The following conference took place earlier this week when Honda announced its new engine supplier agreement with Team Kool Green. Guests include Robert Clarke from Honda Performance Development, Barry Green of Team Kool Green and driver Parker Johnstone. CART PR's Mike Zizzo is the moderator.

Mr. Clarke: Honda Performance Development is very pleased and delighted to announce, starting with the '97 racing season that Team Kool Green will be utilizing Honda power. Barry's team is, of course, a very experienced and very professional team. They've demonstrated that they know how to win races, championships. I'm quite thrilled to be a part of their team. We're also very pleased that we're able to continue our relationship with Parker Johnstone, their driver, and look forward to a very exciting year and defending our championship.

Mr. Zizzo: Thank you, Robert. Barry, any comments on you joining the Honda Team that was so successful last year in winning the championship?

Mr. Green: Yes, thanks, Mike. Certainly, it's a very exciting announcement for all of us here at Team Green. Parker has had a tremendous relationship with Honda over the years and has won many championships and many races using the Honda engines. So, once we had him signed, it was a natural for us to talk to Honda about 1997. We're super pleased that we've been able to put together a deal. As we speak now, the boys are downstairs fitting the first engine to our, or for getting ready for a test in early January. We now believe we've got a real complete package. We've got the Reynard car, a very proven chassis and we've got the Firestone tire, a great tire, won a lot of races.

Now, to add to it we've now got the Honda engine. I think it's a very complete package and we're really looking forward to getting on the racetrack and starting our testing and excited about our future relationship with our new partners, Honda.

Mr. Zizzo: I believer Parker has joined us. Parker, are you out there?

Mr. Johnstone: Yes, I am, Mike.

Mr. Zizzo: Great. We'll start the questions now.

Question: Hi, congratulations, guys. Barry or Parker, I wonder if you could tell us anything about what's going on now that you've got the engine deal together and in place? I guess you've got all the elements together, except maybe the engineering side, do you know who will actually be running race engineering in Parker's car?

Answer: Gordon, we're working hard on that still. We've got a couple of different options. I'd really rather not comment too much on that today. You know, we've been working pretty hard first of all, getting Parker signed up and many, trying with many drivers before that. But once Parker came along, we jumped at that opportunity, got him signed up and then we had to go to work and see if we could put together the deal with HondAnswer:

So, the next challenge for me is just to complete that package, I guess, on the engineering side. But we've got a couple of exciting options and we're working hard on that.

Question: Thanks, Mike. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I wonder whether either Barry or Robert would like to comment on the... rejoining the Indy Lights team there and what that means for Honda and for the future?

Answer: Well, Robert you comment first.

Answer: Okay. Well, obviously we've shared a relationship with Hattori in Japan. We're quite excited to be joining Barry's Indy Lights organization and in that series. Based upon his performance in Japan, I would say that we're quite optimistic about his ability. I'd be up front in saying that we're hopeful that Mr. Hattori can prove to be competitive and ultimately grow into IndyCar in the future.

Answer: Jeremy, from our side, it's something that I've been working on for quite some time. Kool is very, very big in the states here and in Japan and a very, very interesting market for them. We want some way of getting Kool involved with, Kool in Japan involved with our program here and this was a natural. We tested Hattori a couple of times and we were super impressed with how smooth of a driver he was and how good of a test driver he was. We've been working on it for a long, long time and super pleased that we could put it altogether. He's very, very excited and just finished a couple of days testing in Sebring and it went very, very well. So, it should be a powerful Indy Lights Team next year.

Question: Thanks, Mike. Congratulations, Robert, Barry, Parker. A question, I guess sort of a two sided question to Robert and Parker. Obviously, the program with Team Kool Green is new for Honda, but with Parker there, there is obviously a certain sense of continuity given his experience in the past couple of years and obviously dating back to when he was, played a pretty central role in the development of the early engines. I wonder, Robert if you could address that issue about the continuity from Parker's standpoint and how that will work in everybody's favor?

Answer: I think it adds a lot to us. Parker, number one is an excellent test driver. He's been extremely valuable to our program. The input that he's given to us in improving our engine has been outstanding. I'm sure you've heard we refer to him as the human dyno because his feedback is so incredibly accurate. He adds so much to our program. But yes, to have Parker involved, he became involved very early in '95, it added so much to our program then and having him continue through that, knowing how the engine itself has evolved and being able to compare the new engine to the old one, what's improved and what hasn't, obviously adds a lot to us.

Question: As I said, that's sort of a two edge thing because obviously from, address kind of the same question to Parker. Although you're going to be in new surroundings with Team Green, obviously you're still going to have a lot of familiar faces and experience with working with the Honda people and how that's going to, if you could comment on how you see that working?

Question: My question is for Robert Clark, it's really a two-parter. First of all, can you comment on where the situation now is with Brix Comptech and where they stand with an engine deal? Also, when Parker announced he was leaving Brix Comptech a few weeks ago, you released a statement indicating certain level of surprise and it was a very polite and fond farewell seeing you off, best of luck and now we're back to a relationship again, can you talk a little bit about the path that you traveled from the moment of surprise back to pursuing a relationship with Parker again?

Answer: Well, it all happened quite separately. Parker's decision was his decision alone. Obviously, it entered into our decision, but I guess, first answering your first question regarding Brix Comptech, to be honest I don't know exactly where they stand as far as engine supply today. As Honda basically terminated their contract for reasons which we can't express now. But we terminated that contract. Once that happened, we started investigating what teams were available so that we could fulfill our obligation to CART.

Question: I'll give it a shot. Parker, I had asked the question, basically about continuity. On the one hand you're with a team that's new to you in Team Kool Green, but at the same time, now with the Honda connection, will be obviously a continuity dating back to your, as far back as even into the ... days, with HondAnswer: I wondered if you could talk about how you see that working next year?

Answer: Well, David for me I spent very few years at the beginning of my career without Honda. That seems like a long time ago in a galaxy far away. So, I'm very much intertwined, not only in my professional life but in my personal life, it's been HondAnswer: To work for a company who's led by a gentleman who cut his teeth in Formula I and who's whole basis for existence is engineering and the perfection of building the best motors, both for the street and for the racetrack possible is, I think, probably every racer's dream come true.

So, as Robert had mentioned earlier, my decision to leave Brix Comptech was made independent of any other decisions. The fact that there were some miraculous things that happened to take advantage of the opportunity to be with Barry was tremendous.

Now that we're in a Reynard chassis with Firestone tires and have the best engine in the IndyCar paddock, which allows me to continue my tradition and history with Honda, now having Honda aboard is just fantastic. I can't think of coming out of a more difficult set of circumstances to this sort of a fairy tale ending.

Of course, I think as everyone understands the people aspect of racing is usually highly underrated, since there's so much effort concentrated on the equipment. But obviously, the people are an extremely important part of the equation. I think with Barry's leadership and his focus on winning races and championship, as well as Kim... and Kyle Moyer's and everyone on the team. I've had the unusual luxury now of actually spending the last month and a half getting to know the individuals on the team, away from the racetrack. Not being allowed to test it yet and the more that I am around Team Kool Green and get to know the individuals on it, the more pleased I am, knowing that the decision I made was 100 percent correct.

So, having Honda there is obviously the continuity and the continuation of something that I've always known and it's been part of my family for years. With the addition of Team Green, I can't imagine a better place to have landed.

Question: Barry, first of all, congratulations on signing HondAnswer: Parker, congratulations to you as well. Can you tell us something about how things are going with the Team Green Academy and what the results have been so far? We haven't heard anything for a few days now.

Answer: The Academy is going extremely well. We're in the final few moments here of selecting the final five and that's a challenge, a lot of good young drivers out there. But right now, we're just flat out focusing on getting this new Honda engine installed in this car and getting ready for this test. Kim is full control of the Academy program and hopefully we'll have some announcements here shortly.

Question: Also, if I can get one follow up. You signed Mr. Hattori for the Indy Lights program, yet you tested a number of American drivers, can you talk about what went into your decision about not choosing one of these American drivers to be in your Indy Lights program?

Answer: Two different programs, Mike. The Hattori program was for a third car in the series. We will be running three cars yet, three cars next year. We have yet to make our final decision on the second American driver. But they are really sort of two separate programs. As far as my funding is concerned and, although it will be operating under one umbrella as one team and leaning on each other and working together as one team next year. We certainly haven't done away with one of the American seats and we should be making an announcement hopefully in the near future about that. There's been some rumors out there and it's been another tough decision. Sort of calling an IndyCar race, making decisions on when to make a pit stop here and there seems rather easy now, compared to trying to select a couple of good drivers and there are a lot of good young guys out there. Between the Indy Lights seat and the Academy it's quite a challenge. We spend a lot of hours each day talking about it. But we'll have two Americans in our Indy Lights team next year.

Question: Barry, I'm curious, my understanding is that you had a valid contract with Cosworth for next year for engine supply. Was that contract terminated amiably or what happened?

Answer: No, I didn't have a contract after September 1 or September 15th.

Question: Yeah, I guess for Mr. Clark. Any comments concerning your new engine for '97, anything you can reveal yet?

Answer: Yeah. We've had an opportunity to track test it now a couple of times. It seems to be doing well, as any new engine. This engine is basically a clean sheet of paper design. It's quite stressful, but we threw away everything that we had with our championship winning '96 engine and started completely over with a package that we felt was achieving everything that an engine designer wants and that it was, it's smaller and it's lighter and it produces more power and better torque or driveability.

Question: You're keeping the people there very busy.

Answer: It's working out quite well. The engine is on schedule. We've had a few hiccups here and there, which is basically normal with this kind of program.

Question: When do you hope to be testing?

Answer: We've tested already. We've had extensive dyno testing, basically it's been on the dyno since the middle of September and we track tested it for the first time the week before last.

Question: Barry, test wise where do you want to be when Spring Training rolls around?

Answer: Well, we've got a lot of tests scheduled for the first couple of months next year. We are going to be one or two days behind the other guys, just a little bit late getting started here. But we would like to have at least completed a couple of days at Homestead before Spring Training. I don't think it will take us long to get up to speed. We've got pretty much all the same guys on our team and we spent a lot of time with Parker already. We've had him fitted to the car and I think we're all feeling very, very comfortable with each other and excited. Just raring to go for that first test. So, Spring Training will be important. It will be the first time we're all out there together and it's almost like a race in itself. So, we're looking forward to the end of January.

Mr. Zizzo: Gentlemen, thanks for joining us and we wish everyone a Happy Holiday. Thanks a lot.

Source: CART News Service