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NAOKI HATTORI TESTS
AT HOMESTEAD FOR GRAND PRIX OF MIAMI
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Dec. 9) - Naoki Hattori,
preparing for the season-opening CART FedEx Championship Series race at the Miami-Dade
Homestead Motorsports Complex on March 21, concluded a two-day test today behind the wheel
of the Walker Racing Valvoline/Cummins Reynard-Honda. It was the veteran Japanese driver's
first oval course action in a Champ car.
South Florida's 1.5-mile state-of the art oval
will host the Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota on March 21. It will be preceded by
CART's fourth annual Spring Training Feb. 2-4.
"We had a very good test," said
Hattori, who unofficially turned a fast lap of 208.494 mph (25.9 seconds). "This was
my first experience on an oval in a Championship car. It's a very big change from Indy
Lights, especially the engine power and maximum speed.
"My goal for the year is I hope to win
Rookie of the Year. This is a very competitive series, and I know I will have many
competitors, but that is my goal."
Hattori, 32, was the first driver of the
PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship "Class of '98" to graduate to the FedEx
Championship Series ranks when he was selected to drive for Walker Racing in October.
One of Japan's most popular drivers, Hattori
has raced and won in a variety of open-wheel, sports car and touring car championships in
his native country. He won the 1990 Japanese Formula 3 championship, and a pair of
All-Japan Touring Car championships. Hattori has two Formula One starts in Japan and
Australia in 1991. He competed in the Indy Lights series the last two years, with his best
finish a second earlier this year at Toronto.
"I've driven in Formula One and
Group C, and raced at LeMans, but I think this test was the fastest I've ever
driven," Hattori explained with a big smile.
Prior to the two-day test at Homestead, Hattori
tested for Walker Racing on the road circuits at Firebird and Laguna Seca.
Tickets are now on sale for the Grand
Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. For additional information, call (305) 230-5249.
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