Lundgaard, Rahal and Fittipaldi to Start 10th, 19th and 23rd in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – July 6, 2024

LUNDGAARD, RAHAL AND FITTIPALDI TO START 10TH, 19TH AND 23RD IN THE HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO

1) Alex Palou 1:05.3511 / 124.387 mph (Group 2, Round 3)

10) Christian Lundgaard 1:05.7705 / 123.593 mph (Group 2, Round 2)

19) Graham Rahal 1:05.8505 / 123.443 mph (Group 1, Round 1)

23) Pietro Fittipaldi 1:06.0973 / 122.982 mph (Group 1, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Unfortunately, what we thought might happen, happened, which was that as the track evolution really gripped up, our car just wouldn’t turn, at all, and so I reported down to Christian’s pit with that information before he went out (Group 2). Because in debrief this morning after we were P2, the understeer level was good. But I was worried that with the track evolution here on a newly-paved track and how much it might grip up, we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the understeer and unfortunately that’s exactly what happened, the track gripped up a lot. It made a huge lap time difference and sadly we just didn’t put it together. We were on a lap that was two-and -a half to three-tenths (of a second) up which would have been enough to advance but towards the end of the lap the front tire was bright red on my dash (sensor), giving up and unfortunately nowadays you miss it by a tenth and a half, you’re all the way back in P10 (in Round 1, Group 1). Unfortunately, a little understeer around here is half of a second and it caught us out. We’re going to keep working hard to get the Fifth Third Bank car up front in the race.”

FAST FACTS: The 2024 Honda Indy 200 will mark Rahal’s 18th Indy car race at his home track. His best start is second in 2023 and 2017 and his best finish is his win here in 2015. He has finished in the top-five, six times in his past 10 races here. In total, he has one win (2015), two podiums (2017), six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in his 17 races here including a pair of fourth place finishes in the doubleheader in 2020. In 2023, he lost pole by a mere four-hundredths of a second to Herta and matched his best INDYCAR start at home of second place. He led the race two times for two laps total and finished seventh after a slow fuel probe plug in on his first stop and an issue getting his inside rear tire on in his second. In 2022, he qualified 18th and finished 12th after struggling with the handling of the rear of his race car. In 2021, he started eighth and finished sixth. Year-by-year recaps are available upon request. He has also competed in many other series at his “home track.” In addition to Indy car races here, at the age of 16 in 2005, Rahal became the youngest to claim the SCCA National Formula Atlantic championship at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs here by a dominant 43-seconds. He also competed in the Star Mazda race here in 2005 (S/F 4/9) and tested a Grand Am car here in 2007.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a super tough qualifying session for the first hybrid race. We are lacking pace and trying to understand what we can do for tomorrow for the race to close the gap.”

FAST FACTS: The Honda Indy 200 will mark Pietro’s second INDYCAR race at Mid-Ohio. In 2018, he competed for Dale Coyne Racing where he started 22nd and finished 23rd… He is 19th in series standings with 97.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think there was more potential for us in Practice 1 than what we showed. Graham was up there in Practice 2 and I was a lot happier with the car then too. I think we missed it slightly here in qualifying which is unfortunate but I’m happy we at least got through the first group for the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda. So, it’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow. I think there is going to be a lot going on with the hybrid. So, at least now we will know where we start so we can work towards the front.”

FAST FACTS: Lundgaard will make his third start at Mid-Ohio. In 2023, he narrowly missed out on a podium finish with fourth place after starting fifth and matched his best finish of the season to that point. In 2022, he started 16th and finished 11th. He is hoping to continue the trajectory and podium potential shown last year… He is ranked 11th in the point standings with 156.

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT MID-OHIO … The 2024 Honda Indy 200 will mark the 28th Indy car event for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course, near the team’s original base of Hilliard, Ohio. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series race in 2003 with Danica Patrick and has competed in ALMS races here in 2007 and from 2009-2012 and IMSA races since 2018 when the team competed in the GTLM class. The team has earned four podiums (1st – G. Rahal 2015; 3rd – B. Rahal 1997, 1998, G. Rahal 2017), 16 top-five’s and 26 top-10 finishes at the track and the highest start is pole (Herta 1997). Another front row start came in 1999 (Herta; 2nd).

NEXT UP: The pre-race warm-up will take place tomorrow from 10:25 – 10:55 a.m. ET and NBC will begin coverage of the 80-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio at 1:30 p.m. ET.