REV Group Grand Prix at Road America
NTT IndyCar Series – Round 10 of 17
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – June 23, 2019
RAHAL FINISHED FOURTH IN THE REV GROUP GRAND PRIX OF ROAD AMERICA; SATO WAS PUSHED OFF TRACK WHILE SIXTH AND FINISHED 10TH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 GEHL / Manitou Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was definitely a 100 percent effort all day racing with Josef and Hinch there for a little while and Colton on the new reds at the finish. Just trying to keep those guys behind you is pretty tough. Our GEHL car was pretty strong today. We’re happy with fourth but would have liked to be on the podium and thought we could be there for a while but I messed up on one of my out laps and it cost me a little bit of time. Our guys did a great job in the pits. (On closing on Newgarden at the end for third:) I was a little bit quicker but he was doing a good job and not making too many mistakes. It’s hard to try to force guys like that into a mistake because obviously they’re all veterans up front. Yeah, we were a little quicker but it’s difficult to get it completed.”
- FAST FACTS: Started fifth and passed Newgarden for fourth on the opening lap. He held the position until Lap 12 when he passed polesitter Herta for third as the rookie was struggling on used tires. He made his first stop on Lap 14 from third place and returned to the track in fifth place. Hinchcliffe had pit from sixth place two laps earlier and track position helped him move ahead of Rahal into fourth. He held fifth for the next stint and cycled into third when third and fourth place runners Newgarden and Hinchcliffe pit one lap before. He pit on Lap 28 and returned to the track in fifth. He held the position until the next pit cycle started and he cycled into the lead on Lap 42 before he made his final stop on Lap 42/55. He was able to jump ahead of Hinchcliffe for fourth place when he returned to the track immediately ahead of the Canadian and was on cold tires to Hinchcliffe, who pit the previous lap and had hot tires. Sixth place Herta was one of a few drivers on the faster, but ultimately less durable, alternate tires and he attempted to pull alongside Hinchcliffe, who was on Rahal’s tail. Rahal was able to keep both behind and began to close the gap to third place Newgarden. He was less than a second behind, but unable to get close enough to attempt a pass before the checkered flag… It was Rahal’s ninth race here and fifth in a Champ or Indy car. In 2007 and 2016 here, he finished third, was eighth in 2017 and sixth in 2018. An electrical failure in the season-finale Atlantic Championship race in 2006 at Road America after starting third led to a runner-up finish in the title fight with eventual champion Simon Pagenaud after he retired in 20th place. Rahal also competed in two Formula BMW events here in 2004 and once in Star Mazda in 2005… 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 maintained eighth place in series point standings with a total of 244 points.
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The start was pretty good but unfortunately we went side-by-side with Hinchcliffe and he just pushed me off at Turn 3. That was a real pity. I was pushed off and dropped significant places down. I tried to recover the whole race. In the end, I think our tire choice was right and I was able to charge on the last stint to overtake both Bourdais and Hunter-Reay to take two positions, which was a good part of the race. But we could have finished in the top-six and it didn’t happen so it’s a shame.”
- FAST FACTS: Started sixth and passed Newgarden on the start for fifth. Newgarden regained the spot on the next lap and seventh place Hinchliffe pulled alongside and pushed him off track in Turn 3 on Lap 3. When he got back on track, he had dropped to 12th place. He moved up to ninth by Lap 8 of 55 and made his first stop on Lap 12. He was back in 12th place by Lap 18 and held the position until his second stop on Lap 25. He ran in 12th place until his final stop on Lap 40. He returned to the track in 12th place and was able to pass Bourdais for 11th on Lap 50 and closed one second per lap on Hunter-Reay before he passed him o the final lap for a 10th place finish… Was Sato’s fourth race at Road America. He earned his best start here today with sixth place. His previous best start and finish here came last year of seventh and fourth, respectively. On the start last year, he passed Power, Bourdais and then later Wickens on the opening lap for fourth place. He made his first stop from fourth place on Lap 13 and cycled back into position once Dixon made his stop a few laps later. He made his second stop on Lap 27 from fourth and on his out lap he passed Wickens and then Rossi on the outside of Turn 5 and Rossi made an aggressive move while alongside and bumped him off track in Turn 6 for fifth place. He held the position until Rossi had a problem and pitted on L38. He held fourth through his third pit stop on Lap 41 and took the checkered flag there after 55 laps to earn his best finish of the season. In 2017, he started 20th and finished 19th with Andretti Autosport and in 2016 with A.J. Foyt Racing, he started 15th and jumped up to eighth early in the race before an electrical issue limited his finish to 17th place… Has FOUR IndyCar Series wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 – Portland road, 2019 – Barber road) and EIGHT 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; 2019 Barber, Texas oval). He dropped from fifth to sixth place in the series point standings with 292 points. Second place finisher Will Power moved to fifth with 294 points.
NEXT UP: The Honda Indy Toronto will take place in two weeks.