Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
IZOD IndyCar Series
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, July 20, 2012
SATO SET THE 18TH FASTEST TIME IN PRACTICE FOR THE
FASTEST: Helio Castroneves 1:16.4920 / 104.670 mph
18th: Takuma Sato 1:16.9741 / 104.014 mph
TAKUMA SATO, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a productive day as well as a little frustrating. The session was cut in half by red flags and making some changes but nevertheless we made some progress between the sessions. It’s the first time for the team on this track since they didn’t run here last year. I had a good feeling (in the car) here last year and the car is already coming to a very similar level which is nice. Looking at the overall view, everybody is very competitive so we are not showing as strong as we wish but we will put all of the data together and make good progress for tomorrow. (On new tire compound:) Generally I think the car generates more downforce, plus the tires are working good and we should have a little bit more power too so, as a package, the car is going faster than last year’s lap times. The feeling I had last year in the car, with the pole time in terms of the complete view, we are already there. But it’s only relative; we are not quick today. We need to improve.”
· FAST FACTS: This will be Sato’s third race in
GERRY HUGHES, Race Engineer for Sato: “We had two difficult sessions, again spoiled by a number of red flags, particularly in the afternoon session. We worked through a number of items on our test list for Friday. As always, we would have liked to have done more work. We feel that our true pace has not been reflected in the lap times at the end of P1 (practice 1) and P2 (practice 2) and probably feel a little more confident about the pace of our car. We will attempt to put a lap together in qualifying tomorrow and get a good grid position.”
SECOND RACE IN
NEXT UP: Practice will take place tomorrow from 9:00-10:00 a.m. MT and qualifying will take place from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com. The Edmonton Indy will be televised live on NBC Sports Network at 2:00 p.m. ET Sunday, July 22.