McDONALD’S DRIVER RAHAL WILL MARK HIS ONE-YEAR OVAL RACING ANNIVERSARY AT THIS WEEKEND’S ROAD RUNNER INDY 300 WHILE TEAMMATE DOORNBOS WILL MAKE HIS DEBUT KANSAS CITY, Kansas (April 24, 2009) --- This Sunday’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway will mark the first oval race of the 2009 IndyCar Series season as well as the first oval race of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) driver Robert Doornbos’ career. It will also mark the one-year anniversary for McDonald’s driver Graham Rahal’s oval racing debut. After two street races so far this season, both are looking forward to beginning an oval racing string of six consecutive events beginning with Sunday’s 200 lap race around the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval.
“Driving on an oval is definitely different than I expected,” said Doornbos, 27, after his first test day on an oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. “It felt like going to a new school on the first day. I didn’t really know what to expect but I got a lot of information from the team but you have to do it for yourself. The first five laps I thought ‘Oh my god, where did I end up?’ But that’s because you have to run at a certain pace and once you reach that pace its actually quite fun so we ended the day on a good note and I can go to bed with a smile. I already got the bug and want to go faster and faster so that’s a good thing. I will just take it as it comes. It’s a steep learning curve but I enjoy it like this.”
Doornbos progressed quickly through the ranks of European single-seater series such as F3, F3000 and on to Formula One when he changed his vocation from that of a semi-professional tennis player to a race car driver after meeting former Indy 500 and F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve at the 1998 Belgium Grand Prix. He finished third in series standings and earned Rookie of the Year in Champ Car in 2007 but there were no oval races on the schedule that season. Although oval racing is uniquely American, Doornbos knows that it commands respect around the world for the precision needed.
“Testing went well and obviously I don’t underestimate the challenge of oval racing,” said the Dutchman, who leads the four-man battle for Rookie of the Year. “It might look easy on the outside to some people because it is just turning left but once you understand the speeds that are involved and that the accuracy and respect among the drivers needs to be quite high, it’s obvious that it is definitely a big challenge. My goal is to have a mistake-free weekend. We’re looking to run in traffic comfortably and a strong, top-10 result would be a great result for my first weekend on an oval.”
The 2009 event will mark the ninth time for the IndyCar Series to compete at Kansas Speedway while it will be NHLR’s second race here. Last year Justin Wilson qualified 22nd here, led five laps and finished ninth while Graham Rahal qualified 20th in his oval racing debut and finished 12th. Rahal admits that it was a nerve-racking experience last year although the team set realistic goals.
“Was I nervous last year? Yeah, absolutely,” admitted Rahal, driver of the No. 02 McDonald’s race car. “I think everybody was nervous going into the Kansas race last year because it was our first oval in the series after missing Homestead. The race for us was pretty routine. We just wanted to get through it but we actually had a pretty good result with a 12th place finish, which was just about as good as it was going to be. It was a pretty straightforward race for us; we were just trying to get through the race distance and basically move on to Indianapolis. We really wanted to have as good of a finish as we could but we kept everything realistic.”
Of the 17 races on the 2009 schedule, Kansas Speedway is the first of eight that the team will compete at for only the second time in their 27 year history. Although they have a full season of IndyCar Series competition behind them, the majority of the field has five more years of experience with the Dallara-Honda-Firestone racing package. The team continues to work hard to close the gap.
“I think the team has made a lot of improvements on the ovals but it’s tough to quantify because we haven’t run much on them,” said Rahal. “My engineer Martin’s (Pare) experience on ovals certainly should help us. I think we need to have a top-10 finish. I would like to say our expectation is to have a top-five finish but I think we need to keep things realistic. I imagine the car setup will be good but how quick it will be is the question. Our car was good last year but there was a difference in overall speed between ourselves and the long-time Indy car teams. A top-10 would be a good thing but a top-five would be a wonderful result for us on an oval. We’ll keep chipping away at it and close the gap to other teams on the ovals. Prior to the split this team was one of the best on the ovals and we will get there again soon.”
Prior to becoming the youngest pole sitter in series history in the 2009 season-opener in St. Petersburg, Rahal’s previous highest qualifying of second place came on an oval in only his third start on this type of track. At the Milwaukee Mile last year, he narrowly lost pole to Marco Andretti by 2/10th of a second over a four lap average to start a then-career best second to Andretti in what was the first Andretti/Rahal front row since 1992 in Loudon, NH. While the road course qualifying he has taken part in consisted of multiple cars on track at the same time, he admits that having all eyes on him took some getting used to.
“Oval qualifying is different because its one car on track at a time,” Rahal said. “It’s pressure-packed because you know everybody’s attention is on you but at the same time I think the road course format of qualifying is just about as tough as it gets but certainly oval qualifying is pretty nerve racking for sure.”
“I did single-car qualifying before in Formula One so I have experience with that,” added Doornbos. “Obviously this will be slightly different since it’s on an oval. The thing I will need to learn as quick as possible is how to extract the maximum qualifying lap on an oval because when it’s flat (pressure on accelerator), its flat. There are probably some tricks in the book that I have to find out.”
Of the team’s 107 victories, 27 have come on ovals while 18 of their 108 poles have been earned on the same type of track. Because the majority of their races have been run on road and street courses over the years, the team’s success on those types of tracks make up a larger percentage. Former NHLR driver and four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais brought the team its most recent oval win on June 4, 2006 from pole at the Milwaukee Mile. He called the first win for the team there in 10 years his most important win of the season due to the fact it was their home race and they had struggled at the track in recent history. The next oval win will be even more meaningful.
The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues with Round 3 of 17 -- the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway. Coverage of the event will begin with a qualifying and pre-race show on Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT while coverage of the 200-lap race will begin at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Both broadcasts will be televised on the Versus network. As always all practice and qualifying sessions can be seen via a live timing and scoring and a video feed on www.indycar.com.
GRAHAM RAHAL, driver of the #02 McDonald’s Dallara / Honda / Firestone:
AT KANSAS: Will be his second race here. Made his oval racing debut at this track last year. Qualified 20th and finished 12th.
2009 INDYCAR SEASON SO FAR: Rahal ran the fastest lap times on Friday and Saturday on the streets of St. Pete to become the youngest pole winner in series history at 20 years, 90 days old. As the field entered the wide Turn 1 at the start of the race, second place starter Justin Wilson pulled slightly ahead on Rahal’s left while fifth place starter Dario Franchitti made a daring move on his right heading into the right hander. Rahal was not only squeezed in the process, he was hit from behind by Tony Kanaan which spun him sideways and into the grass. He dropped to the rear of the field but rebounded to finish seventh…Qualified seventh in Long Beach and pitted from second place but was waved out of the pits before the fuel nozzle was disengaged. Was ordered to let three cars pass as a penalty then was served another one when the officials deemed he didn’t do it quick enough although he only ran ½ lap before doing so. After a drive through penalty he could only received enough to finish 12th…Is ranked 11th in series points with 45.
YOUNGEST RACE & POLE WINNER IN SERIES HISTORY: Became the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history when he drove to victory in his series debut in St. Pete in 2008 at the age of 19 years and 93 days old. The previous mark was held by Marco Andretti who won at Infineon Raceway at 19 years, 167 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. One year later he became the youngest pole winner in series history at 20 years, 90 days old when he returned to St. Pete.
PERSONAL: Graham Robert Rahal, 20, was born in Columbus, Ohio on 1-4-1989 and resides in New Albany, Ohio in a bachelor pad he purchased in the summer of 2008…The 6’2” driver is one of four children of Bobby Rahal, three-time open wheel champion, Indy 500 winner and Hall of Fame race car driver…Has two sisters (Michaela and Samantha) and one brother (Jarrad)…Graduated from New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA on 6-3-07 despite missing over 80 days of school that year due to racing. ESPN The Magazine covered his graduation…When not racing he likes to work on cars, hang out with friends and family or play other sports for fun…Is a self-proclaimed “Car Guy” and still has the first car he received when he was 16 – a Subaru WRX sti – and is in the process of turning it into a race car with a Cosworth race engine. He purchased an ’07 Atomic Orange Corvette Z06 with his prize money but later sold it and now has a Ferrari 599, Range Rover Sport Supercharged and Acura TL. In addition he has a 1964 Mini Cooper that he restored for his high school senior project. He also temporarily owned an Audi he earned by graduating high school with a GPA of 3.5 or above…To prepare for the physicality of racing he spends many hours doing cardiovascular training and weightlifting, skiing, running or bicycling…He auctioned a race-worn helmet on Ebay for $40k and donated the proceeds to Flying Horse Farms, a provisional member camp of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, founded by Paul Newman…His favorite type of clothing is anything made by Puma…His favorite food is sushi and his weaknesses are ice cream and white chocolate mocha drinks at Starbucks…His favorite books are those written by Lance Armstrong (and anything he read other than for school)…He is currently reading two books -- one is "In Pursuit of the Common Good" which is written by Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner and is about how Newman's Own charities began, and the other is "McDonald’s Behind the Arches" so that I know about the history of my sponsor McDonalds!...His favorite thing to watch on TV is any Ohio State Buckeye game, his favorite actor/actress are Owen Wilson and Eva Longoria and favorite movie is “Wedding Crashers.”
GRAHAM RAHAL, #02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Was I nervous last year? Yeah, absolutely. I think everybody was nervous going into the Kansas race last year because it was our first oval in the series after missing Homestead. The race for us was pretty routine. We just wanted to get through it but we actually had a pretty good result with a 12th place finish, which was just about as good as it was going to be. It was a pretty straightforward race for us; we were just trying to get through the race distance and basically move on to Indianapolis. We really wanted to have as good of a finish as we could but we kept everything realistic.
“Oval qualifying is different because its one car on track at a time. It’s pressure-packed because you know everybody’s attention is on you but at the same time I think the road course format of qualifying is just about as tough as it gets but certainly oval qualifying is pretty nerve racking for sure.
“I think the team has made a lot of improvements on the oval but it’s tough to quantify because we haven’t run much on them. My engineer Martin’s experience on ovals certainly should help us.
“I think we need to have a top-10 finish. I would like to say our expectation is to have a top-five finish but I think we need to keep things realistic. I imagine the car setup will be good but how quick it will be is the question. Our car was good last year but there was a difference in overall speed between ourselves and the long-time Indy car teams. A top-10 would be a good thing but a top-five would be a wonderful result for us on an oval. We’ll keep chipping away at it and close the gap to other teams on the ovals. Prior to the split this team was one of the best on the ovals and we will get there again soon.”
ROBERT DOORNBOS, driver of the #06 Dallara / Honda / Firestone:
OVAL RACING DEBUT IN KANSAS: Will compete at this track and on an oval for the first time. Has competed against fellow ICS drivers Marco Andretti (A1GP), Danica Patrick (Formula Ford), Ryan Briscoe (F3) and E.J. Viso (F3000).
A1GP IN 2008/2009: Drove for Team Netherlands in the international series in three events (China, New Zealand, Portugal) …Started and finished second in his series debut in the sprint race in Chengdu, China (Nov. ’08) as well as set the second fastest race lap. Started eighth and set the fastest race lap but finished 16th in the feature race…Started second and finished third in the sprint race in New Zealand (Jan. ’09). Started second and finished fifth in the feature race…Started second and won the sprint race in Portugal and started from pole in the feature race but retired from an electrical fire after the formation lap and never started the race (April 12)…Competed against fellow ICS driver Marco Andretti among others.
SO FAR IN INDYCAR SERIES: Worked to adapt to the different driving style needed to drive an Indy car’s in St. Pete opener. Qualified 13th, ran as high as fifth place but finished 11th after having to pit to repair damage from contact while alongside Wheldon for a pass. Race had seven caution periods for a total of 28 of the 100-laps…Ranked 11th with 13 points.
THIRD IN ’07 CHAMP CAR STANDINGS: Competed for Minardi Team in 2007 CCWS…Finished on the podium five of his first six events including his first of two wins in Mont Tremblant and went on to finish third in series standings after holding the series lead for one event and also won Rookie of the Year…Became the first driver to score a podium finish in his series debut since 1993 (Nigel Mansell) when he finished second at the season-opener in Las Vegas after starting third…Third place finishes in Houston and Portland were followed by a second place finish in Cleveland that could have been his first win had he not had to overcome a drive-through penalty on Lap 11 and a spin in Turn 1 to finish second to Paul Tracy…His win in Round 6 in Mont Tremblant strengthened his point standing and he took over the championship lead briefly after Round 7 in Toronto from S. Bourdais after the two made contact and Bourdais was unable to continue…Won his second race of the season in Round 9 at San Jose after he started 15th and lost his front wing due to contact in Turn 1 on the first lap. Calculated pit strategy and timely passes enabled him to lead 30 laps en route to victory…Ran as high as second place at Road America but contact with his teammate cost him a front wing and relegated him to a 14th place finish…Had disappointing weekends in Belgium and his home race in the Netherlands before rebounding to finish fourth in Australia…Qualified third for the season-finale in Mexico City but gearbox failure forced him to retire from the race early which ended his hope of challenging Justin Wilson for second place in the standings. Settled for a third place rank in the standings, only 13 points behind second place Wilson…Clinched Rookie of the Year after the penultimate race of the season in Australia.
PERSONAL: Robert Michael Doornbos (aka “Bobby D”) was born on September 23, 1981 (27) in Rotterdam, Holland…He is single and resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco…He started his sporting career as a tennis player, rising to the semi-professional ranks in Holland and got his first taste of racing as a visitor to the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as a guest of Williams F1 and decided to pursue a career in the sport…If he wasn’t a race car driver he would be a businessman – most likely with his father in the area of property development…His hobbies include golf and most types of fitness…His favorite designer is Dolce & Gabbana and his favorite jeans are True Religion…He collects watches but says he “needs to brake later and get on the power earlier” in order to expand his collection…To stay in top racing shape he runs, cycles, kayaks and utilizes a weight training program…His typical day away from the race track consists of getting up at 8 a.m. and having a small breakfast while reading the newspaper on the internet. Around 8:30 he takes a five mile run or a bike ride outside. After a quick shower and another bite to eat he checks e-mails and makes calls. If the weather is nice he then goes outside for a swim in the pool then chills out until 4 p.m. when he goes to the gym for a two-hour work-out. After that he has dinner with his girlfriend at home or at the Italian restaurant around the corner. At 10 p.m. its “sleepy time”…His favorite music is R&B or Club music…Speaks Dutch, English, Italian and German.
ROBERT DOORNBOS, No. 06 Dallara-Honda-Firestone: AFTER FIRST TEST ON AN OVAL IN HOMESTEAD ON FEB. 23: “Driving on an oval is definitely different than I expected. It felt like going to a new school on the first day. I didn’t really know what to expect but I got a lot of information from the team but you have to do it for yourself. The first five laps I thought ‘Oh my god, where did I end up?’ But that’s because you have to run at a certain pace and once you reach that pace its actually quite fun so we ended the day on a good note and I can go to bed with a smile. I already got the bug and want to go faster and faster so that’s a good thing. Today was definitely the fastest I have gone in a race car and I am quite proud. I have no idea what to expect with traffic. It must be something like driving in the middle of the night in China, the traffic is quite bad there. I will just take it as it comes. It’s a steep learning curve but I enjoy it like this.
“Testing went well and obviously I don’t underestimate the challenge of oval racing. It might look easy on the outside to some people because it is just turning left but once you understand the speeds that are involved and that the accuracy and respect among the drivers needs to be quite high, its obvious that it is definitely a big challenge.
“I did single-car qualifying before in Formula One so I have experience with that. Obviously this will be slightly different since its on an oval. The thing I will need to learn as quick as possible is how to extract the maximum qualifying lap on an oval because when it’s flat (on accelerator), its flat. There are probably some tricks in the book that I have to find out.
“My goal is to have a mistake-free weekend. We’re looking to run in traffic comfortably and a strong, top-10 result would be a great result for my first weekend on an oval.”
