2013 Indianapolis Indy 500: Rahal Letterman Lanigan IndyCar Practice Recap

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Midas / Big O Tires Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We have a little work to do to make the Midas / Big O Tires car a little more comfortable to drive. We didn’t get a tow and were running a lot of downforce compared to the rest of the guys so I’m not concerned with a comparison just yet. At the end of the day we will be just fine.”

· FAST FACTS: Will be his sixth Indy 500. He ran in the top-five in four of his five previous races here. In 2008, with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, he was the highest Indy 500 starter of the Champ Car transitioning teams with his 13th place qualifying effort but made contact on L36 after driving high to avoid the slower car of Lloyd and retired in 33rd place. He qualified fourth for NHLR in the 2009 Indy 500 but made contact on L56 while fifth and retired in 31st. In 2010, he competed for his father’s team – RLL – for the first time in an Indy car. He qualified seventh and ran as high as second but a blocking penalty on L188/200 dropped him from third to a 12th place finish. He qualified 29th with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 and earned his best finish at Indy to date of third place after he led six laps. In 2012, he qualified 12th, ran as high as third and finished 13th for SCCGR… This is Rahal’s first full season at RLL, sixth in the IZOD IndyCar Series and seventh in a top open wheel racing series (CCWS 2007)... His best finish this season is second place in Long Beach and best start is 11th -- also in Long Beach… He is 14th in series point standings with 74.

JAMES JAKES, No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was nice to get back out there and shake off the cobwebs. The Acorn Stairlifts car felt pretty good initially. We only did an installation run really so we didn’t do much. We will take it day by day and build up the running and prepare for qualifying.”

· FAST FACTS: Will be his second race here. He qualified 17th and finished 15th in 2012. In 2011, he attempted to qualify but the car was not fast enough. Both events were with Dale Coyne Racing… Jakes is competing in his third season in the IndyCar Series and first with RLL. In 31 Indy car starts with Dale Coyne Racing from 2011-2012, his best finish was eighth at Toronto and series-best start of eighth was at Motegi… His best start to date this season is 11th at Barber and best finish is 12th at Long Beach although he had the potential to finish higher in each race… Is ranked 22nd in series standings with 53 points.

MICHEL JOURDAIN JR, No. 17 Office Depot Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s great to be back in the car. The feel of the speed is not as big as it was last year after not being in an Indy car in eight years but it is still big so I took my time getting up to speed as planned. For me the goal today was to run flat out, get my confidence back up, get a good feel. We only did a little bit of running. Tomorrow (race engineer) Bruno (Couprie) and more of the team arrives so I feel like we did what we had to do for the first day and I am happy about it. Now we have all week to get a little faster and get the Office Depot car up to speed.”

 FAST FACTS: Jourdain is making his third attempt at the Indy 500 and second with RLL… His No. 17 Honda-Dallara-Firestone entry is sponsored by Office Depot Mexico with associate sponsorship from Grupo Indi and Grupo Multi… He started 22nd in his second Indianapolis 500 race in 2012 and finished 19th with RLL. He was called into a closed pit then penalized with a drive-through which put him one lap down after he ran in the top half of the field mid-race. He qualified eighth and finished 13th in 1996. When he participated in the 2012 Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the site of his first laps behind the wheel of an Indy car since 2004… He made 152 starts in the CART/Champ Car World Series and three in the IRL/IndyCar Series (1996/97 season) between 1996-2004… His highest finish in the IRL/IndyCar Series is second place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1996 and he earned two wins in CART/CCWS in 2003 at Montreal and Milwaukee while driving for Team Rahal… With support from Ford Motor Company, he moved to NASCAR’s Nationwide Series from 2005-2008 and also competed in the Camping World Truck Series in 2006. Since then, he competed in various rally and sports car series. 

Courtesy of Paddock Talk