Taylor quits Panther.

Panther Racing rookie Mark Taylor has announced that he will be seeking other options for the remainder of the season, his partnership with the former champion team having not worked out to the satisfaction of either party.

Effective from this weekend's event at Kansas Speedway, Panther will be looking for a new partner for Tomas Scheckter, after Taylor stepped down from his ride in the Menards Dallara-Chevrolet. The reigning Infiniti Pro Series champion has a best finish of twelfth from the first six races of the season, despite having registered a highest qualifying position of third last time out at Richmond.

There is no acrimony in the split, which both sides believe will be beneficial to their respective futures.

"Mark has done everything we have asked him to do over the past 18 months he has been part of the Panther Racing family," team co-owner John Barnes said, "However, due to the many pressures of professional auto racing, it is in everyone's best interest that we look in different directions."

Fellow co-owner Gary Pedigo echoed Barnes' sentiments about the driver who reset virtually every record in the Menards-backed Infiniti Pro Series last year, taking seven victories in eleven starts.

"The IndyCar Series has become one of the toughest championships a driver can contest, and the rules limiting team testing have made the learning curve very, very steep for a rookie in this series," Pedigo explained, "Mark has done an outstanding job of getting the car up front in several races and has turned some very quick laps in a short amount of time. He is a very bright, personable and talented young driver and we wish him the best in his future endeavours."

Panther has not yet announced a replacement for the young British driver, but intends to field two cars as usual in this weekend's Argent Mortgage Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.