Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – August 13, 2021
LUNDGAARD QUALIFIED FOURTH FOR HIS INDYCAR DEBUT AT THE BIG MACHINE SPIKED COOLERS GP; SATO AND RAHAL TO START 16TH AND 17TH
1) Pato O’Ward 1:10.7147 / 124.167 mph (Group 2, Round 2)
4) Christian Lundgaard 1:10.7433 / 124.116 mph (Group 2, Round 2)
16) Takuma Sato 1:11.4174 / 122.945 mph (Group 2, Round 1)
17) Graham Rahal 1:11.5583 / 122.703 mph (Group 1, Round 1)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 One Cure Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a frustrating end to the day for us on the One Cure team. In practice we were okay, I just wasn’t very happy with the car, and I think I led us down a path of doing a big differential change, doing a rear roll center change and a bunch of stuff. And unfortunately in qualifying we just completely tipped the car over and really just shot ourselves in the foot unfortunately. We’re quite different on the 15 car from our teammates so we are going to deviate to more of their setup for tomorrow and hopefully it will work out for us a little bit better. I’m disappointed, mightily disappointed to not do better. I feel like we, with all the preparation we’ve had coming into the Indy road course we should have been stronger than what we saw today. Obviously Christian did a great job. He drives this track very different from us, so I think both Takuma and I have a lot to learn in the way he approaches Turn 4 and a couple of the others. We’re just going to have to sit back and learn as much as we can and get the cars better for tomorrow. We just have to keep our heads down and hope for a good result tomorrow.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Panasonic / Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was pretty tough day. Once again in practice, I didn’t get a chance to complete a lap on red tires because of traffic, and obviously the red flag came out also. It was an unknown situation going into qualifying and then for us we had a huge struggle to get the balance right in the conditions. It was a shame; I think the car has great potential, but we just didn’t get the balance correct so we need to look at the data, and tomorrow I’m sure we will put it together but it was a pity.”
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Let’s just say I didn’t expect to be here now when I left home. I know my family is asleep right now. I guess they will have a heart attack when they wake up in the morning. I’m definitely happy with P4. I didn’t expect that so I’m happy. Yeah, I’m just super happy to be here. I’m enjoying every second of it. It’s so different to Europe. Just seeing fans is amazing. We’ve had one or two races this year in Formula 2 where we’ve had fans. It’s only half capacity. So to come here and see so many people near us is just awesome. I’m just enjoying myself and seeing all the opportunities I have, trying to grab them obviously. But it’s always about going out there and give it your all. For me, it’s just amazing to be here and to prove myself. I think it’s looking good so far. But I didn’t expect to be here now. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
RLL AT THE IMS ROAD COURSE…. The Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix will mark the 11th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 2.439-mile road course. The team’s best finish here is second in 2015 and July 4, 2020 by Rahal and best start is fourth in 2020 by Rahal and 2021 by Lundgaard.
NEXT UP: Warmup for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers GP will take place from 8:45-9:15 AM and NBCSN will begin coverage of the 85-lap race at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.