Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – 21st Season
Pre-Race Notes
Chevrolet
Round 6 of 16 in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series
DATE: June 1-3, 2012
QUALIFYING BROADCAST: None; LIVE on www.indycar.com (timing & scoring with audio commentary)
RACE BROADCAST: Live on Sunday, June 3 at 3:30 a.m. ET on ABC
RADIO BROADCAST: The race will air on IMS Radio Network, XM channel 94 & Sirius channel 212
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.07-mile, 14-turn street course
RACE LENGTH: 90 laps / 184.5 miles
2008 WINNER: Justin Wilson
2008 POLESITTER: Scott Dixon (102.007)
SATO’S HIGHEST
ROAD/STREET START: Pole at
SATO’S HIGHEST
ROAD/STREET FINISH: Third at
SATO IN
RLL’S TOP START/
FINISH AT
NEWS & NOTES:
1 WIN, 1 FRONT ROW START, 2 PODIUMS IN 12 BELLE
The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will mark the IZOD IndyCar Series’ third visit to
The 2012 event will mark the 13th year for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) to compete at the Raceway at
Before he started a race team in 1992, Bobby Rahal competed in downtown
RLL CONTENDERS FOR INDY 500 WIN ON FINAL LAPS IN 2011 AND 2012
The team was in contention to win the Indy 500 as recent as 2011 and 2012. In 2011 Bertrand Baguette led laps 139-140 and laps 189-197 of the 200 lap race. Had a caution come our before Baguette was forced to pit for a splash of fuel, he might have been the victor. The race ultimately ended under caution when JR Hildebrand crashed on the front straight while in the lead on the final lap. In 2012, Sato led the third most laps at 31 and pulled alongside eventual winner Dario Franchitti in Turn 1 on the final lap to take the lead but lack of traction and/or light contact led to a crash and he finished 17th. Sato is 12th in series standings with a total of 100 points entering Round 6 of 16. Had he won or finished second in the Indy 500 he would be in the top-five of the standings.
SATO ON THE INDY 500 – HINDSIGHT
“Obviously I am disappointed in the result but it was definitely one of my best races and I deeply enjoyed the whole race. The thing is, the Indy 500 is all about winning and I was and we were going for the win. No regrets at all. I attacked because it was the last opportunity since it was the last lap. It had to be done at Turn1 because of the wind direction. We had a tail wind at Turn 2 on Sunday which made it difficult to follow the car in front due to loss of downforce with some washout pushing and I had been racing with the Ganassi cars who were quick down the straight for many laps but I wasn't able to overtake them at Turn 3 so I knew it had to be done at Turn 1. There was an opportunity when I caught Dario at the end of the main straight, dove in and we were side by side just turning in to Turn 1. It was tight and close but I was forced to go to the very low lane below the white line and lost grip. I was not happy because we didn't win and felt bad especially for boys and team who did outstanding job but was happy to see all the big smiles from the fans and incredible positive reception. It was a very exciting race and I would like to say a ‘Big thank you’ to all who supported me.”
SATO ON DEBUT AT
Sato will compete in his first race in
“The Detroit Grand Prix is a famous event in history so I know a little about it but only what I saw on TV. It looks like a beautiful course as it is set up in the middle of the park on an island on the
SATO ON “FASCINATING” SEASON TO DATE
So far this season, Takuma has led two of the four road/street races (St. Pete and
“It has been a very positive, fascinating season so far. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has a long history but we are still a new team because it is a new group of people working together and learning a lot. I feel we are making good progress after every single race and it is a very exciting challenge. I love it.”
SATO ON THE TEAM’S COMPETITIVENESS ON OTHER ROAD/STREET COURSES TRANSFERING TO
Sato will be one of 12 drivers to compete on the 2.07-mile Belle Isle course for the first time in an Indy car. Others include Rubens Barrichello, Sebastien Bourdais, Mike Conway, Simona de Silvestro, JR Hildebrand, James Hinchcliffe, James Jakes, Charlie Kimball, Katherine Legge, Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud. Although many teams and drivers have competed on this course before, it will be the firs time to do so with the all-new DW12 chassis. Based on previous performance in 2012, the team has a good road/street course baseline setup and hopes that knowledge will translate favorably to the 14-turn Belle Isle course.
“Some of the knowledge we have gained of the DW12 will apply to
SATO ON HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO LEARN THE BELLE ISLE
“It depends on my mood! I’m kidding. Usually I can learn a course pretty quick. A couple of laps give you quite a lot of idea (about the layout), then you just need to work on the details.”
SATO ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MOMENTUM WITH SIX RACES IN SEVEN WEEKS
The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix is the only road/street course in a stretch of five-straight races that began with the
“We definitely have good, positive momentum and our motivation is very high,” said Sato. “We just need to make sure everyone is not worn-out physically and keeping good health. Otherwise we should be very happy to go racing!”
– RLL –