Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Grand Prix of Baltimore – Streets of Baltimore, Maryland
IZOD IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – August 31, 2013
CONTACT IN ROUND 2 LIMITED RAHAL’S STARTING POSITION TO 12TH FOR THE GRAND PRIX OF BALTIMORE; JAKES QUALIFIED 13TH BUT WILL SERVE A 10-GRID PENALTY FOR SIXTH ENGINE
POLE: Scott Dixon 1:18.0838 / 94.053 mph (Round 3; Group 1)
12th: Graham Rahal 1:22.2045 / 89.338 mph (Round 2 – 2 fast laps were deleted; Group 1)
13th: James Jakes 1:18.6398 / 93.388 mph (Round 1; Group 1)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 blu eCigs Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to complete qualifying but what I’m more disappointed with is the fact that the session didn’t go red. I don’t care if people hadn’t finished their lap or not; it was an unsafe situation to stay green and ultimately I got hit — again. Luckily I saw him because I was watching the mirror and waiting for someone to do it. I was looking to my right and saw that they were waving the green flag. I was looking in the mirror and saw him coming to hit me. I’m alright. The steering wheel spun and I let go and the steering wheel spun around and hit me in the wrist. I’ll be alright. We had been fourth at the time and lost our two fastest laps. I didn’t feel that my fast lap was that good but I also feel that I was struggling for grip. The lap I crashed on, I was already up almost a tenth.”
JAMES JAKES, No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think a tenth (of a second) would have put us comfortably in the top-six to progress to Round 2 which is a shame but that’s the way it is. We just didn’t get enough laps complete this morning. We lost the rhythm (during qualifying) when we were behind Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and I really think that if we hadn’t had that happen we would have gotten through to the next round. We have a 10 place penalty anyway and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow so I think we can do well. I’ve always gone well here in the rain in the past so we just have to be patient tomorrow and try to get the job done.”
RLL AT BALTIMORE: The Baltimore Grand Prix will mark the second IndyCar race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) here and THIRD overall after competing in the ALMS race in 2011-2012. Takuma Sato led 12 laps here last year before a fuel pressure problem surfaced and he retired in 21st. In 2011 at Baltimore, the team’s ALMS GT program – BMW Team RLL — qualified on pole (No. 55) and in third (No. 56). The No. 55 car was taken out of the lead by contact from a Corvette and the team finished fifth (No. 55) and second (No. 56). In the 2012 ALMS race, the No. 55 qualified second and was in the lead when it was penalized for “intimidation” of a slower car — that had spun and was not touched by the 55 – and ultimately finished eighth. No 56 qualified fifth and finished fourth. On Friday, the No. 55 qualified on pole and the No. 56 qualified 2nd but was penalized for a “ride height” issue in post qualifying inspection and will start 11th. The No. 15 blu eCigs entry for Graham Rahal and No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts entry for James Jakes will bring the Indy car total to three entries in 2013.
NEXT UP: Morning warm-up will take place tomorrow morning from 10:15 – 10:45 a.m. ET and the 75-lap Grand Prix of Baltimore will take the Green Flag at 2:40 p.m. ET and will be televised by NBC Sports Network beginning at 2 p.m. ET. The race will also be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network on Sirius XM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com.
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