Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park
Verizon IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – August 24, 2018
STARTING POSITIONS FOR THE BOMMARITO 500 WILL BE SET BY ENTRANT POINTS DUE TO WET CONDITIONS; RAHAL AND SATO TO START SEVENTH AND 13TH
Final Practice:
1) Alexander Rossi 24.5821 / 183.060 mph
8) Graham Rahal 24.8649 / 180.978 mph
13) Takuma Sato 24.9339 / 180.477 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Final practice was good. I have very few complaints which is the first time in a while. We have a little work to do just because tomorrow is going to be so much hotter than it was today. We didn’t do a glory lap like some did. Even on that last short run, we went out on old tires and tried to learn. We definitely improved. We have our work cut out for us tomorrow just from the standpoint that is will be a long race, a physical race and its going to be hot. There will be a lot of unanswered questions from today because it was cooler. Overall I’m pleased. I think you can pass here; it takes some driving. I’m braking into Turn 1 and that’s a nice change. Tomorrow you’re going to have to be smart about how you drive it, where you drive it, your lines and not make any mistakes. It was the right call to abort qualifying in favor of another practice session. Ultimately, after last weekend when we were pretty short on practice time, I think it’s important that we all get our time out here. I’m sure that the guys who tested here are fine either way but for many of us this thing is a whole different animal with a lot less downforce.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had an issue in the first practice session and the car was not right. In the second session, the car was much better. It was fixed and back to normal so we were immediately more competitive than the first session. We made reasonable progress but we still need to find more speed for tomorrow. Today was a relatively cooler day and tomorrow is predicted to be hotter so it will be tricky and quite challenging so we will do our best job of course.”
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK … The 2018 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will mark the second open wheel race at the track since 2003 and will be the seventh event for the team here. The 1.25-mile oval hosted CART-sanctioned races from 1997-2000 and IRL races from 2001-2003 before the IndyCar Series returned in 2017. The team competed in all four CART races from 1997-2000 and one of the three IRL races (2003). The best starting position for the team of second place came in 2003 by Kenny Brack and the best finish of fifth place was in 1999 by Max Papis. Prior to 2018, the team prepared a total of 10 Indy car entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1997-1998), Bryan Herta (1997-1999), Max Papis (1999-2000), Kenny Brack (2000, 2003) and Graham Rahal (2017). The No. 15 Mi-Jack Honda entry for Graham Rahal and No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic entry for Takuma Sato will bring that total to 12 in 2018.
NEXT UP: The 248-lap Bommarito 500 will take the Green Flag at 8:40 p.m. ET Saturday. NBC Sports Network will begin live coverage at 8 p.m. ET.
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