Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
INDYCAR Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NTT IndyCar Series
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – May 11, 2019
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS PROVIDED AN EXTRA CHALLENGE IN THE INDYCAR GRAND PRIX; RAHAL AND SATO FINISHED NINTH AND 14TH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We got lucky a little bit with that strategy, we should have pitted with everyone; we didn’t. That kind of worked out because then everybody had to pit again to go to rain tires. To be honest, it seemed like in the rain I couldn’t get the front tires to work at all. The car was extremely pushy and that’s why I couldn’t hold those guys off (at the end). The left front tire was completely grained. I think we did the best that we could all things considered. Do we want better? Yeah. But it’s kind of what we had today.”
- FAST FACTS: Heavy sprinkles fell as the race started. He passed Power on the start for sixth and held the position through a caution for Ericsson. On the restart, Harvey and Herta came into contact and Rahal passed for fifth on Lap 16. Pigot passed him on Lap 22. As drivers began to pit, he cycled into the lead by Lap 27 before he made his first stop on Lap 28. He returned to the track in 13th and had a brief “moment” when he had his right tires in the grass but gradually moved back up to seventh by Lap 40 on into fifth by Lap 43. He passed Pigot on Lap 46 for fourth and then the top three pit which put him in the lead on Lap 47 for three laps. He made his second stop on Lap 50 and was out on alternate tires. As the rain picked up, Kanaan became the first driver to opt for rain tires. His lap times were much slower than the field so most elected to stay on slicks when they had to pit for fuel. Castroneves forced the issue on tire choice when he spun on his out lap on rain tires but got stuck on course and brought out a caution. The rain picked up so when the pits opened on Lap 63, those other than the seven cars on rain tires, elected to pit for them including Rahal and teammate Sato. He returned to the track in seventh and held that position until the final lap when Power and Rosqvist passed him… The 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis (GPI) was Rahal’s sixth Indy car race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His highest finish here is second place (2015) and his highest start was seventh (2019) although he qualified third in 2016 but his car was disqualified for being underweight. In five events, he has four top-10 finishes of second (2015), fourth (2016), sixth (2017) and ninth (2018). Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He moved from ninth to seventh in series point standings with 113 points.
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Obviously it was tough conditions for everyone, but I don’t think we did a great job today. We missed a lot of opportunity, but with that it was so tough to keep it on the track. It’s a shame. It was just a disappointing finish today.”
- FAST FACTS: On the start during heavy sprinkles on parts of the track, he got boxed in and dropped from his 11th place start to 16th. He passed Hunter-Reay ad Castroneves before he took over P13 on Lap 10 when Ericsson brought out a caution. On the restart, he got one position when Herta was spun and he passed Ferrucci for 10th. He passed Power and Bourdais on Lap 20 for eighth place but was repassed by Bourdais on Lap 22. As the pit cycled started, he climbed as high as fourth before he pit on Lap 28. He returned to the track in 14th and climbed back into eighth by Lap 40. As some drivers who were on a different pit strategy made stops, he moved up to second by Lap 50 before his second stop for slick tires. Kanaan was the first driver to pit for rain tires on his stop on Lap 54. The team monitored his lap times as well as the weather and when Castroneves brought out the caution when he returned to the track on rain tires, all teams not on rain tires waited until the pits opened on Lap 63 to get them. Sato spun in the slick conditions once back on track and dropped back to 16th. He gained two spots from O’Ward and /Hinchcliffe before the checkered flag… The 2019 IGP was Takuma’s sixth race here. His best start is 11th in 2018 and 2019 with RLL and his best finish is ninth in 2017 with Andretti Autosport… Has FOUR IndyCar Series wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 – Portland road, 2019 – Barber road)) and EIGHT poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval; 2019 Barber road). He dropped from fourth to fifth in series point standings with 132 points.
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