Rahal Set the Eighth Fastest Time in Practice for the Honda Indy Toronto

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Honda Indy Toronto – Streets around Exhibition Place

Verizon IndyCar Series

PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, July 15, 2016

RAHAL SET THE EIGHTH FASTEST TIME IN PRACTICE FOR THE HONDA INDY TORONTO

FASTEST:         Simon Pagenaud           1:01.7081 / 104.194 mph

8th:                   Graham Rahal               1:02.5353 / 102.816 mph

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Rousseau Metal Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Overall it was an okay day. We put the Rousseau Metal car in the top-10 in both sessions but I feel like we have a long way to go to get the balance to be a bit better. We found a couple of things which is good but there is certainly more work to be done. It’s great to be back in Toronto. There was a great crowd here today. Thanks to the amazing Canadian fans for their support.”

• FAST FACTS: Will be his 10th Indy car race here and 11th overall including his 2006 Atlantic race… In nine Indy car races, his best Toronto start is third in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and his best finish is fifth in 2010 with Newman/Haas Racing. More detail on each start is available upon request… His best finish this season is second place at Barber and third at Road America and best start is sixth in Barber and Road America. He qualified third for the Indy GP but was moved to 24th after his car failed tech inspection due to being underweight… In the seven road and street races so far this season, he has earned two podiums (2nd – Barber, 3rd – Elkhart Lake) and four, top-four finishes. Avoidable contact from another driver in St. Pete, a fuel economy race that didn’t go his way in Long Beach and a loose brake line in Detroit Dual 2 limited those results despite competitive weekends… Rahal is ranked ninth in series point standings with a total of 275. He is only 43 points behind fifth place Helio Castroneves (318). Series leader Simon Pagenaud has 409 points.

RLL AT TORONTO: The Honda Indy Toronto will mark the 17th year of Indy car racing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) here. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series races here in 2003 and 2004. The team earned a total of four second place finishes (Rahal 1992, 1994, 1995; Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003) and best start was pole in 1992 by Bobby Rahal. Prior to the 2016 event, the team prepared a total of 29 Indy car entries for drivers Bobby Rahal (1992-98), Mike Groff (1994), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain Jr. (2002-03), Takuma Sato (2012), Graham Rahal (2013 x 2; 2014 x2; 2015), James Jakes (2013 x 2) and Luca Filippi (2014 x2). The team also prepared three Toyota Atlantic entries (Danica Patrick 2003-2004; Chris Festa 2004).  The team has earned FIVE podiums (3rd – Rahal 1996), 9 top-five’s and 17 top-10 finishes at the track. The No. 15 Rousseau Metal entry for Graham Rahal will bring the Indy car total to 30 entries in 2016.

NEXT UP: Practice 3 will take place tomorrow from 9:45-10:30 a.m. ET and qualifying will begin at 1:30 and will be televised live on NBCSN beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET. Streaming video and Timing and Scoring information is available for all practice sessions from www.indycar.com and includes commentary by the INDYCAR Radio Network. Timing and Scoring information for qualifying is also available live with commentary. 

PHOTO AND VIDEO AVAILABLE: Media members who register on the IndyCar Series media site have access to photography as well as video. Register for access to photos at: http://www.indycarmfedia.com/pages/ApplyforAccess