Lundgaard, Harvey and Rahal Qualify for the GMR Grand Prix at IMS

Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingGMR Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – May 13, 2022


LUNDGAARD, HARVEY AND RAHAL TO START EIGHTH, NINTH AND 12TH IN THE GMR GRAND PRIX

1)         Will Power                   1:09.7664 / 125.854 mph     (Group 2, Round 3)
8)         Christian Lundgaard  1:09.6594 / 126.048 mph    (Group 2, Round 2)
9)         Jack Harvey                1:09.6899 / 125.992 mph     (Group 2, Round 2)
12)       Graham Rahal             1:10.2950 / 124.908 mph     (Group 1, Round 2)         

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Qualifying is complete here for the Fifth Third Bank car. Ultimately just a major mistake locking the right front brake going into Turn 12 on the opening of the lap, so I didn’t even get to push, didn’t even get to try. I’m pretty disappointed because not only does that affect us today, it also affects us tomorrow because that right front (tire) is dead, it’s gone, being flat spotted the way it is. This is a big red (alternate Firestone tire) strategy tomorrow so we need some rain, we need mother nature to help us out. Let’s see how it goes. I think the car got better; I’m still struggling with it personally this weekend but it’s better. We will see how it goes tomorrow.”

  • FAST FACTS: The GMR GP will be Rahal’s 11th Indy car race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After a second-place finish on the road course at IMS in 2015 and 2020, Graham hopes to build on the knowledge gained from fifth and seventh-place finishes on the IMS road course in 2021 in May and August… 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 is currently ranked 10th in NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 84.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 Shield Cleansers Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Qualifying is done here at IMS for the first Indy road course race of the season. I’m a little disappointed, I think we had the potential to be in the Fast Six, perhaps even all three cars, so it’s a little disappointing to be eighth, ninth, and 12th out there but the car felt good. The Shield Cleansers car has felt awesome all weekend, we had a good baseline from last year. We will build on that for tomorrow. We’ve got the warmup to build up for the race. I hope the rain will stop by at the end of the race to mix things up a little. But otherwise so far, I’m pretty satisfied with the day in general. It’s been a busy one.”

  • FAST FACTS: The 2022 race will be his second on the IMS road course and sixth INDYCAR race overall. While an FIA Formula 2 driver, Lundgaard made his INDYCAR debut with the team at the August 14 Grand Prix at IMS. The Danish driver tested an Indy car for the first time with the team at Barber Motorsports Park on July 26 and had plenty of new elements to adjust to during a compressed, two-day event schedule but surprised many when he qualified fourth for the race and went on to finish 12th… He is the highest ranked rookie in 15th place in the point standings with 57.

JACK HARVEY, 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a pretty solid qualifying session from us there in the #45 Hy-Vee Honda; we ended up P9. Christian was P8 just in front of me, and Graham in P12 so honestly a much better weekend for everyone at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in regard to qualifying. All three cars transferred out of Group 1. We didn’t transfer out of Group 2 but we will work on that for the next one. I’m pretty happy with the teams effort.”

  • FAST FACTS: The race will mark the seventh INDYCAR Series event on the road course for Harvey and 11th overall including four Indy Lights races from 2014-2015. His highest series start is second place and he has accomplished the feat three times, including here (2020 – IMS road course, Road America Race 2; 2021 – St. Pete). The IMS road course is also the site of his highest series finish of third place in 2019. He has three top-three series starts on the IMS road course, which is a personal best of any track on the schedule. In Indy Lights, he competed in four races on the IMS road course and has two poles and two wins, three top-three starts, and three top-two finishes. Last year in the two IMS road course races, he started third and finished 23rd in May and started seventh and finished sixth in August… He is ranked 22nd with 44 points.  

RLL AT THE IMS ROAD COURSE…. The GMR Grand Prix will mark the 11th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 2.439-mile road course.  The team’s best finish here is second in 2015 and July 4, 2020 by Rahal and the best start is fourthin 2020, also by Rahal.

NEXT UP:  Warmup for the GMR Grand Prix will take place from 10:30-11:00 AM and NBC will begin coverage of the 85-lap race at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.