FORMULA DREAM/PANASONIC DRIVER HIDEKI MUTOH TENTH FASTEST ON FIRST OF TWO DAY IZOD INDYCAR SERIES OPEN TEST AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

FASTEST: Ryan Briscoe 01:10.5052
10th: Hideki Mutoh 01.11.2212 21 laps in the morning & 47 laps in the afternoon

Hideki Mutoh, No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The last time I drove an Indy car was at Sebring in November with this team for a one-day test so it has been three months since I was in a race car. It took a while to get up to speed but once I got there the car felt really good. By the end of the day I was starting to have good communication with my engineer Martin (Pare) who I knew when we were both at Andretti Green Racing. It takes time because of my language and also I need to understand what they are talking about but so far I am very happy. I feel the car has a lot of potential to do a good lap time. I like the course. There are a lot of elevation changes and nice, fast corners, quick esses and also some slow corners. It’s very fun and challenging to drive.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his first race here. He previously tested on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn course here in 2009 as part of the four-car Andretti Green Racing team…His highest IZOD IndyCar Series start on a road/street course is FIFTH at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma in 2009 and best series road/street course finish is FIFTH at Mid-Ohio and Infineon…His highest overall series start is THIRD at Nashville Speedway (oval) and best overall series finish is SECOND (Iowa 2008).

PERSONAL INFO: Hideki Mutoh, 27, was born in Tokyo, Japan on 10-6-1982 and resides in downtown Chicago. He chose the city because it offered direct flights to Tokyo and most of the IndyCar Series race markets and has a strong Japanese community…The 5’ 8,” 153 lbs. driver is one of three children of Eiji and Noriko Mutoh. He has two older sisters (Yumi and Hanae)…Unlike many of his racing peers, he did not follow in the footsteps of a relative. His father owns a fish market in Tokyo’s famous Ginza area that has been in the family for approx. 110 years. He will carry-on the family business once he retires from racing…He became fascinated with racing at the age of four or five by watching it on TV and, at 10 years of age, became a fan of Indy car racing when reigning F1 champion Nigel Mansell joined Newman/Haas Racing and won the title. He began kart racing at the age of 12 and became an exchange student at the age of 15 in order to pursue racing in England…In his free time he likes to shop for clothing and electronics for fun…His favorite type of clothing is anything casual and his favorite brand of jeans is Replay. He occasionally throws a Prada vest into the mix…He may be the only 27-year-old that doesn’t own an ipod or mp3 player but is looking forward to purchasing one of Panasonic’s soon-to-be-sold 3-D TV’s…To prepare for the physicality of racing he performs a weight training session for one hour, four times a week with a focus on his core and shoulders and runs for one hour five times a week (Mizuno are his favorite running shoes)…His favorite food to eat in the US is Mexican because he can’t get it in Japan and, of course, sushi…His weakness is chocolate …He frequently reads Japanese books and the most recent was about a female Japanese marathon runner that competed in the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta…His favorite show to watch on TV is “American Idol,” and his favorite type of movies are “action movies” preferably starring Matt Damon, George Clooney or Angelina Jolie…His favorite movie of all time is “The Green Mile” starring Tom Hanks.

NHR AT BARBER: The team participated in the test here last year... ON ROAD/STREET COURSES: NHR / NHR earned 80 of their 107 wins and 90 of their 109 poles on road/street courses.