Taylor impresses on Panther IRL debut.

Newly-crowned Infiniti Pro Series champion Mark Taylor made an impressive Indy Racing League debut by completing 150 laps with reigning Indy Racing League champions Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway yesterday [Wednesday].

The 25-year old Briton took over from double IRL champ Sam Hornish, who had run on Tuesday to continue the team's set-up and aerodynamic work in preparation for next week's all-important championship showdown, in which the American retains an outside chance of winning a third consecutive title.

Taylor first took to the track at 9am, already running in approximately 70 degrees of heat and with a strong wind which prevented the day's times from matching those of Tuesday. Following a couple of installation laps, the former British F3 race winner began to familiarise himself with the faster Chevrolet-powered car, but was running flat out within minutes of starting the run.

By his second flying lap, he had reached an average lap speed of 217.887mph and, by the end of the day, was running in the 219s, ending up as the fastest driver on the day, ahead of Team Cheever veteran Alex Barron. Remarkably, Taylor's time would also have put him on pole for the race held at Texas in May of this year.

"It's great to have the opportunity to drive the Panther IRL car - the extra power and grip are quite something," an ebullient Taylor admitted afterwards, "The Infiniti Pro Series has helped me make the transition and I felt very comfortable, very quickly.

"There is high banking here which makes it a little easier, and I have been helping the team with aero work prior to [next weekend's] race. Someone pointed out that our time today would have put us on pole for the race here earlier in the year, which is quite surprising. It's been a great experience and I am confident I can run the car well in races."

Taylor is hotly tipped to step up to Panther's IRL squad for next year, but remains just one of a possible 20 drivers that the team would like to test before making a decision on who will replace the Penske-bound Hornish, and fill a newly-created second seat for 2004.

"Mark did a great job - he took to it like a duck to water and, to be honest, it is what we have come to expect from him," commented Panther co-owner Mike Griffin, "He is a quick learner and adapted very well. The Infiniti Pro Series has stood him in good stead for the next step."