Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama – Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama
Round 1 of 17 in the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES
DATE: Saturday – Sunday, April 17-18, 2021
PRACTICE BROADCAST: Live on Peacock Premium on Saturday from 11:00–11:45 a.m. ET and 2:20–3:25 p.m. ET and Sunday from 11:30 – 12 p.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).
QUALIFYING BROADCAST: Live on Peacock Premium, the IRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis) from 5:55-7:10 p.m. ET Saturday. Same-day, tape delayed on NBCSN from 9-10 p.m. ET.
RACE BROADCAST: Live on NBC Sunday, April 18 from 3-6 p.m. ET. And also on Peacock Premium, IRN, Sirius 211 and XM 205.
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course
RACE LENGTH: 90 laps / 207 miles
2019 WINNER: Takuma Sato
2019 POLESITTER: Takuma Sato (1:08.5934; 120.711 mph)
RLL TOP START / FINISH AT BARBER: 1st by Sato in 2019 / 1st by Sato in 2019; eight events
RAHAL’S BEST START / FINISH AT BARBER: 2nd in 2019 / 2nd in 2015 and 2016 – Both with RLL; will be his 11th race here
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH: 3 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017 / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017
SATO’S BEST START / FINISH AT BARBER: 1st in 2019 / 1st in 2019; will be his 11th race here
SATO’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH: 10 Poles – Iowa (oval) 2011, Edmonton (street) 2011, Houston Race 1 (street) 2013, St.
Pete (street) 2014, Detroit Dual 2 (street) 2014, Detroit Dual 2 2017, Pocono (oval) 2017, Barber (road) 2019, Texas (oval) 2019, St. Louis (oval; Race 2) 2020 / 6 Wins – Long Beach (2013), Indianapolis 500 (2017), Portland (2018), Barber (2019), St. Louis (2019), Indianapolis 500 (2020)
NEWS & NOTES:
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
The 2021 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will mark the ninth INDYCAR SERIES race for the team at Barber Motorsports Park (BMP). The 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID-19 so the team had to wait another year to defend their 2019 victory from pole by Takuma Sato. Rahal qualified second to Sato in 2019 to bring the team their first 1-2 start since the September 11, 2005 Chicagoland race where Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice accomplished the feat. For 2021, RLL has entered the No. 15 Code 3 Associates Honda for Graham Rahal and the No. 30 Panasonic / Shield Cleansers Honda for Takuma Sato which brings the total to 14 entries for RLL for this event.
GRAHAM AND TAKUMA ON THE OFF SEASON
“The off season was good,” said Rahal. “For me, it was quite busy with the baby coming and adjusting to that new life. I thought it was nice to have a little bit of an extended off season. I thought INDYCAR played it right with the schedule due to Covid and tried to give us a little more time to adjust and ultimately the first three races we go to, those states are open now for business which helps us from a fan perspective, so I’m pleased with that. As far as the team, these guys never stop working. The car I drove for the Indy test was a brand-new tub and it took a lot of work to get it to the point that it’s at; the boys have done an excellent job. It was kind of nice to have the off season as well for them to be able to take time on things like this. They never stop. They work awfully hard to make sure that when we go racing, we put our best foot forward and have the best equipment and we’re all pretty fortunate for that.”
“The off season was extremely busy,” added Sato. “As you could imagine, I was basically all over the place because after winning the Indy 500, that’s what happens. Of course, under the circumstances it was extremely difficult because of travel restrictions but I was very fortunate to have so much support in Japan. Over the course of the winter, I mainly spent a lot of time in Japan but then about mid-January I came back to the (United) States and started working for the new season testing. It was extremely busy but very, very nice to see all the fans in Japan and have a great Christmas time.”
STRONG PRE-SEASON TEST LEADS TO OPTIMISM
Pre-season testing included stops at Sebring International Raceway in Florida, BMP, Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato feel the team gained valuable knowledge at those tests, but they are ready to start the 17-race season with four in a row at BMP, The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (April 25) and the doubleheader races at Texas Motor Speedway (May 1-2).
“I’m excited to get 2021 started and I think everybody is,” said Rahal. “To flip the page back to a bit of normalcy, have fans back at the races, be able to go back to Barber, which we didn’t get to last year. To start it off at Barber, St. Pete and Texas all in a row is going to make for a busy beginning to the year but we’re excited about that. The test at Barber went really well so we do feel strongly, we feel like we should be very competitive and so I’m certainly excited about that. Hopefully we can kick off the season on the right foot.”
“Winter testing is always interesting and always fascinating because there is some development over the course of the winter,” added Sato. “And also, the temperature is quite a bit different for winter testing and then we come to the real race time and it’s going to be spring so it’s always tough, but we always enjoy it. We had two days at Sebring, Texas Motor Speedway and also at Barber, which they did a resurface on the whole racetrack so it’s going to be a lot faster. On the test day we were two-seconds faster than my pole position time back in 2019 which shows how the speed is tremendously different. The setup requirement is a little bit different which is going to be challenging but we hope we’ve done enough studying and we will try to be very competitive and will try really hard this coming weekend.”
GRAHAM AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
Rahal’s best start at BMP is second in 2019 and his best finish is second, two times (2015-2016) in his previous 10 races.
In 2019, he comfortably held his best starting position of second place after the start and proceeded to build a two-second gap over third place Dixon while approaching his first pit stop. He reported an issue with his throttle position sensor that led to a stuck throttle and pit to address it on Lap 18 after having battled it intermittently since the third lap. The team reset the car and changed the throttle position sensor and he returned to the track in 16th place. He cycled into 12th by the time he made his second stop on Lap 34 and then returned on track in 19th. He was in 11th place on Lap 56 when he reported that the car turned off and he stopped on track and brought out a caution to end his race. A race-by-race description of previous years, including his two, second-place finishes, is available upon request. Graham is hoping to pick up where he left off in 2019 in terms of competitiveness at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
“The Barber race in 2019 was good for us. We started one-two so that was tremendous. Unfortunately, on the 15 car, which was the One Cure car that weekend, it was our race; I really felt that way. I know Takuma won but I really felt that it was our race (to win) and we had an issue with the throttle pedal which ultimately took us out. It was a real shame not to be able to fulfill our potential. As I’ve looked ahead at this year, that’s what I keep saying — fulfill our potential and do the job and I know we can. Barber’s a great first opportunity for us to do that at a track that we know we can be extremely competitive at.”
TAKUMA AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
Takuma Sato will defend his 2019 win from pole here this year. The 2021 race will mark his 11th here and fourth with RLL. In total, he has two top-10 starts and three, top-10 finishes including his win from pole in 2019. After leading 74 of 90 laps in 2019 and controlling the race with the exception of pit stops, Sato took the checkered flag with a 2.3874-second lead over second place Scott Dixon. Late race drama came after a return to racing from the race’s only caution. Sato went off course in a turn but was able to keep the lead. A race-by-race description of previous years is available upon request. Sato is looking forward to defending his win.
“The 2019 race at Barber Motorsports Park was fantastic. We locked down the front row with Graham and I. It was just a fantastic race. Unfortunately, Graham had a technical issue, so he had to retire but I kept the throttle down and won the race and it was just a beautiful moment. I really enjoyed that day and the No. 30 boys did a fantastic job. Of course, in 2020 we weren’t able to race there due to the pandemic but for 2021 we are starting the season at Barber, so we are very excited.”
GRAHAM AND TAKUMA ON THE BIG 3-0 FOR RLL
“I don’t remember very much from the very beginning of the team,” said Rahal of the team’s 30th season of competition. “What I do remember as a kid in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, every year was a new car and every year – even though I wasn’t racing, and it wasn’t mine — it felt like Christmas going to the shop to see that new car for the first time. It would come in and be all carbon fiber, no paint scheme or anything on it yet. I specifically remember the Lola chassis of the early 2000’s. They came in and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on, so I do remember those days vividly. The early, early days I don’t remember as much other than having the trophies show up at the house and dad’s success in 1992 in particular, which was great. I’m very proud of the organization. I’d say I’m prouder of the people within the organization, the people we’ve had over the years has been awesome.”
“I’m simply very happy to be part of the 30th anniversary season, driving the No. 30 car which wasn’t intentional but a nice coincidence. A few years ago, the team ran No. 15 and 16 for a long time in history. I love the 30 boys and the 30 car. The last few seasons have been successful. This year will be extremely challenging and we’re really up for it. With a new season coming, new sponsors with Shield Cleansers, and new races that came back after the pandemic so it’s going to be good.”