Friday, April 3, 2009
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, Fla.
Round 1 in the IndyCar Series

McDONALD’S DRIVER RAHAL FASTEST IN PRACTICE FOR THE HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE; DOORNBOS 16TH

FASTEST: Graham Rahal 1:03.4078 / 102.196 mph
16th: Robert Doornbos 1:04.7011 / 100.153 mph




Graham Rahal, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “For the whole McDonald’s crew it’s been a pretty good day. This morning we came out of the box and we were 10th and I think some of the guys were a little worked up but we knew that the car was quick. As Justin (Wilson) just said, even in the first session we couldn’t ultimately get our good lap. We got held up a little bit but that doesn’t really matter. In the second session we knew we had a pretty good car. It was all about trying to find some little tweaks that were going to help us in the long run. We ran old tires for quite awhile. We were still right up there in the top five so we were pretty happy with that. Then we threw the new tires on and obviously things went pretty well. We got caught behind Danica (Patrick) which kind of hurt us a bit because it seemed like you could be three seconds back and still catch her in a lap so that kind of got me out of my rhythm. I kept having to back up into him (Wilson) and I’m sure that got him out of his rhythm. But we got one good lap in and obviously we’re pretty happy with that. There’s still a little bit left on the table but overall for the McDonald’s team its been a good day.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his second race here. Became the youngest winner in series history when he drove to victory in his IndyCar Series debut in St. Pete in 2008 at the age of 19 years and 93 days old. Rahal had only run 10 laps at testing speed in an ICS car on a road course (Sebring) due to a pre-race three hour test (4-1) being cancelled due to rain. Was fast all weekend last year but started 9th due to being unable to get a clear lap in qualifying. The race started in wet conditions last year and once the green flag flew he progressed to third place before his first pit stop in a race that saw multiple pit strategies. He was hit on Lap 37 by W. Power which caused a spin and he dropped to 23rd but the team elected to gamble and keep him on track while others pit on Lap 60 under caution and he moved into second before the restart on Lap 65 and took the lead and held it through two more restarts including one with three laps to go while holding off two-time St. Pete winner Castroneves and Kanaan. He won by a 3.5 second margin to become the youngest winner in series history after he led a total of 19 of the 83 laps…Rahal earned the first Indy car win for a driver transitioning from Champ Car in 2008 and his teammate Wilson earned the only other in Detroit.




Robert Doornbos, No. 06 Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s nice to be on a street course; I always enjoy it. We are just struggling a bit with the setup. Graham tried something with his setup that was really good so we are going to try it tomorrow. It’s great for the team to be fast and show that the car can do it. I need to adjust my driving style a little bit for these cars as well. I’m a bit too aggressive maybe but we will learn. Tomorrow we will be stronger.”

FAST FACTS: Will make his debut in the series and with NHLR in St. Pete after having competed against the team in the 2007 Champ Car World Series (CCWS)…Has competed against fellow ICS drivers Marco Andretti (A1GP), Danica Patrick (Formula Ford), Ryan Briscoe (F3) and E.J. Viso (F3000).




1 WIN, 1 POLE, 2 PODIUMS IN 2 RACES HERE: This will be the team’s THIRD race here. In the 2003 Champ Car race here with then-rookie Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira, Bourdais won the pole position in his Champ car debut and became the first driver to accomplish the feat since Nigel Mansell won the pole for the ’93 Australian event – also while driving for NHR. He led 30 laps and became the first driver in the 25 year history of series to lead the first laps of his inaugural race. He also set the fastest race lap but put too much pressure on himself to get back to the front after the team pit him out of sequence and contact ended his race. Junqueira was 2nd fast in prov. qualifying on Friday but his fastest lap in final qualifying (possible 3rd) was not allowed because he brought out a red flag when he spun and stopped on course. He ultimately started seventh and he dropped to 14th in the race due an air hose problem in the pits but charged back to 3rd place…Justin Wilson started 3rd here in ‘08 and led 18 laps but alternate pit strategy due to rain dropped him to 9th place while Rahal started ninth and became the youngest winner in series history in his debut after holding off Castroneves and Kanaan for two restarts to win by a 3.5-second margin.

11 SEASON OPENING WINS: In 26 attempts NHR/NHLR has won 11 season-opening races (’05 & ‘06 – Bourdais, Long Beach; ’02 – da Matta, Mexico; ’01 da Matta, Mexico; ’98 Michael Andretti, Homestead, ’97 Mi. Andretti, Homestead; ’93 Mansell, Australia; ’88 Mario Andretti, Phoenix; ’87 Ma. Andretti, Long Beach; ’85 Ma. Andretti, Long Beach; ’84 Ma. Andretti, Long Beach).