Graham Rahal, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The McDonald’s car certainly seemed to get better at the end of the day. At the start we were struggling pretty bad and I felt like we needed a big change to really improve it. At the end I think we started to figure it out but there is a little bit of room to go obviously. The Penske’s are very fast. On our last set of tires, on the second run, were pretty old and they had a couple of big lockups on them already but we were up almost three-tenths on the last lap and I gave it away because I couldn’t keep it through Turn 7 because I had a lot of understeer. I’m just happy that we were more competitive by the end of the day. It was a big step forward and certainly there is more to do but I am definitely much happier.”
FAST FACTS: Rahal has 2 podium finishes in 3 Edmonton events. Will be his third major open wheel race here and fourth overall. He started third and finished second in the Atlantic race here in 2006 and started fourth and finished third in the 2007 Champ Car race for NHLR. In 2008 he started eighth and was hit on the opening lap by Moraes which damaged his right rear pushrod and forced multiple stops. On Lap 61, he was hit by Viso, who had to serve a drive through penalty for avoidable contact. Retired in 26th place…Highest start this season is two poles (St. Pete/street & Kansas/oval) and highest finish is third place at Richmond…Is ranked 10th in series points with 209.
Robert Doornbos, No. 06 Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s good to be back in Edmonton and see all of the Canadian fans in the stands, cheering us on for a practice day. We worked hard today in the morning session. It was quite obvious that this afternoon our two team cars went in different directions set-up wise and the 02 McDonald’s car performed a bit better so we’re hoping we can find some more out of it for tomorrow because at the moment we aren’t that competitive but we should be better tomorrow.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his second race here and only third track so far this season that he has raced on previously. He entered the 2007 Edmonton race weekend as the CCWS points leader. Started 11th and was in 9th place when contact with Tagliani on Lap 69 in Turn 1 dropped him one lap down. Finished 11th…Highest start this season is second at his oval debut in Kansas and highest finish is 9th in Long Beach, Richmond and Watkins Glen… Is ranked 14th with 175 points and is second in the Rookie of the Year standings to Matos (182-175).
2 WINS, 1 POLE, 6 PODIUMS IN 4 EDMONTON EVENTS FOR TEAM: NHR won the inaugural race here in 2005 when Bourdais drove to victory from a 10th place start. Bourdais won again in 2007 from a second place start and set the fastest race lap. In total, the team has earned TWO wins (Bourdais 2007, 2005), ONE pole (Bourdais 2006) and SIX podium finishes (2nd – Bourdais 2006, Servia 2005; 3rd – Wilson 2008, Rahal 2007).
Tune In… The race will be broadcast live on VERSUS Sunday, July 26th at 5pm. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. As always, fans can follow the action from every on-track session via the official website of the IndyCar Series, www.indycar.com.
