PRACTICE REPORT: The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Round 4 of 17 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, April 8, 2022

PRACTICE CONCLUDES FOR DAY 1 OF THE HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA; THREE SESSIONS ON SATURDAY INCLUDING QUALIFYING

1)         Colton Herta                          1:06.5149 / 124.483 mph      
11)       Jack Harvey                           1:07.1841 / 123.243 mph      
15)       Christian Lundgaard             1:07.4004 / 122.848 mph
17)       Graham Rahal                       1:07.4457 / 122.765 mph                  

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Code 3 Associates Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s great to be here, the fans have always been tremendous. While this may not be considered INDYCAR country, they show that there is a lot of support, and we definitely appreciate that. Camping looks great, hopefully mother nature is going to be nice to us this weekend. It was a pretty frustrating day out there, the car is just not to my liking at all. We just have to put our heads down and figure this thing out tonight. It was not responsive for anything I wanted today. It didn’t rotate very well, it didn’t corner well on the high-speed it was a little too loose. It was a very strange sensation, one of the strangest feeling cars I’ve ever driven.” 

  • FAST FACTS: Rahal will compete in his 12th race here… His best start here is second place in 2019 to bring the team a 1-2 start… He played a major factor in the most exciting races of the 2015 and 2016 seasons as he challenged for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama win but earned his best finish here of second place both times… 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.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 Shield Cleansers Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “P1 (Practice 1) down here in Barber Motorsports Park, the first track I’ve ever driven in INDYCAR, and it’s great to be back. I think we’ve got some work to do. It’s the first road course of the season, we’re motivated so I’m sure we will get there. We’ve got three strong drivers so of course we will work together and get stuff done. But the first initial thought was it wasn’t great. I think we were lagging a bit out there, we tried a few changes but it didn’t seem to work so we’ve got some work to do for tomorrow but I’m convinced we will get there.”

  • FAST FACTS: The 2022 race will be his fourth INDYCAR race and first in Long Beach.  He is the highest rookie in the points standings with a rank of 15th with 30 points.

JACK HARVEY, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “That was a good first session here at Barber, I think the #45 Hy-Vee Honda to get started not to shabby there. We know the clear direction of what we are trying to improve on later on for the rest of the weekend, hopefully make those good changes overnight and be even more competitive tomorrow. But yeah I think that’s a pretty decent start for the session.”

  • FAST FACTS: It will be Harvey’s third INDYCAR race at the track and seventh overall.  He competed in Indy car races here in 2019 and 2021 with a best start and finish of 11th in 2021. He also competed in two doubleheader Indy Lights events here in 2014 and 2015 where he started second twice and earned three podiums in four races with his top finish being second place in Race 1 and 2 in 2015.

RLL AT BARBER: In 2019, the team qualified 1-2 for the race here, which was the first time the team locked out the front row of an Indy car race since the September 11, 2005 race at Chicagoland when Danica Patrick won pole and Buddy Rice started second. Sato led 74 of 90 laps en route to victory. The 2022 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will mark the 10th INDYCAR SERIES race for the team at Barber Motorsports Park (BMP).

NEXT UP:  Practice 2 will take place from 10-11 AM, qualifying from 1:00-2:15 and the pre-race warmup from 5:20-5:50. All times eastern.  The Honda Grand Prix of Alabama will be televised on NBC from 1:00-3:00 PM ET Sunday, May 1.