105th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – May 23, 2021
SATO, RAHAL AND FERRUCCI GAIN KNOWLEDGE IN THE FINAL PRACTICE BEFORE INDY 500 CARB DAY NEXT FRIDAY
1) Alex Palou 225.649 mph
6) Takuma Sato 224.430 mph
7) Graham Rahal 224.376 mph
17) Santino Ferrucci 223.055 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was not a bad day; I thought we got the United Rentals car a lot better. I think we’re extremely racy. It’s just tough out there when you get buried in the back. It’s going to be a challenge. You’re going to have to drive this race extremely smart. There are a lot of good cars, and a lot of bad cars. I thought everybody we ran around today all looked pretty solid. There are a lot of evenly-matched guys; we’re going to have to race smart and hopefully get ourselves there in the end. Tire conditions today too were something to consider. We were not all on the same tires. Some new, some used, some guys coming out on new tires toward the end of a stint so that’s a little hard to manage and balance but at the end I do feel good. We’re cautiously optimistic at this point.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Panasonic / PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We made a lot of group runs in the final practice before Carb Day, which is good but I think it was the hottest day of any practice session so we had to put in more downforce. We checked quite a few items and I think it was productive. I need to see the data again and then we will put everything together that was positive to check on Carb Day. At least it was a good, productive day again.”
SANTINO FERRUCCI, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a fun day for the Hy-Vee Honda team. There is a lot of work to be done on the setup for race trim and we’re getting closer. We went back to the pad to make another adjustment. It’s all about taking baby steps. It’s really hard to pass, especially in the train and we just want to be there and be close enough in the tow that if someone makes a mistake, we can definitely capitalize and have a good car at the start of the race. We have a little bit more engineering to do for Friday’s Carb Day and we’ll be good to go on Sunday.”