Ohio native Rahal fastest on opening day at Mid-Ohio

Graham Rahal

Ohio native Graham Rahal topped the time chart in the initial IZOD IndyCar Series practice session for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance.

The New Albany, Ohio native, competing in his second race of the season with Newman/Haas Racing, had a best lap of 1 minute, 8.3061 seconds on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit in the No. 02 National Tire & Battery entry.

The hour-long session also featured the top 22 cars separated by less than a second, J.R. Hildebrand, the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion who is making his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the No. 24 RollCoater/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car, placed seventh (1:08.6340), and series championship points leader Will Power second (1:08.3301) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car.

"The thing that is obvious to me is that it is really close and very competitive," said Rahal, who has recorded three top-10 finishes with three different teams in six races this season. "At one point, I was 10th, but only a tenth off. But I really wanted to be fastest on the first day at home. It feels good. I am a little bit surprised, especially where we came from. The good thing is the car is nowhere close for me. There's a lot we need to improve on. If we can be this competitive and have a lot to improve on is a good sign for me."

Another 60-minute session precedes the three rounds of qualifying Aug. 7.

QUOTES:

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 2 National Tire & Battery, fastest of the day): "We definitely struggled at the start of practice. We had a hard time getting it right. We felt really low on grip during the first run. We were really off. The thing that is obvious to me is that it is really close and very competitive. At one point, I was 10^th, but only a tenth off. But I really wanted to be fastest on the first day at home. It feels good. I am a little bit surprised, especially where we came from. I was a little bit worried. We tried a whole bunch of things and I think I had a better lap in me, but I locked up a little bit and messed up a lap. The good thing is the car is nowhere close for me. There's a lot we need to improve on. If we can be this competitive and have a lot to improve on is a good sign for myself and the National Tire & Battery team."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 37 Team IZOD, fourth-fastest): "I think the Team IZOD car was pretty good overall. Towards the end of the session, we really tried some things to see if it was what we needed and it wasn't. Our fast time stuck from probably halfway through the session, so I think the car is pretty good. We just have to make some tweaks to it and then we'll see."

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, ninth fastest): "It was a good session. We had the Team 7-Eleven car up in the top five for a while during the session, which was good to see. We just have some more work to do for tomorrow and then we'll see what we can do."

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic 16^th-fastest): "The car had a lot of oversteer at the beginning of the session. I think the track was messy. As the session went on the car felt quite good. We made quite a few changes and found two good ones so we need to carry that over to tomorrow. My teammate was P1 with a new set of tires so that was good news too."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Meijer, 18^th fastest): "We have some work to do with the Meijer car before we're where we want and need to be for the weekend. I think we have some positive feedback from the session today and from the test here a week ago. We'll make some changes tonight and keep chipping away at it."

E.J. VISO (No. 8 PDVSA – KV Racing Technology): "We only had a one-hour practice, but the No. 8 PDVSA car felt good. Very well balanced. The track was a little bit slippery from the other tire compounds of the support series. That is affecting our car's setup a little. But you have the deal with that. I am feeling good about this weekend and Mid-Ohio is always fun to drive. We had some very useful and productive testing last week and I am sure it is going to payoff this weekend. There was a lot of traffic on the track today. So some of our best laps didn't make it for fast times. We have a large field here, so the track will be crowd in qualifying and the race."

MARIO MORAES (No. 22 KV Racing Technology): "I think it is great to be back at Mid-Ohio. Last year, I didn't get the chance to race here (due to Moraes' father death). I'm dealing with my wrist right now. It isn't real good. I have a cracked bone in my right wrist. I hurt it in Edmonton. But I we have a good car for the race. Now we just have to improve it a little bit."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 Lotus – KV Racing Technology): "I think we had a good session today despite what the standings say, but we know what we're doing. I was continuing our program from the test here last week and double checking the things we have been working on. I feel positive on how things went today."

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