduled for Sunday
Indy Racing League officials have postponed Saturday's Indy Japan 300 after it proved impossible to rectify persistent 'weepers' on the racetrack
The race has been rescheduled for 11am local time on Sunday, but rain is in the forecast. If the race cannot be run, it will not be rescheduled as it will be difficult to further postpone the Motegi event with the next IRL IndyCar Series race at Kansas just one week away.
In the event that Motegi has to be cancelled, IndyCar Series points will not be awarded for Sunday's Long Beach Grand Prix, which is running with Champ Car equipment.
The decision to postpone the Motegi race came two hours after the green flag was scheduled. Crews worked to fix the problem of water seeping from under the track surface, even drilling holes in the track and pumping out water, but the weepers continued.
The track had received steady rainfall for a long period, beginning with the downpour that caused the cancellation of Friday's qualifying session. Although no further rain fell today, the accumulated water under the track surface proved too great a problem.
The series is running an unprecedented double-header this weekend, with Sunday's farewell to Champ Car also on the IndyCar schedule for teams transitioning into the IndyCar Series.
The two sanctioning bodies unified under the IndyCar banner in February, but couldn't resolve the scheduling conflict between Long Beach and Motegi - events that were both considered vital to the series.
The pre-2008 IRL teams therefore headed to Japan with their regular Dallara-Honda chassis, while the so-called transition teams reactivated their Panoz-Cosworth Champ Cars for Long Beach, where they have been joined by a variety of drivers who were unable to secure IndyCar programmes and returning veterans.
With the cancellation of Motegi qualifying, Penske's Helio Castroneves has been awarded pole position by virtue of his points lead, with the field lining up in championship order.
Joining Castroneves on the front row will be Scott Dixon (Ganassi), who won the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti are on the second row.
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