Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana Qualifying Reports

Qualifying Report, Verizon IndyCar Series, Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana

The Verizon IndyCar Series closed the book on Day Two at NOLA Motorsports Park as qualifying was cut short due to inclement weather. Teammates Carlos Munoz and Simona de Silvestro saw a full group one qualifying session while Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay’s group two went to Red Flag conditions mid-way through the session. The starting grid for tomorrow’s 75-lap race will be determined by entrant points placing Hunter-Reay in seventh, Andretti 10th and Munoz and de Silvestro in 14th and 18th, respectively. The inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana is expected to go green at 3:30 p.m. ET with live broadcast beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. If you can’t make it to the television, listen along with the broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, on SiriusXM (XM Ch. 209, Sirius Ch. 213) and www.IndyCar.com.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY
NO. 28 DHL HONDA

“I think we are heading in a right direction… disappointed we didn’t get to finish qualifying in the rain because I think the DHL car was pretty quick — we were second in our group (when the session was called for rain). I think with another shot at it, we could have had a shot at the pole. We’ll see. Tomorrow will be interesting with the weather as well.”

MARCO ANDRETTI
NO. 27 MERCHANT FIRST / SNAPPLE HONDA
“I thought we were better than 10th in the wet, I just can only go as quick as the spray ahead of me because I couldn’t see. I start 10th on points, and would have been 10th based on what little running we did do — so it was a toss up either way. We’ll work hard tomorrow and make something happen from there.”

CARLOS MUNOZ
NO. 26 ANDRETTITV / CINSAY HONDA
“Today was really a shame. We were looking okay after today’s practice when we were P6… I think in the rain, after the first qualifying, I was feeling really good, really strong for the qualifying in the wet. Tomorrow we start 14th so we’ll see what happens.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO
NO. 25 ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HONDA
“Today was pretty disappointing – I think the whole day hasn’t been great. We’ll have a long race tomorrow, but hopefully we can make things happen during the race. I think we’re going to work a lot on the race setup and myself and we should be good for the race.”

Pro Mazda Qualifying Report: Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana

WEIRON TAN
NO. 22 WEIRON TAN
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

* Mazda Road to Indy rookie clinched the pole position for Race One’s starting lineup as the only Mazda with a speed reaching 104 mph
* 20-year-old racer currently holds the Pro Mazda race lap record of 1:33.7313 (Winterfest, 2015)
“Today’s qualifying went really well. The Andretti Autosport team did a good job; we captured pole and I think everyone’s happy about that. Unfortunately we didn’t get to race today because of bad weather, but we’ll still be good for tomorrow. We’re starting on the front row which is a great advantage for us. A big thank you to the guys and hopefully tomorrow will be another good day.”

DALTON KELLETT
NO. 28 K-LINE INSULATORS USA, INC.
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

* Canadian will roll off of the starting grid for Race One from the 11th position
* This evening’s 30-minute race was canceled due to weather conditions with a revised schedule to be announced for Sunday

“It’s really unfortunate that we didn’t get to run today; there was too much rain, bad weather conditions – there were concerns of lightning – so we weren’t able to get on track. Given our qualifying didn’t go as well as planned – we’re starting P11 for Race One – I was really looking forward to getting on track and making some moves and making up some positions. We’ll see what tomorrow brings – hopefully better weather and we can get the K-Line Insulators USA Mazda back on track.”