Wheldon makes it big in Japan

Wheldon, who committed to the US racing scene in 1999 after failing to find the right opportunities in Europe, was quickest in pre-season testing and has been among the pace-setters since the beginning of the year. The Andretti Green Racing star took his first IRL pole in the second race of the year in Phoenix and followed that up with another pole and victory at Motegi.

"This team has worked so, so hard to provide not only victories for their drivers, but domination," said Wheldon. "They've always been very competitive. It worked out well for me. It was a fantastic day."

This was Wheldon's fifth consecutive top-six finish, but after Thursday's crash-hit testing session at Motegi, the Briton had not been hopeful of continuing that run: "I went to bed Thursday very disappointed. I was 16th quickest. On Friday, my second lap of the day was faster than anything we did Thursday. Everything just came together."

It was also Honda's first IRL victory on home soil, after years of defeat by rival manufacturers at a facility that the Japanese car manufacturer had financed the construction of. "There was definitely a lot of pressure to win this race," said Wheldon. "We were told that we had to do this, but with the preparation they [Honda] had made, we were in good shape. We were expecting to run up front because we had done so earlier this year. Honda kicked butt. They deserved this.

"If I won at Phoenix, it wouldn't be such a big deal here at Motegi," Wheldon said. "Honda wouldn't have appreciated it as much."

Honda Performance Development GM Robert Clarke called the Motegi event Honda's second most important race behind only the Indianapolis 500: "I don't think we've still realized what just happened here.

"It's been so long in coming and so much has gone into trying to win it. It's hard to put into words what it means. Everyone has put their heart and soul into this project getting ready for this race. To finally realise it is unbelievable. It was a superhuman effort. Everyone put in everything they had."

"The thing about racing is that there is no limit to what you can put into it. So you just put more and more, and it includes a lot of personal sacrifice, time away from your family and friends. There is so much dedication to the project, but that's what it takes now at this level of competition to win."

Wheldon now leads the title chase with 123 points after the first three races, six more than AGR team-mate Tony Kanaan. Penske's Helio Castroneves is third on 106 points.