Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
Verizon IndyCar Series
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – June 3, 2018
RAHAL FINISHED FIFTH IN DUAL 2 OF THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX DOUBLEHEADERS; A THREE-STOP STRATEGY DIDN’T PAY OFF FOR SATO WHO FINISHED 17TH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m definitely proud of the performance and the effort that everyone on the United Rentals team put in. The guys did an amazing job last night. We had to switch to a backup and they were here until 12:30 in the morning. Luckily it was a bit of a late start today but the guys got very little rest but again they put a car on the track that had no mechanical issues, no problems whatsoever. It was a decent points day. We should have put it all together yesterday but that’s on me. I’m obviously still a little upset with myself from yesterday but overall it was a good rebound today.”
- FAST FACTS: He set the fifth fastest time in Group 2 of qualifying and started ninth. After a delay of approximately 30 minutes due to the celebrity pace car driver crashing the pace car on the pace lap, the second attempt to start the race was successful. Rahal passed Pagenaud and Veach on the opening lap for seventh place before the only caution period of the race came out for Pigot, who was spun by Ferrucci. Once the race restarted, he held his position and moved to fifth when drivers on three-stop strategies began to pit beginning on Lap 10 including frontrunners Wickens and Hinchcliffe. Bourdais, who had to pit on the early caution due to a puncture, and was now on the more durable primary tires to those on alternates, closed and then passed Rahal as he was about to pit. He made his first stop on L21/70 and returned to the track in 13th place. He cycled into seventh by Lap 32 and into sixth by Lap 38 after narrowly avoiding Bourdais who made contact ahead of him. He made his second and final stop on Lap 46 and moved back into sixth by Lap 50. He held the position until Lap 64 when he took over fifth when eventual winner Hunter-Reay pressured race leader and teammate Rossi into making a mistake and having to go into the runoff area in Turn 3 and later having to pit for tires after a flat due to locking up his brakes. Rahal took the checkered flag in fifth place… Last year Rahal was either first or second in every on-track session including qualifying and each race. In Dual 1 last year, Rahal earned his first pole since Kansas 2009 and led a dominating 55 of 70 laps en route to his fifth series victory and first ever from pole. He handily held the lead with the exception of pit cycles and built a gap of more than 13 seconds at one point before he ultimately won by a six-second margin over Scott Dixon. For Dual 2, Rahal set the second fastest time in his qualifying group 2 to Sato to start third. In the race, he passed Hunter-Reay on Lap 8 and closed the gap to pole sitter and leader Sato but could not pass. Sato pit one lap earlier than Rahal, who took the lead on Lap 23 before he made his first of two stops on Lap 24 and returned to the track behind Newgarden who was on a three-stop strategy. Once Newgarden pit on Lap 29, Rahal took over the lead and steadily built his gap to second place to 16 seconds over Sato before his second and final stop on Lap 47. He then proceeded to build an 18 second gap over second place before he caught traffic. That reduced his lead to new second place runner Newgarden to 5.5 seconds before a red flag came out for the car of Pigot, who experienced a smoky end. All race cars were stopped in pit lane for approximately 10 minutes while the track was cleared and an attempt to remove marbles was made. The race resumed with a two lap shootout and Rahal utilized his 57 seconds of Push to Pass over Newgarden’s 36 to keep the lead on the restart before he was able to pull a slight gap before the checkered flag to become the first winner of both races in Detroit. In total, he led 41 of 70 laps. His other podiums in the race came in 2014 with second place in Dual 1 and third place in Dual 2 in 2015. Overall, he has two wins, four podiums and one pole in 11 races here… 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 THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is seventh in series point standings with a total of 221 points, only 49 behind fifth place Josef Newgarden.
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a tough day. I think everything was against us; the strategy, timing, and when we caught the traffic. At one stage we were competitive but it was not so long. Once we caught the tail of the group it was so difficult to overtake. I tried really hard. It’s a shame there were no yellows so today was really tough to have that aggressive strategy work.”
- FAST FACTS: He set the 10th fastest time in Group 1 of qualifying on a wet track and started 20th. The team elected to run a three-stop strategy in the race but the lack of caution flags at an event that usually has them negated a benefit especially when factoring in track position and traffic. The start was delayed approx.. 30 minutes after a celebrity pace car driver crashed on the first pace lap. Once the race began, Sato was passed by Kanaan but got by Chilton and gained a spot when Pigot dropped back after contact by Ferrucci, which brought out the only caution of the race. Once it was restarted, he held 17th place until he made his first of a three-stop-strategy stop on Lap 9. He set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 19 and later bettered that. Many drivers, including Sato, pit on Lap 22 when Ferrucci crashed and competitors thought a full course caution would come out. Ferrucci continued and only a local yellow was called for. He ran 14th for many laps before Pagenaud passed him for position on Lap 43 before his third stop on Lap 46. He returned to the track in 18th and cycled up to 17th but was mired in packs of traffic versus the front runners who had several laps in clean air and could build a gap. He took the checkered flag in 17th place… The 2018 races were Takuma’s 12th and 13th here. In his 11 previous races, his best start was two poles (2014 with A.J. Foyt Racing, 2017 with Andretti Autosport), best finish was second in 2015 with AFR and he had led a total of 44 laps in three races. He started in the top-five in four of 11 races and earned two, top-five and four, top-10 finishes. Last year, he qualified third for Dual 1 and finished eighth and won pole for Dual 2 and finished fourth for Andretti Autosport after leading 22 laps. And in his previous race with RLL here in 2012, he qualified 12th and retired in 20th after contact… Has TWO IndyCar Series wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval) and SEVEN poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval). He moved from 12th to 14 in series point standings with 143 points.
NEXT UP: The fifth consecutive weekend of racing activities will culminate with the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway next Saturday, June 9.
PHOTO AND VIDEO AVAILABLE: Media members who register on the IndyCar Series media site have access to photography as well as video. Register for access to photos at: www.indycarmedia.com/pages/ApplyforAccess