Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
GMR Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – May 14, 2021
RAHAL TO START 11TH IN THE GMR GRAND PRIX AND SATO TO START 17TH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s been a challenging day for the entire RLL crew, both on the 15 and the 30. I was happy we got the Fifth Third car to advance into the second round but honestly, I think she’s been a beast today and had to be perfect to get it through (Round 1). The first half the lap was good and then we lost it. It’s going to be a challenge tomorrow, there are some guys that are fast, I think tire degredation is going to be huge and I think we will put on an exciting show and we will see. Obviously points are on our mind and we’re going to try to have a good day. The 15 boys have had a great year, other than St. Pete where we had a little slip there but aside from that I’ve been solidly in the top five pretty much everywhere. Our guys have done a great job and we came to the (oval) test and the car was a bullet. Fingers crossed; things can change quickly around here but we’re excited, really excited for what’s to come.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Panasonic / Shield Cleansers Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was such a tight field. We were just six-hundredths (of a second) off from moving to the next segment. The field was tight as always, we weren’t particularly happy with the (car in) practice, so we made a change in the car and I’m sure we made progress, but we just needed a little bit more speed. I’m confident we are pointing in a good direction so in warmup we should be better and I’m looking forward to the race.”
RLL AT THE IMS ROAD COURSE…. The GMR Grand Prix will mark the 10th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 2.439-mile road course. The team’s best finish here is second in 2015 and July 4, 2020 by Rahal and best start is fourth in 2020, also by Rahal.
NEXT UP: Warmup for the GMR Grand Prix will take place from 10:45-11:15 AM and NBC will begin coverage of the 85-lap race at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.