Source: Team PR

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge – Thermal, California
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
TEST NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, March 22, 2024


DAY 1 OF TESTING AT THE THERMAL CLUB ENDS WITH LUNDGAARD AT THE TOP OF THE CHARTS; QUALIFYING FOR THE $1 MILLION CHALLENGE TO TAKE PLACE SATURDAY

1)         Alex Palou                              1:39.3373 / 111.149 mph
2)         Christian Lundgaard             1:39.6974 / 110.747 mph
22)       Graham Rahal                       1:40.9549 / 109.368 mph       
23)       Pietro Fittipaldi                      1:41.0314 / 109.285 mph

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Code 3 Associates Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Today was a carry over from our Barber test, which is frustrating. I can’t seemingly get the car to work, and activate the tire and do the things that I need it to do. I’m disappointed because I feel like I’m going to extreme measures now to try to get the car to respond. What’s frustrating is how similar Christian and my cars are and our feedback is so polar opposite and I literally can’t figure out why. It shouldn’t be that way. Our losses to Christian are in two corners and they are two corners that I can’t get the front tire to activate. In one corner he’s able to hold 40+ percent throttle through the whole corner and I’m having to do full lifts and still missing the apex due to understeer. We’ve just got to keep working.” 

• FAST FACTS: 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 FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2024 IMS road course 2, Portland and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a great day here at Thermal, learning the track. We progressed a lot from the first session to the second. Every time I get in the car, I feel more confident. It’s a great track, I really enjoy it.  We had a small mechanical failure which prevented us from running at the end but it’s good that we’ll have an extra set of tires for tomorrow. The guys are doing a great job so we’ll just keep chipping away at it.”

• FAST FACTS: Has made 10 INDYCAR SERIES starts in 2018, 2021 and 2024. Of his 10 starts in the series, six were on oval tracks, three were on road courses and one was on a street course (St. Pete 2024). He was the Biggest Mover of the Race at St. Pete… His best career start is 10th in Phoenix (oval) and ninth in Portland (road) – both in 2018. This is the first time he has driver at The Thermal Club.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a pretty solid day for the Hy-Vee Honda. We were up there (on the timesheets) all day. We were P2 this morning and P5 this afternoon and are a little more “tire rich” than anybody else which is a positive. We only used two sets (of the seven test sets) today and I think the majority have used either three or four so we’re looking pretty gpod. The car seems to respond which is always nice but obviously you need to nail it on the lap that you have going because the tire degradation is super high here so for us to be that competitive on such limited tire usage is good I think so I’m pretty stoked for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. I think there is a good chance for us for the $1 Million Challenge on Sunday, so we keep digging.”

• FAST FACTS: Set the fifth fastest lap in testing this past Monday, March 18 on the Barber Motorsports Park road course… Has ONE WIN (2023 – Toronto street course) and TWO POLES (2023 – IMS road, Toronto street).

NEXT UP:  Testing will resume tomorrow between 9:00-11:00 a.m. and 1:00-3:00 p.m. PT. Two rounds of qualifying will take place beginning at 5:00 and 5:27 p.m. PT. All sessions will be streamed live on Peacock.  The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge will be televised live on NBC beginning at 12:30 PM ET on Sunday, March 24.