Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
NTT IndyCar Series
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – June 1, 2019
SATO EARNED HIS THIRD PODIUM FINISH OF THE SEASON WITH THIRD PLACE IN DUAL ONE OF THE DETROIT GRAND PRIX DOUBLEHEADERS; RAHAL WAS SEVENTH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The car in the wet wasn’t great; the rear was pretty sketchy in the rain. When Ed Jones went off, I think everybody was close to doing the same thing. Once it went dry, the car was very good. It just seemed like we gave up a little in the rain but when it dried out we were pretty good. Tomorrow it’s going to be dry and I think we’ll be strong. The changes that we made were better in the race than in qualifying this morning so hopefully that carries over. I will try to get a good night’s sleep tonight and be ready to go again tomorrow.”
- FAST FACTS: Thunderstorms delayed the start of the race for over an hour but the field rolled off the grid for the single-file, “wet start” and a 75-minute timed race. Rahal started 11th and gained spots when Veach spun on the pace lap and O’Ward dropped back at the start. He maintained the same position as Power and Jones went around both sides of him. He lost two spots to Pagenaud and Ericsson on Lap 6 of what would become a 43-lap race. By Lap 10 he regained 11th place when Hunter-Reay spun 43 but was passed by O’Ward on Lap 13. On Lap 17, he regained 11th when Jones crashed and brought out the caution flag. The team had been contemplating pitting for racing slicks when the caution came out and stopped when the pits opened on Lap 19. He got by Herta and Pigot in the pits and once the race restarted he moved up to eighth place. He moved to seventh when Dixon crashed on Lap 23 and held the position until the checkered flag… Will be Rahal’s 14th and 15th races here. Last year, he was in second place until he lost control of his race car on the out-lap from his final stop and made hard contact with the wall in Turns 13-14 and retired in 23rd place after starting eighth. For Race 2, he started ninth and finished fifth. In 2017, Rahal was either first or second in every on-track session including qualifying and each race. In Dual 1 last year, Rahal earned his first pole since Kansas 2009 and led a dominating 55 of 70 laps en route to his fifth series victory and first ever from pole. He handily held the lead with the exception of pit cycles and built a gap of more than 13 seconds at one point before he ultimately won by a six-second margin over Scott Dixon. For Dual 2, Rahal set the second fastest time in his qualifying group 2 to Sato to start third. In the race, he passed Hunter-Reay on Lap 8 and closed the gap to pole sitter and leader Sato but could not pass. Sato pit one lap earlier than Rahal, who took the lead on Lap 23 before he made his first of two stops on Lap 24 and returned to the track behind Newgarden who was on a three-stop strategy. Once Newgarden pit on Lap 29, Rahal took over the lead and steadily built his gap to second place to 16 seconds over Sato before his second and final stop on Lap 47. He then proceeded to build an 18 second gap over second place before he caught traffic. That reduced his lead to new second place runner Newgarden to 5.5 seconds before a red flag came out for the car of Pigot, who experienced a smoky end. All race cars were stopped in pit lane for approximately 10 minutes while the track was cleared and an attempt to remove marbles was made. The race resumed with a two lap shootout and Rahal utilized his 57 seconds of Push to Pass over Newgarden’s 36 to keep the lead on the restart before he was able to pull a slight gap before the checkered flag to become the first winner of both races in Detroit. In total, he led 41 of 70 laps. His other podiums in the race came in 2014 with second place in Dual 1 and third place in Dual 2 in 2015. Overall, he has two wins, four podiums and one pole in 13 races here… Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He moved up two spots in the standings to 10th with a total of 149 points.
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We started from ninth which was far from ideal, particularly at this circuit where this team is always strong. I think the rain definitely helped us and then we made some good position gains. The car ran well in both conditions so it’s a great credit to the team. The pits stop was great and I was able to charge. The first two cars might have been a bit too fast and I wasn’t able to catch them but in the end it was a great battle overall. Thanks to the Detroit fans for staying after some extremely difficult (weather) conditions here.”
- FAST FACTS: Thunderstorms delayed the start of the race for over an hour but the field rolled off the grid for the single-file, “wet start” and a 75-minute timed race. On the pace lap, eighth place Veach spun in front of Sato and surrendered his position. Sato took over seventh when he and O’Ward lost traction taking a corner and O’Ward damaged his car. On the same lap Leist brought out the caution when he spun. After the restart, Sato passed Herta on the inside in Turn 6 and gained another position to run fifth when Hunter-Reay spun. Will Power had charged from his 12th place start and was now behind Sato in sixth and forced Sato off the track and in the grass in a corner to take the position on Lap 9 of what would be a 43-lap race. As the track began drying, some ventured onto slick tires and when Jones brought out the caution lag from Laps 18-21, those who had yet to pit made a stop for slick tires. Eventual winner Newgarden pitted just before the caution and cycled into the lead. He made his stop on Lap 19 and returned to the track in sixth place. Previous second place runner Dixon crashed into a tire barrier and brought out another caution from Laps 24-27and Sato ran fifth. He passed Hunter-Reay on the restart on Lap 29 and then Rosenqvist on Lap 30 to take over third place. He was unable to get close enough on the restart to attempt a pass of Rossi and as the laps went on, he fell back but was able to hold off Rosenqvist to finish third… The 2019 races will be Takuma’s 14th and 15th here. In 13 races, his best start is two poles (2014 with A.J. Foyt Racing, 2017 with Andretti Autosport), best finish is second in 2015 with AFR and he has led a total of 44 laps in three races. He started in the top-five in four of 13 races and earned three, top-five and five, top-10 finishes. Last year, He started seventh and finished fifth to earn his best finish of the season to date and begin to create some momentum that has carried through to this year. He had a minor setback with Race 2 when he started 20th and an alternate fuel strategy didn’t pay off due to timing of caution periods and other factors and he finished 17th. In 2017 he qualified third for Dual 1 and finished eighth and won pole for Race 2 and finished fourth for Andretti Autosport after leading 22 laps. And in 2012 with RLL, he qualified 12th and retired in 20th after contact. His comeback run to third place in the Indy 500 after dropping to 31st due to an issue on his first pit stop has him even more excited about continuing the momentum… Has TWO IndyCar Series wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval) and SEVEN poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval). He maintained his fourth place rank in series point standings with 238 points.
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT DETROIT … The 2019 event will mark the 20th year for RLL to compete at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park and the team’s 26th and 27th races here. The team’s highest start of pole came in 2017 with Graham Rahal earning his first pole since 2009 in Race 1. Bobby and Graham Rahal have earned a combined total of three wins for the team here. Bobby won the inaugural race in 1992 and Graham is the only driver to have won both races on the same weekend, which he did in 2017. In total, the team has earned EIGHT podiums (2nd – G. Rahal 2014, Jakes 2013 & Max Papis 2000), (3rd – G. Rahal 2015, Sato 2019) nine top-five finishes and 18 top-10’s here.
NEXT UP: Qualifying for Race 2 is live on NBCSN and INDYCAR Pass from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 2. Also live on the AAPIRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis). Dual 2 of the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit will be televised live on NBC beginning at 3:00 PM ET Sunday, June 2.