Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
IZOD IndyCar Series
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES — Thursday, May 17, 2012
SATO AND JOURDAIN JR. PLEASED WITH RACE PREPARATION TO DATE FOR THE INDY 500; FOCUS WILL SWITCH TO QUALIFYING SETUP TOMORROW
1) Scott Dixon 223.088 mph / 40.3428 88 laps
17) Takuma Sato 219.900 mph / 40.9277 47 laps
21) Michel Jourdain Jr. 219.152 mph / 41.0673 92 laps
TAKUMA SATO, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We ran less today than we did all of the other days but the balance of the car felt good. We looked at all of the data we collected since early this morning and step-by-step we picked the things we liked. I am happy with our work today. It was great preparation for Fast Friday.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his third Indy 500 and EIGHTH race at IMS after competing in F1 races here in 2002, 2004-07… In the Indy 500, he narrowly missed making it into the Fast Nine in qualifying with his 10th fastest qualifying average for the 2011 race and retired in 33rd place due to contact after 20 laps. In 2010 he qualified 31st and finished 20th after completing 198/200 laps – both for KV Racing Technology… IMS is the site of Sato’s best F1 finish of third in 2004 – the same year RLL won the Indy 500 with Buddy Rice… Is Sato’s first season at RLL and third in IndyCar… Sato led two of the first three races but failed to finish due to mechanical failure (St. Pete & Barber) and “avoidable contact” by Hunter-Reay (
MICHEL JOURDAIN JR, No. 30 Office Depot / RLL Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Today was good. We tried some things in traffic but I think the car was a little bit better in the pack yesterday than today. It was good to try new things even though they didn’t work; its valuable information. Tomorrow we are going to trim and we will see how far we can get. There is a limit on the rear wing on what we can do. There are a lot of other things that you can do mechanically and aerodynamically. I don’t know how far we will get because we haven’t worked at all on the qualifying setup and only have one day to do that. A lot of guys have been working more aggressively on that. Takuma has been working on it and hopefully that will reduce our learning curve.”
FAST FACTS: Jourdain is competing in his second
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT INDY … The team’s highest start and finish in the event came in 2004 when Buddy Rice won from pole. In addition, the team has earned a total of four podiums (2nd – Meira 2005; 3rd – Rahal 1994, 1995). The team was in contention to win the race as recent as 2011 when Bertrand Baguette led laps 139-140 and laps 189-197 of the 200 lap race. Had a caution come our before Baguette was forced to pit for a splash of fuel, he might have been the victor. The race ultimately ended under caution when JR Hildebrand crashed on the front straight while in the lead on the final lap… The 2012 race will mark the 15th year for the team in the event. Prior to 2012, the team prepared a total of 26 entries for drivers such as
NEXT UP: The final day of practice will take place tomorrow. Pole day will be Saturday, May 19 and will be televised on NBC Sports Network from 11:00-2:30 and 4:30-6:30 p.m. ET. The second day of qualifying on May 20 will also be aired live on NBC Sports Network from 12:00-6:30 p.m. ET. The 96th
PHOTO AND VIDEO AVAILABLE: Media members who register on the IndyCar Series media site have access to photography as well as video. Video will be available specifically of Office Depot/RLL Racing driver Michel Jourdain in Spanish the evening of each practice day (and English most days) via a link that will be sent by the team per request. Register for access to photos at: http://www.indycarmedia.com/pages/ApplyforAccess