Saturday, April 18, 2009
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – Streets of Long Beach, Calif.
Round 2 in the IndyCar Series

McDONALD’S DRIVER RAHAL TO START SEVENTH IN THE TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH; DOORNBOS TO START 15TH AFTER DIFFICULT SESSION

POLE: Will Power 1:09.7107 / 101.631 mph
7th: Graham Rahal 1:10.0283 / 101.171 mph
15th: Robert Doornbos 1:10.9577 / 99.845 mph




Graham Rahal, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s obviously disappointing that we didn’t make it through to Round 3 of qualifying. After putting the McDonald’s car on pole at the last race we had expectations of making it to the last round. I think we had to pace to do it but weren’t able to. We had pretty much the same pace on old tires as we did on new. You expect to have a big gain on new ones but we had nothing when everybody else gained quite a bit. That’s how it goes sometimes. We have our work cut out for us tomorrow starting seventh because it’s not easy to pass here. It’s so close its going to be hard to get by people. Our hope is that the car stays underneath us and we can move up through the field. We’re pretty good on old tires which bodes well for us but we’ve got to hope we can save fuel better than these other guys and get by them in the pits. It’s possible but we’ve got to figure out how to make it happen now. I think the difference between the alternate tires is quite a bit more here than it was in St. Pete. Honestly I would say the alternates are about seven to eight-tenths of a second quicker. That will be a big part of the race tomorrow especially if they can hold on, used. I and think they can.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his third Champ or Indy car race here and first event since becoming the youngest pole sitter in series history after winning pole in St. Pete on 4-4-09 at 20 years, 90 days old. In 2008 he started ninth and had a podium in sight when he was alongside third place last year but contact during this pass led to a 13th place finish. Started fifth in 2007 but the pit strategy of others and slow fuel flow related to teething problems for the all-new Panoz Champ Car on one stop limited his finish to eighth place. In the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Series race here he started seventh and finished fifth…Is ranked seventh in series points with 27.




Robert Doornbos, No. 06 Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Qualifying didn’t go well at all. Some mistakes were made and we just need to raise our game. Running out of fuel in qualifying is not ideal. At this level you cannot afford mistakes. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is a great team and I am a strong driver and we should be the perfect combination. We put ourselves in a difficult position starting so far back for the race and now we have to get ourselves out of it.”

SECOND RACE IN LONG BEACH: In the 2007 Champ Car race here, he battled pit stop troubles related to the new Panoz chassis as well as gearbox problems and finished four laps down. After being competitive in the St. Pete opener, the team is optimistic of a strong result in Long Beach… Has competed against fellow ICS drivers Marco Andretti (A1GP), Danica Patrick (Formula Ford), Ryan Briscoe (F3) and E.J. Viso (F3000)… Is ranked 11th in series points with 19 and leads the Rookie of the Year standings.




6 WINS, 11 POLES, 14 PODIUMS FOR NHR/NHLR IN LONG BEACH: NHR/NHLR will make their 26th consecutive appearance here and has earned SIX WINS, 11 POLES and 14 PODIUMS at this event. (WINS by Bourdais 2005-2007 & Mario Andretti 1987, 1985, 1984; 2nd place finishes by Junqueira 2004, Cristiano da Matta 2001, Nigel Mansell 1994, Michael Andretti 1989; 3rd place finishes by Junqueira 2005 & 2003, Bourdais 2004, Mansell 1993.) (POLES by Wilson 2008, Bourdais 2006-2007, Junqueira 2004, Mi. Andretti 1995, Mansell 1993, Mi. Andretti 1992, Mi. Andretti 1991, Ma. Andretti 1987, Ma. Andretti 1985, and Ma. Andretti 1984.)