Team Impulse

Team Impulse logo (2023-present)

**Team Impulse**, operating as Panasonic Team Impulse for sponsorship purposes, is a motor racing team currently competing in the AT&T Champ Car World Series, Microsoft IndyCar Series, Nissan Atlantic Championship, GP1 Championship, GP2 Championship, GP3 Championship, and the Formula Two World Championship. The team was founded in 1995 by Osaragi Haruto, and competed in the All Japan GT Championship, and the Super GP ladder system in Japan for the first decade of its existence.

In modern times, the team is best known for its rise to success in Champ Car, where it enters the 2022 season with the defending Indycar World Driver's Champion, Hazel Lacasse. The team has won numerous races over the past six years, with its successes in Champ Car and GP1 being the brightest highlights. The team is currently run by Asumi Matsuo, a former Champ Car driver who became a part of the team's management when she retired in 2014.

## Champ Car History

### First Race

2006 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Pete)

### 2006

Team Impulse entered the Indycar World Championship with the 2006 Armor All IndyCar Series season, joining as a one car team using Chevrolet engines. Due to it using Toyota architecture in Japan, Honda would not do business with the team in the United States, which limited the team's ability to access two full time cars immediately. The team was guided into the American market by Asumi Matsuo, who left the GP1 Championship in 2005 as series champion. Instead of defending her GP1 Championship, Matsuo made the brave call to lead the team into the unknown, where 2006 would be a massive learning season for both team and driver.

The season began at St. Petersburg, where Matsuo crashed early and finished 25th, last for that event. For her first oval race at Homestead-Miami, Matsuo showed boldness as she battled with the much more experienced oval racers in the field, bringing the car home in 8th to secure the team's first top 10 in the series. Barber would not bring any similar fortune, as Matsuo suffered a gearbox failure in the opening laps of the race, finishing 27th and last for the race for the second time in three races. More consistent results followed. Matsuo finished 14th at Long Beach, and 13th at both Richmond and the 2006 Indianapolis 500. At Cleveland, Matsuo scored another top 10 finish, a 9th place result, before being taken out in a massive crash at Texas to be classified in 25th. A 15th followed at Mid-Ohio, before an 11th at Watkins Glen.

The team, and its supporters, all urged patience as Matsuo and its team engineers learned the tracks of the series for the first time. The cars used in the series were wildly different than what the team excelled with in Japan, and for Matsuo, she recalled in an interview in 2019 how difficult it was to handle the car without power steering, pointing to that as the largest road block when she debuted. Ovals, however, were a surprising bright spot for Matsuo, as she finished in the top 5 for the first time at Kentucky, challenging the 2006 runaway championship leader, Michael Alexander, for a podium place at the end of the race. Miserable results followed at Toronto, where she finished 22nd, Michigan, where another large accident removed her from action early, and Laguna Seca, where Matsuo snap-spun in the corkscrew early in the race and hit the tire barriers. The next three races were the most important races of the season to the team. Twin Ring Motegi marked an important occasion for Team Impulse. It was the first time the American side of the team had returned home in almost a year, competing in front of thousands of fans who had followed the team both in Japan and in the U.S. Matsuo responded in kind, finishing 8th, on the lead lap, and leading her first laps in the series, important milestones for the team. The next race at Surfer's Paradise was not so kind, with Matsuo finishing 22nd after a caution late trapped Matsuo right behind the eventual race winner, Cristine Espinoza. But the season ended on a high note, when Matsuo brought home another top 5 finish, finishing 5th at Fontana.

Through the team's first season in Indycar World Championship competition, Matsuo brought in five top 10 finishes, led 29 laps, and finished 18th in the points standings. Matsuo finished 2nd in the 2006 Rookie of the Year standings, behind Obsidian Racing Team's Zoe Sharp, who's season was a lot more competitive overall.

### 2022

Team Impulse returned to being a three car team for the 2022 AT&T Champ Car World Series season, with B.K. Glover returning to full time status to pair alongside defending Indycar World Champion, Hazel Lacasse, and Sakura Ishibashi, who returned from injury after her accident in the 2021 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. IndyCar drivers Thomas Rogers, and Jake Carter, would join the team for the 2022 Firestone Triple Crown.

## List of Drivers

### Indycar World Championship (2006-present)

#### Current Drivers

* B.K. Glover (2020-present)
* Artyom Kozlov (2021-present)
* Thomas Rogers (2018-2020, 2022-present)

#### Former Drivers

* Asumi Matsuo (2006-2014)
* Valentino Figueredo (2007-2012)
* Cosimo Bortolami (2010-2012)
* Jerome Torres (2017-2019)
* Tyler Parker (2017-2020)
* Sakura Ishibashi (2017-2022)
* Hazel Lacasse (2020-2022)

### Atlantic Championship (2021-present)

#### Current Drivers

* Korina Amara (2022-present)
* Saori Tokui (2019-present)