Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Round 1 of 17 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – Sunday, April 18, 2021
RAHAL AND SATO FINISHED SEVENTH AND THIRTEENTH IN THE HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Code 3 Associates Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “End of Race 1 and I think it was a good day for us going 18th to seventh. We had good pace in the race which is really how we got there. The strategy was good but all of the top guys did it in two green flag stops which is what we did as well. For us I thought that the pace was very strong. The group we were in – Bourdais, Veekay and myself — had really good pace and that helps too because that really helped us push forward and close in on the lead group and really distance us from Grosjean and those guys behind us. I thought our guys did a great job on the Code 3 Associates car. We are proud of the organization and we are keeping our heads down, working hard and we’re off to St. Pete.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Panasonic / Shield Cleansers Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “First race of 2021 and we finished 13th. It’s a little bit of a pity after we fought so hard after the massive incident. We made a really good start and jumped up to P12 but then the massive incident dragging off a lot of yellows so actually the two stoppers made up significant positions and we went alternate (strategy) three stops. Good fight with Pagenaud, good fight with Scott (McLaughlin) all the way through the stint and there was lots of overtaking. It’s a bit of a shame; we wanted to be in the top-10 but we started from 19th and obviously we were lacking the pace for the weekend. Hopefully we will figure it out and then the next one is a street course and we should be better there. It was a tough race but good weekend.”
NEXT UP: The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place next Sunday, April 25 and will be televised live on NBC beginning at 12 PM ET.