Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Indianapolis 500 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Verizon IndyCar Series
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – Monday, May 11, 2015
OPENING DAY OF PRACTICE FOR THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 WAS DELAYED BY RAIN BUT LATER COMMENCED IN WINDY CONDITIONS
1) Sage Karam 225.802 mph 41 laps
15) Graham Rahal 223.582 mph 77 laps
18) Oriol Servia 223.301 mph 58 laps
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Steak ‘n Shake Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We made some gains over last year but we’re still struggling with the consistency of the grip level. On our own, it’s pretty good but then when we get in traffic its good for a little bit but then it seems to slide the longer we go so we’ve got to be a little cautious. We turned a lot of laps out there in the Steak ‘n Shake car and I got behind Dixon on old tires and we were doing 221’s which I don’t think is too bad. When we’re behind one car, it’s okay but when we’re behind two or three the car seems to struggle a little bit. We’ve got a lot of time left to dial the Steak ‘n Shake car in.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his eighth Indy 500 and fourth with RLL. His best qualifying position in the Indy 500 is fourth in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and best finish is third with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 after he led six laps. He ran in the top-five in four of his seven previous races here.
ORIOL SERVIA, No. 32 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was good to get back in the car but it was not as much fun as it should be because it was really windy and gusty and it’s never fun when it’s like that but you’ve got to run because you never know if on race day it’s going to be as windy or worse. It was a good opportunity to try different things on the aero package to see which ones worked best in windy conditions and traffic. It didn’t feel great but I could see that everyone around me was feeling similar or worse. It was a good first day to get back in the ‘Month of May’ mood. Hopefully we don’t get much rain in the next week so we can keep running miles and learning.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his seventh Indy 500 and third with RLL. His best finish here is fourth in 2012 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and best start in 2011 with Newman/Haas Racing. Today was his first day behind the wheel of an Indy car since the 2014 Indy 500.
NEXT UP: Practice resumes tomorrow from 12-6 p.m. ET.
