FORMULA DREAM/PANASONIC DRIVER HIDEKI MUTOH NINTH FASTEST ON SECOND AND FINAL DAY OF IZOD INDYCAR SERIES OPEN TEST AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

FASTEST: Will Power 01:09.8724
9th: Hideki Mutoh 01.10.4451

Hideki Mutoh, No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think the Formula Dream/Panasonic team had another good day today. We stopped at 2:30 (p.m. CT) to make a change on the car and it made the car much better. It was a huge, good change. My engineer Martin (Pare) and the team understand my driving style more now and what they should do for me to make the lap time quicker and I understand as a driver how to work better with them. We are getting closer. I think we could have run a faster time on new tires but I didn’t get the best out of lap. I just couldn’t put the lap together but I am happy with the potential of the car.”

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.

NEXT UP: The IZOD IndyCar Series season opener – the Sao Paulo Indy 300 -- will take place on March 13-14 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The team previously competed in CART events in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with their best start being pole in 1999 by Christian Fittipaldi and best finish was third by the same driver.