Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – September 1, 2023
LUNDGAARD SET THE FASTEST TIME IN PRACTICE 1 FOR THE BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND; VIPS AND RAHAL 15TH AND 18TH
1) Christian Lundgaard 58.1776 / 121.531 mph
15) Juri Vips 59.0217 / 119.793 mph
18) Graham Rahal 59.0284 / 119.780 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think that on primary tires, we’re the fastest car. I’m confident in that but on alternate tires, it just wouldn’t turn at all. I really don’t know why there is such a big balance shift. It’s really frustrating because on blacks on Lap 21, we were quicker than everyone else on primary tires so it’s frustrating not to see the pace on the red’s (alternates). It wasn’t even in the ballpark. We are going to take a long look at it and compare data with my teammates.”
JURI VIPS, No. 30 Kustom Entertainment Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The session was awesome; it’s just such a nice feeling getting back in the car again. I really missed it. To be honest, it was a bit easier than I thought it would be. I thought it would take me quite a bit longer to get the confidence up, but it came pretty quick. I’m still nowhere near 100 percent but it’s a transition from not racing for a while to coming straight into a race weekend. We’ve still got a long way to go. We’re P15 is definitely not representative. I think there is a lot of potential in the car and in the package. We’re looking really good as a team. I think it’s going to be a good weekend. It’s very lucky that I got an extra set of Firestone tires for being a rookie. It was definitely appreciated. The first session was about enjoying getting back confidence. Now, it’s about performance the rest of the weekend.”
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a great start, I would say, I don’t think you can argue with that. We put the Hy-Vee Honda P1 in Practice 1 and we plan to carry that into Practice 2 and qualifying. I think the car is in a good window. We knew we were going to be fast here. There is not much I would really change with it as of now.”
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT PORTLAND … Sato brought the team its second win here in 2018 in Indy car racing’s returning to PIR for the first time since the 24th consecutive race was held in 2007. The 2023 race will mark the 17th time for RLL to compete in an Indy car race here. The team competed in CART and Champ Car-sanctioned races at PIR from 1992-2003 with a best starting position of pole by Bryan Herta in 1998 and Max Papis in 2001 and best finish of first place by Max Papis in 2001 and Sato in 2018. RLL has earned a total of four podium finishes (3rd – B. Rahal 1995, Herta 1998) and has led a total of 153 laps here (1998: Herta, 20; 2001: Papis, 69; 2018: Sato: 25; 2021: G. Rahal 36; 2022: Rahal, 2 & Lundgaard, 1). 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: Practice 2 will take place tomorrow from 12-1 p.m., qualifying will take place from 3:30-5:00 p.m. and the warm-up will be 8:15-8:45 p.m. All times are eastern with live coverage on Peacock Premium. The BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland will be televised live on NBC beginning at 3 PM ET Sunday, September 3.