Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix – ISM Raceway
Verizon IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, April 6, 2018
RAHAL AND SATO TO START 12TH AND 13TH IN THE DESERT DIAMOND WEST VALLEY CASINO PHOENIX GRAND PRIX
POLE: Sebastien Bourdais 2-lap avg. speed of 188.539 mph (L1: 19.5034, L2: 19.5251)
12th: Graham Rahal 2-lap avg. speed of 183.920 mph (L1: 20.0189, L2: 19.9899)
13th: Takuma Sato 2-lap avg. speed of 182.960 mph (L1: 20.1675, L2: 20.0512)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 One Cure Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “All in all it was a decent day for us. (On the difference having a teammate made:) It did make quite a difference. We heard Takuma’s report that his car was extremely loose in qualifying so we adjusted ours. And then mine in qualifying had a ton of understeer which, I think, limited us a fair bit. Having said that, it’s a powerful thing to have a teammate. We rolled off the trucks this morning we both struggled but at least we both had the exact same feedback which gives us a good opportunity to improve the One Cure car as we go through this next session. Twelfth isn’t great but if you look at it, if you gain a tenth and a half (of a second) you are four or five spots up. IndyCar racing is the most competitive form of motorsport in the world. Here is just a prime example. I ran my laps and thought they were going to say over the radio that is was eighth or seventh and they said 11th. I thought ‘no way.’”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a challenging qualifying. In the practice session we couldn’t get things together and we had to change so much on the car for qualifying. I had a wiggle twice over the two laps but I saved it. It was a bit too sketchy but I’m relatively happy with where we are. Compared to where the car was in practice, it was much better in qualifying.”
NEXT UP: The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix will take the Green Flag at 6:40 p.m. Live coverage will begin at 9:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
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: http://www.indycarmedia.com/pages/ApplyforAccess