Lundgaard & Rahal Qualified in the Fast Six for the BitNile.com GP of Portland in 4th & 6th; Fittipaldi & Vips Narrowly Missed Progressing to Round 2

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – August 24, 2024

LUNDGAARD AND RAHAL QUALIFIED IN THE FAST SIX FOR THE BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND IN FOURTH AND SIXTH; FITTIPALDI AND VIPS NARROWLY MISSED PROGRESSING TO ROUND 2

1) Santino Ferrucci 58.2046 / 121.475 mph (Group 1, Round 3)

4) Christian Lundgaard 58.5809 / 120.695 mph (Group 1, Round 3)

6) Graham Rahal 58.6332 / 120.587 mph (Group 1, Round 3)

13) Pietro Fittipaldi 58.4955 / 120.871 mph (Group 1, Round 1)

16) Juri Vips 58.6209 / 120.612 mph (Group 2, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Hendrickson Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “You know, last year it worked for us (qualifying on primary tires, rather than the usually faster alternates). Unfortunately, I think the reds (alternates) are more durable this year, but that said, also the blacks for me had no rear grip compared to my first set. Earlier, in Round 1, we had the fastest lap time on blacks so we were confident with them but when we went back to them on the Hendrickson car, the rear wasn’t competitive at all. So, maybe we should’ve gone for it on the reds (alternates). But, unfortunately we have a grid penalty no matter what.”

FAST FACTS: It will be the 9th overall race for Graham at PIR and seventh in the headline event. His highest NDYCAR start here is POLE in 2023 and highest finish is fifth in 2022… Last year, he started from his fifth career series pole on alternate tires and led the first 21 laps before his first stop to switch to the preferred primary tires, that he won pole on. Once he pit, fifth place starter and eventual winner Palou, who started on primary black tires and performed an “overcut” pit strategy, cycled into the lead and held it for the majority of the remaining laps (led 69/110 laps) while Rahal repeatedly struggled with track position and traffic as well as a fueling issue on his final stop and finished 12th… 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 FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 – IMS road course, Portland road)… Rahal is ranked 18th in series point standings with a total of 205.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 Localiza Rent a Car Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We could have advanced into the Fast 12. Yeah, I think we had it in us because on the black tire we were a little bit more competitive than on the reds. It was just missing a little bit there. We’ve been making progress, so I’m happy to do the final road course like this, showing the progression. Now we shift focus to the race tomorrow.”

FAST FACTS: He was seventh fastest in his group and missed progressing to Round 2 by a mere 18/1000ths of a second… Will make his second start here. He earned his best career INDYCAR finish here of ninth place in 2018 with Dale Coyne Racing after starting 16th… Is ranked 19th in series point standings with 151.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a pretty busy qualifying, there was a lot going on. Being fastest in the first group was a little unexpected. I think our car was fast. We don’t have the ultimate pace that some of the other cars have, which was also shown in the Fast Six, but I was happy to make it through. Last year we didn’t make through Group 1 when we had a car to put it on pole. This year, I don’t think we had a car to put it on pole, but I thought we had a car to get through to the final — the Fast Six — and then see what we could do in there. It’s a good starting spot. Both Juri and Pietro did a good job as well. They were fast but just missed out by thousandths and that just proves how close it is. It’s a good starting point.”

FAST FACTS: Will make his third start at the track after running in podium contention in his maiden race here in 2022 and also ran well in practice in 2023, setting the first and second fastest times in the two sessions, respectively. He wasn’t able to maximize performance in qualifying and started 17th in the race but jumped as high as 13th in the opening laps after avoiding contact between competitors on two different instances. He took the restart from a full course caution on Lap 6 from 12th place and ultimately finished 11th. In 2022, he qualified fourth but started third due to Newgarden, who set the second fastest time, having to serve a six-spot grid penalty. He passed Power on the opening lap and held second place until leader McLaughlin made his first stop on Lap 21/110. He pit from the lead on Lap 22 but the fueler had an issue with slower than usual fuel flow. He made his second stop on Lap 47 and settled into fifth place behind McLaughlin, Power, O’Ward and Newgarden. When he pit from fifth place for his third and final stop on Lap 78, he stalled in his pit and lost a few positions. He was running eighth on Lap 94 when he attempted to pass Rossi and went off course in Turn 2. He collected a foam banner that stuck to the front of his race car, and he had to pit to have it removed and returned to the track in 21st place, where he ultimately finished… Has ONE INDYCAR SERIES win (2023 – Toronto street course) and TWO poles (2023 – IMS road course (May), Toronto street course)… Is ranked 12th place in the point standings with 244.

JURI VIPS, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m really happy to be back overall. I wish qualifying would have gone a little differently but I’m just happy to be back in a car. It felt like the lap was good (enough to transfer to Round 2) there, but I probably misjudged the gap with Harvey a little bit. I left a huge gap the first lap, but I caught up to him probably 2-seconds a lap. So then when my tires were in, I was a bit too close to him. I think we had a good chance of advancing otherwise. We were a little out of the window in FP2 but I think we made some good improvements now. Just a shame where we were in the pit lane and the traffic we came up to. I don’t think we would have been P1, at the top, but definitely had two-tenths to get to the next round.”

FAST FACTS: Narrowly missed progressing to Round 2 of qualifying with the eighth fastest time. Although he created a gap to the car ahead on his final laps, he quickly closed on 14th place Harvey and was not able to gain the two-tenths of a second needed to set the sixth fastest time to progress to the next round… Vips, 24, will make his return to INDYCAR competition for his third series start at PIR this weekend. He made his series debut at PIR in 2023, where he started and finished 18th. He used that experience to run up front the following weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca where he was sixth fastest in Practice 1 and a mere -0.05 from advancing to the Firestone Fast Six on Saturday qualifying seventh. After a six-grid penalty in the race for an unapproved engine change, he started 13th and was collected in a multi-car crash on the opening lap but soldiered on to finish 24th. Vips is a three-time Formula 2 race winner and a part of the Red Bull Junior Team between 2018-2022, where he also served as a Formula One test and reserve driver from 2020-22. He drove an Indy car for the first time on October 12, 2022, at Sebring International Raceway in a test for the team and again at Barber Motorsports Park on March 13, 2023. He has also performed static simulator testing for the team in 2023-2024. His most recent win came at the F2 sprint race in Monza on September 10, 2022, and his most recent race was at Laguna Seca on September 10, 2023.

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT PORTLAND … The team competed in CART and Champ Car-sanctioned races here from 1992-2003 with a best starting position of pole by Bryan Herta in 1998, Max Papis in 2001 and Graham Rahal in 2023 and best finish of first place in 2018 by Takuma Sato and in 2001 by Max Papis. RLL has earned a total of four podium finishes here (3rd – B. Rahal 1995, Herta 1998) and has led a total of 172 laps (1998: Herta, 20; 2001 Papis, 69; 2018: Sato, 25; 2021: Rahal, 36; 2023: Rahal, 21). In addition, the team competed in the Toyota Atlantic races here in 2003 (Danica Patrick, Jon Fogerty) and 2004 (Patrick and Chris Festa).

NEXT UP: The BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland will be televised live on USA Network beginning at 3 PM ET Sunday, August 25.