Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal in the No.15 United Rentals Honda says he had a good day in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding. Rahal started the race from 20th place and came home in sixth place and speaking following the race he commented saying:
It was a good day here in St. Pete. We went from P20 up to P6. I was able to pass some guys today, force some guys into mistakes. I thought our strategy was solid starting on those blacks and we were able to keep the reds underneath us. Obviously, there was a lot of yellows in that period as well but it still it worked for us with a strong black run to the finish. It was rewarding because when we had guys like Power behind me and others, we were able to fend them off and didn’t feel under too much pressure. The guys did a great job. Off we go to Texas.
Christian Lundgaard in the No.45 Hy-Vee Honda started the race from P11 and finished the race in ninth place and speaking following the action he commented saying:
It was a long and tough one with a lot of yellows and quite frustrating. We seemed to struggle a bit with getting the tires to work so every restart was just misery and survival. But, I think we need to be happy to have two cars in the top 10. It was unfortunate for Jack but I was glad to hear that he is okay. We got some points, but it was a tough race. We struggled with a lot of different things. Just before the race, the drink system broke so I didn’t have that during the race either. We struggled with some brakes and some gear shifts so it’s good to get points and get the car over the line. We saw a couple of laps to the end one of the cars retire with a mechanical failure so that’s good for us. I think the pace was really good towards the end so we’ve got to look at the positives but overall I don’t think we’re quick enough yet. We’ve got some work to do.
Jack Harvey in the No.30 Kustom Entertainment Honda was involved in a heavy crash and was taken to hospital for further evaluations and checks and cleared and released and speaking following the action the Englishman commented saying:
t was a pretty disappointing way for our race to go there. I really couldn’t avoid Rinus and then just had a little bit of pain in both wrists when I was trying to get out of the car. Physically, I’d say it was a tough race but I felt great. The race was really playing out quite well for the No. 30 Kustom Entertainment car so it was a really disappointing end. I saw that Christian and Graham both ended up in the top 10 so that’s a great result for the team but I’ve been checked and released from the hospital.”