Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Grand Prix of Baltimore – Streets of Baltimore, Maryland
IZOD IndyCar Series
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – August 30, 2013
RAHAL SECOND FASTEST IN PRACTICE FOR THE GRAND PRIX OF BALTIMORE; JAKES HINDERED BY BRAKE PEDAL PROBLEMS
FASTEST: Tristan Vautier 1:19.4792 / 92.402 mph
2nd: Graham Rahal 1:19.5630 / 92.304 mph
20th: James Jakes 1:20.9139 / 90.763 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 blu eCigs Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Well it’s an improvement over where we’ve been. I think that if we felt confident at any of our disciplines this year, the street courses seem to be where our team has been pretty strong. Combining that with the gains that we found at Sonoma, it seems to be working pretty well. We’re all very pleased with the blu eCigs car, I think that the guys have done a phenomenal job putting us in a good spot to start with. Really, what’s been nice is that we’ve only been just doing fine tweaks, we haven’t made any big changes, and that’s something all year that we’ve done. From one session to another it’d be a big roll center, and this that and the other thing, and you never can work on the car then, you’re always chasing yourself. I think we found some things and I hope it carries over to tomorrow. I’m sure everybody will say this, but I know on old tires I can get up a couple of tenths on my best lap to the sector through here, so I know there’s a little bit more time in it. However I was pretty surprised that those times held up, because we started this session on new tires and we did that time pretty early. I really thought that someone else would jump up there in the meantime, but it feels good, just going to keep working it.”
JAMES JAKES, No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We have an issue with the brake pedal and I think it has been going on for some time now maybe going back to Mid-Ohio or further. We’ve got to figure it out and see what’s going on because as of right now it’s almost undriveable. It’s frustrating.”
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. 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: Practice will take place tomorrow morning from 9:05 – 9:50 a.m. ET and qualifying will take place from 12:00-1:10 PM and will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 6 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Network will begin their live broadcast of Sunday’s race 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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