Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
IZOD IndyCar Series – Sonoma Raceway
TESTING NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, August 17, 2012
TAKUMA SATO COMPLETED 57 LAPS OF TESTING AT SONOMA RACEWAY BEFORE CONTACT BROUGHT AN END TO THE TEST MID-AFTERNOON
Takuma Sato, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We were going through our test program for the road course package that we weren’t very satisfied with and were making progress. It was a good test and we were getting more of an understanding for these cars with the road course package and tires. It was a good session in the morning and then we continued testing in the afternoon, trying to find a little bit more speed but then by the end something happened under braking and I lost control and the car was damaged so we stopped earlier which is a shame. We couldn’t complete the testing items but we were able to get more experience and collect valuable data today. It was good to test here before the race, especially with the changes to the track. The area after the high speed Turn 6 and braking into Turn 7 is much tighter than last year and it seems that a good braking battle can go on there. Turn 11, which is the very last corner can still be improved a bit. There was a question whether the corner was too tight and they already got rid of some rumble strips today during the test so the track changed from this morning to the afternoon.”
NEXT UP: The team will test at Auto Club Speedway on Tuesday before returning to Sonoma for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma August 24-26.
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