Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
IZOD IndyCar Series
RACE NOTES/QUOTES — June 23, 2012
TAKUMA SATO FINISHED 12TH IN THE
TAKUMA SATO, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a very hard race, we fought very hard. The boys did a great job to regroup after a difficult weekend. We didn’t have the speed this weekend. We tried to find the speed and were improving but it was such a hard race. We were just hanging in there and it was as tough of a race as I have ever had. I am looking forward to getting back on road and street courses and also look forward to going to
FAST FACTS: Was his third race here. He started 23rd and finished 12th… He won pole here last year, led seven laps but retired in 19th place due to contact after 182/250 laps. He qualified seventh in 2010 here and retired in 19th place due to contact after he completed 177/250 laps… His best oval qualifying is pole at Iowa Speedway in 2011 and his best finish is fifth in Race 1 at TMS in 2011… Is Sato’s first season at RLL and third in IndyCar and it appears to be the start of his best season to date in the series… Sato led three of eight races this year – including 31 laps at the Indy 500 — and nearly won the event. Has led 58 laps to date in 2012… In 34 starts in 2010-2011, has 17 career top-10 starting spots including four top-five starts and two poles (
JAY O’CONNELL, Technical Director: “Overall Takuma did a good job to finish the race; that was our main goal. He said the car felt better than yesterday. The improvements we made had better stability and a better steering feel but as the race went on it got harder. The last set of tires were the most challenging for him as he needed a little bit more stability to get more pace out of the car. He did a good job managing the situation and being smart and using his tools to keep the car as stable as possible and he did a good job staying out of trouble. It was great to see him finish the race. We are looking forward to
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT
NEXT UP: The series will take a break next weekend after five races in a row before reconvening for the Honda Indy Toronto on July 5-8. The team raced in