Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda Indy 200 – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
IZOD IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – Saturday, August 3, 2013
JAKES EARNED HIS BEST START AT MID-OHIO OF 10TH FOR THE HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO; RAHAL TO START 22ND
POLE: Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:05.3519 / 124.385 mph (Group 2; Round 3)
10th: James Jakes 1:06.1778 / 122.833 mph (Group 2; Round 2)
22nd: Graham Rahal 1:06.4002 / 122.421 mph (Group 2; Round 1)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Midas / Big O Tires Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Practice was cut short (in the morning practice) and I don’t think we got a ton of work done there. I’m just trying to learn some things and we’re out of time. We tried to use practice this morning as a bit of a test session since we didn’t get to run in the test session on Wednesday. Unfortunately that really put us back. All the things we are trying to do right now would have been nice to do last Wednesday but we’re doing them now unfortunately. To win from the back here is near impossible. I started in the back last year and fought hard all day to get in the top-11. There is nothing else that we can do but continue to fight hard.”
· FAST FACTS: Will be his sixth Indy car race here but first for his father’s Indy car team. He has competed in many other series at his “home track.” In 2012 he qualified 22nd, started 21st (engine penalty ahead on grid) and finished 11th with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing (SCCGR). In 2011 he qualified sixth, stalled in the pits after his first stop and finished 24th with SCCGR. In 2010, he qualified 25th with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) and had moved up to 14th when he attempted to pass Wheldon for 13th on Lap 61/85 in T2 and went off course and dropped to 21st. Finished 20th. In 2009, he started fourth with NHLR and looked likely to finish fourth before an off-track excursion while fifth late in the race led to an eighth place finish. In 2008, he started 14th with NHLR and ran as high as eighth, but an off track excursion on lap 53 limited him to a 16th place finish. At the age of 16 in 2005, he became the youngest to claim the SCCA National Formula Atlantic championship at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs here by a dominant 43-seconds. He also competed in the Star Mazda race here in 2005 (S/F 4/9). Tested a Grand Am car here in 2007… His best finish this season is second place in Long Beach and best start is 11th also in Long Beach… Is ranked 17th in series standings with 221 points.
JAMES JAKES, No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I knew in the morning session that our lap time was not really where we were competition-wise. I had a bit of confidence in the car, I wasn’t sure how quick we could go but I knew it wasn’t where we ended up in that session. We had to be patient and put the lap together in qualifying. The car is still not perfect but the guys have been doing a great job to get us from where we were to where we are now. Hopefully we can make that jump again and get a real good car for tomorrow. I am happy about our progress. Its days like this — especially those times when you’re in a battle for a championship — that you aren’t competitive and you’ve really got to pull some things out of a hat and pull it off. It was nice to get in the top-10. Now let’s get even higher.”
· FAST FACTS: His 10th place qualifying position is his best at Mid-Ohio to date. Will be his third event here and first with RLL. In 2012 he qualified 21st, started 20th after a competitor ahead was penalized for an unapproved engine change and finished 19th. In 2011 he qualified 24th and finished 23rd. Both events were with Dale Coyne Racing… His best series start to date is 2nd at Dual 2 in Detroit and best finish is 2nd also at Dual 2 in Detroit… Is ranked 18th in series standings with 215 points.
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT MID-OHIO… The Honda Indy 200 will mark the 16th Indy car event for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) here. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series race in 2003 with Danica Patrick and has competed in ALMS races here in 2007 and from 2009-2012. The highest IndyCar finish for the team here is two third place finishes (Rahal 1997, 1998) and the highest start is pole (Herta 1997). Another front row start came in 1999 (Herta; 2nd). Prior to the 2013 event, the team prepared a total of 24 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) Ryan Hunter-Reay (2007-2008) and Takuma Sato (2012). The team has earned TWO podiums (3rd – Rahal 1997, 1998), 9 top-five’s and 13 top-10 finishes at the track. The No. 15 Midas / Big O Tires entry for Graham Rahal and No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts entry for James Jakes will bring the Indy car total to 26 entries in 2013.
NEXT UP: The morning warm-up will take place from 11-11:30 a.m. ET tomorrow and the 90-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will take the Green Flag at 3:40 p.m. ET and will be televised live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 3:00. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com.
PHOTO AND VIDEO AVAILABLE: Media members who register on the IndyCar Series media site have access to photography and video. Register for access at: http://www.indycarmedia.com/pages/ApplyforAccess