Honda Indy Toronto – Streets around Exhibition Place
IZOD IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES for Race 1 of “2 in T.O.” – Friday, July 12, 2013
JAKES EARNED A CAREER-BEST TORONTO QUALIFYING POSITION OF FIFTH FOR RACE 1 OF THE “TWO IN T.O” HONDA INDY TORONTO; RAHAL QUALIFIED 18TH
POLE: Dario Franchitti 596756 / 105.872 mph (set in Round 3)
5th: James Jakes 1:00.1430 / 105.050 mph (set in Round 3; will serve a 10-grid penalty for an unapproved engine change)
18th: Graham Rahal 1:00.6868 / 104.108 mph (set in Round 1, Group 2)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Midas / Big O Tires Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m very disappointed in our qualifying effort. Unfortunately we tried to do the (lap) time too late on the tires. The two laps before that should have been better. One was average and the next one, Simona came out of the pits in front of me and I caught her in the middle of Turn 1 so I lost some time there. I just threw a lap in, and it was a solid lap but unfortunately we missed it by one-tenth and a half (of a second) and that’s all it takes now. It’s frustrating to start in the back; that’s kind of where we’ve been all year and there’s no reason for it. We’re going to just keep working. James typically likes a loose car compared to me and I’m a little bit more loose than he is right now so I’m hanging on a bit. We’re going to have to make some changes for tomorrow and try to improve it. I think the standing start is going to be really difficult. It will be interesting to see what happens. Starting in the back, we’re going to be in the midst of all the mess it if something happens.”
JAMES JAKES, No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “They have made a few surface changes here and it’s difficult. Into Turn 1 the car is quite a handful but you’ve just got to get on with it and do it (set a fast time) because there are 24 other guys out there pushing for the maximum. Hopefully we can still make some improvements; we’ve got to improve the car a little bit. It was a great job by the team. We did improve the car from the morning practice session and we just have to make sure we do the same again. With the 10-grid penalty for the race, we just needed to earn as high of a qualifying spot as possible and I think we did today. The car wasn’t perfect but we managed to achieve the maximum so we’ll start 15th, be patient and see what happens. I’m looking forward to tomorrows qualifying obviously, without the penalty. And obviously we have the standing start and I’m looking forward to that. Hopefully we can gain a few on the start and get back up to the top five”
1 POLE, 5 PODIUMS FOR RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT TORONTO… It is the 14th Indy car race for the team in Toronto and second since 2003. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series races here in 2003 and 2004. The team earned a total of four second place finishes (Rahal 1992, 1994, 1995; Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003) and best start was pole in 1992 by Bobby Rahal. Prior to the 2013 event, the team prepared a total of 22 Indy car entries for drivers Bobby Rahal (1992-98), Mike Groff (1994), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain Jr. (2002-03) and Takuma Sato (2012). The team also prepared three Toyota Atlantic entries (Danica Patrick 2003-2004; Chris Festa 2004). The team has earned FIVE podiums (3rd – Rahal 1996), 9 top-five’s and 17 top-10 finishes at the track.
NEXT UP: Qualifying for Race 2 will take place tomorrow morning from 10:35-11:05 a.m. ET. The first of two 85-lap Honda Indy Toronto “Two in T.O’s” will take the Green Flag at 3:33 p.m. ET Saturday and be televised live on NBC Sports Network at 3:00. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com.
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