Rahal Finished Second in the Honda Indy GP of Alabama After Leading Four of the Last Nine Laps; Substantial Front Wing Damage Limited Potential

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Verizon IndyCar Series

RACE NOTES/QUOTES — Sunday, April 24, 2016

RAHAL FINISHED SECOND IN THE HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA AFTER LEADING FOUR OF THE LAST NINE LAPS; SUBSTANTIAL FRONT WING DAMAGE LIMITED POTENTIAL

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda/Firestone:  “We let him (Pagenaud) off the hook a little bit today. We let one slip there and it’s frustrating. When we got in the front, I thought we could stay there. We had a great car and it was definitely the most consistent car in the long run and I knew I could put on a charge there at the end with Simon stuck in traffic but ultimately we came up just a hair short. Just had a brain lapse there for a second and I got into the back of Jack. He was making a nice gesture and letting us by. He went to the outside of Turn 5 so I thought he was going to stay there but he cut across. It’s my fault; I will regret this one later. Ultimately Simon had a run on me that lap anyway so who knows what might have happened but I felt I still probably could have come back but when I lost the front wing, that was that.  Our right front flap broke on Lap 40 or so and we were running the majority of the race without it being as it should have been so it was a tough battle to stay with those guys in the first place. I’m proud of these Mi-Jack boys.  They keep working hard and here we are. It’s a great result for us but we should have won today.”

• FAST FACTS: After starting sixth, Rahal moved into fourth when Bourdais and Dixon made contact on the first racing lap. He stretched his fuel the farthest and cycled into the lead by the time he made his first of three pits stops and returned to the track in fourth. He cycled into second place before his second stop on Lap 43 and returned to the track in third place and reclaimed second place on Lap 65 by passing Power.  On Lap 81, Rahal attempted to pass Pagenaud but the Frenchman made an evasive move and the two made contact sending Pagenaud off course and he returned second to Rahal.  Later the pass was deemed a racing incident. On Lap 85 of 90, Rahal was behind traffic which enable Pagenaud to close. Sixteenth placed Hawksworth allowed Rahal to pass but the two made contact which allowed Pagenaud to take the lead. Rahal’s already compromised front wing (mechanical failure on a portion since approx. Lap 50) took a fatal blow and he struggled to hold on to second place until the checkered flag.  On Saturday, he earned his best qualifying position of the season of sixth place today. It was his first appearance in the Firestone Fast Six since the 2015 season-finale in Sonoma.  He also started sixth in the 2016 season-opener in St. Petersburg after qualifying seventh because the No. 12 pole-winning car had to start at the back of the field due to a driver change. Rahal will make his seventh start here… The 2015 race at Barber Motorsports Park (BMP) kicked off a strong run of races that largely continued for the rest of the season. Rahal started eighth at BMP and passed Kanaan on the opening lap. He later lost a position to Filippi but passed Dixon for 7th. He pitted and ran ninth place but moved to third as others made their stops. He held off charges from fourth place Hinchcliffe on several restarts and later built a gap on him while leading Laps 35-46. He pitted from the lead for his second stop, dropped to 15th but cycled back into the lead for Laps 65-69. He made his final stop on Lap 71 and returned to the track in sixth place, approx.. 20 seconds behind the leader. With new tires and more fuel than others, he consistently turned lap times that were one-to-two seconds quicker than those in front of him and eventually passed Power, Hunter-Reay and Castroneves before he was able to close the gap on second-place Dixon in the closing laps. With less than two laps to go, he passed Dixon but ran out of time to catch eventual race winner Newgarden and finished second… In 2014, Rahal started 18th on a wet track, ran as high as 10th, dropped four places after being hit by two cars and ultimately finished 17th. In 2013, Rahal set a lap time fast enough to progress to Round 2 and qualify in the top-12 if he had been in Group 2 but he was in Group 1 and ultimately qualified 21st. He had to pit for a new nose on the opening lap after the field checked up and he hit Servia. He moved up to 12th place but ran out of fuel on the final lap due to a malfunction in the fueling system and dropped to 21st.  He started 8th, led one lap and finished fourth here in 2012 for Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing (SCCGR). He started 10th and finished 18th in 2011 for SCCGR and started 15th and finished 17th for Sarah Fisher Racing in 2010… Is ranked sixth in series standings with 100 points.

RLL AT BARBER: Rahal earned back-to-back second place finishes at Barber Motorsports Park today after starting sixth. In 2015, Graham Rahal brought the team its previous best starting position of eighth and best finishing position of second here. In 2014, Rahal finished 17th after running as high as 10th but was hit by two cars. Servia started 19th, ran as high as 14th and finished 20th.  In 2013, Rahal set a lap time fast enough to progress to Round 2 and qualify in the top-12 if he had been in Group 2 but he was in Group 1 and ultimately qualified 21st.  He had to pit for a new nose on the opening lap after the field checked up and he hit Oriol Servia. He moved up to 12th place but ran out of fuel on the final lap due to a malfunction in the fueling system and dropped to 21st.  James Jakes qualified 11th in 2013 but had to pit early in the race when the camber shims fell out of the left rear upright which put him two laps down to the leader. He soldiered on through fueling issues, set the fastest lap of the race and finished 23rd.  In 2012, Takuma Sato set the third fastest time in Friday’s first practice for the team and was fastest in the wet second session but traffic limited his qualifying performance to 16th.  In the race he passed four cars for 12th place on red alternate tires but struggled on primary tires and ultimately retired in 24th place due to mechanical failure after 52/90 laps.

NEXT UP: The team will test at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 3 before the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, May 12-14. Rahal finished third there last year.