Rahal Was Sixth Fastest in Practice for the Honda Indy Toronto; Sato Was 19th After He Sat Out Most of Practice 2 Due to Car Damage After Contact
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
NTT IndyCar Series
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, July 12, 2019
RAHAL SET THE SIXTH FASTEST TIME IN PRACTICE FOR THE HONDA INDY TORONTO; SATO WAS 19TH OVERALL AFTER HE SAT OUT MOST OF PRACTICE 2 DUE TO CAR DAMAGE AFTER CONTACT
6th: Graham Rahal 1:00.4091 / 106.434 mph
19th: Takuma Sato 1:01.3290 / 104.838 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a pretty up and down day. We weren’t very good in the first session and we improved the United Rentals Honda in the second session. We were sixth on the red (alternate) tires at the finish but it was a pretty solid lap. It’s pretty close between where we are in sixth, back to around 11th. There are four guys on our same tenth-of-a-second – sixth through 11th or so – so we’re going to have to put it all together. This place is a major challenge. It’s easy to make a mistake that will cost you a lot. You’ve just got to put it all together here.”
- FAST FACTS: Will be his 14th Indy car race here and 15th overall including his 2006 Atlantic race… In 13 Indy car races, his best Toronto start is second in 2017 and his best finish is fifth in 2010 with Newman/Haas Racing. He has three, top-five starts and four, top-10 finishes… His highest start of the season is second at Barber and his highest finish is fourth at Long Beach and Elkhart Lake… 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… Rahal is eighth in series point standings with a total of 244.
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s very tricky on track. Partly because its slick on track. A lot of people had issues in Turn 11 and I had a moment there and brushed the wall so it ended up that Practice 2 was really short for us. Obviously we are lacking the data of running the whole session which is a shame but at least the car setup felt positive in the beginning of the session and hopefully we can continue that and have a good session in Practice 3.”
- FAST FACTS: Will be his 11th race here. In his 10 previous races, his best start is eighth in 2015 and his best finish is fifth in 2016 and Race 2 in 2014 – all with A.J. Foyt Racing. He has four top-10 finishes… He has finished no lower than seventh place in four of the last five races dating back to fifth place in Dual 1 of Detroit and finished the past two races fourth (Road America) and third (Iowa Speedway)… His highest start of the season is fifth at St. Pete and his highest finish is third at Iowa… 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 moved from 13th to 12th in series point standings with 237 after Iowa.
RLL AT TORONTO: The Honda Indy Toronto will mark the 20th year of Indy car racing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR) here. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series races here in 2003 and 2004. The team earned a total of four second place finishes (Rahal 1992, 1994, 1995; Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003) and best start was pole in 1992 by Bobby Rahal. Prior to the 2019 event, the team prepared a total of 33 Indy car entries for drivers Bobby Rahal (1992-98), Mike Groff (1994), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain Jr. (2002-03), Takuma Sato (2012, 2018), Graham Rahal (2013 x 2; 2014 x2; 2015-2018), James Jakes (2013 x 2) and Luca Filippi (2014 x2). The team also prepared three Toyota Atlantic entries (Danica Patrick 2003-2004; Chris Festa 2004). The team has earned FIVE podiums (3rd – Rahal 1996), 9 top-five’s and 19 top-10 finishes at the track. The No. 15 United Rentals entry for Graham Rahal and the No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic entry for Takuma Sato will bring the Indy car total to 35 entries in 2019.
NEXT UP: Practice 3 will take place tomorrow from 10:20-11:05 a.m. ET and qualifying will begin at 2 p.m. and will be televised live on NBCSN. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com and includes commentary by the INDYCAR Radio Network.