2009 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing // Press Release

Sunday, July 12, 2009
Honda Indy Toronto – Streets of Toronto
Round 10 of 17 in the IndyCar Series

McDONALD’S DRIVER RAHAL FINISHED 20TH AFTER CONTACT IN THE HONDA INDY TORONTO; DOORNBOS RETIRED IN LAST PLACE DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM IN THE GEAR SHIFT SYSTEM

McDonald’s driver Graham Rahal had high hopes after earning a third place starting spot for the 85-lap Honda Indy Toronto, the team’s 23rd event on the 11-turn street course around Exhibition Place. Unfortunately those aspirations took a big hit on the opening lap when second place starter Will Power squeezed him to the wall and ran over the nose of his race car before the Start/Finish line. Rahal had to pit for a new nose and Power came in for new Firestone tires due to cutting his when he drove over Rahal’s wing. Both rejoined the race with Rahal in 21st and Power in 23rd. At the end of the first of five cautions from Laps 8-10, Rahal pit to top off his fuel on Lap 10 and returned to the track in 17th place ahead of two cars that also pit because he only took on fuel. The race resumed for one lap until Ed Carpenter spun in Turn 6 but resumed after a little assistance. Once the race again resumed, he passed Hideki Mutoh on Lap 17 for 16th place and closed on Danica Patrick but was unable to pass her although he was capable of faster speeds. On Lap 27 Will Power passed Rahal and then Patrick a lap later which enabled the Australian to close to the leaders and eventually finish third. Rahal was still unable to safely pass Patrick and locked up his tires when she surprised him with her early braking point on lap 31. He immediately reported to the team that he might have to pit to replace his compromised Firestone tires but the decision was made to stay on track to avoid making an extra stop for fuel later. He struggled to maintain seventh place due to his flat-spotted tires and lost three positions to Scott Dixon, Mario Moraes and eventual winner Dario Franchitti on Lap 43 before he pitted on Lap 47. He returned to the track in 16th place but moved into 13th as the pit cycle finished. On Lap 58, Rahal attempted to pass the lapped car of Ed Carpenter who was running 20th but Carpenter turned into the corner – and Rahal -- as he was pulling inside on the right-handed corner. Carpenter was able to continue and finished 15th but Rahal retired in 20th place and dropped from ninth to 10th in the point standings after only collecting 12 for a total of 209. Pole sitter Dario Franchitti won the event while 11th place starter Ryan Briscoe finished second and Will Power, who hit Rahal on the start, finished third in the attrition filled race. Following are Rahal’s post race comments:

“It was a frustrating day for the McDonald’s boys. Right from the start the race was bad because (Will) Power didn’t try to stay in his lane on the start. It’s as easy at that; you’re supposed to be two wide and he wasn’t. He came straight across and just took off my front wing. So right away we were fighting an uphill battle and those are the worst races because it’s so frustrating when you know you’re out of the game at the start. After coming in for the wing change I just tried to recover. We had pretty good lap times but I just couldn’t hang in there being behind Danica. She would brake so early and I was bad at judging where she was going to hit the brakes because it was inconsistent, but always early and I ended up flat-spotting my tires. I tried to recover from that as well and then tried to pass Ed. Danica dove in (ahead of Ed) and Ed stayed wide so I dove underneath him and got mid-corner and he turned in while I was there. I tried to back out but I was pinched. That was it for us. I’m not going to blame him though because I should have known that’s what he would do. The whole idea today was to get some points and close on fifth place but now (fifth place) Danica gained a lot of points and moved further away.”

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver Robert Doornbos gained four spots to claim third place on the opening lap of today’s 85-lap Honda Indy Toronto after starting seventh but retired in 23rd place due to an electrical problem in the gear shift system after he completed 26 laps. On the start he passed Justin Wilson and Mike Conway and second place starter Will Power drove over Graham Rahal’s front wing which forced both to the pits. Doornbos held third place through the first of five cautions from Laps 8-10 for contact between Dan Wheldon and Richard Antinucci but on the restart on Lap 12 Scott Dixon passed him. Another caution came out from Laps 12-13 for Ed Carpenter who spun. On that restart, Doornbos dropped two more spots to Conway and Paul Tracy and ran in sixth place. On Lap 22 he lost another position to Mario Moraes and immediately reported that he was having difficulty shifting. The team called him into the pits on Lap 24 and replaced the gear shift compressor as well as added fuel and new tires. Once back on track he reported that the car was stuck in fourth gear so he returned to the pits and ultimately retired in 23rd place. He collected 12 points for his finish and dropped from 12th to 14th in the points standings with a total of 175. Raphael Matos finished 10th and reclaimed the lead in the Rookie of the Year standings with a seven point advantage (182-175) after Round 10 of 17. Pole sitter Dario Franchitti won the event while 11th place starter Ryan Briscoe finished second and Will Power, who recovered from a Lap 1 incident that almost put him one lap down, finished third in the attrition filled race. Following are Doornbos’ post race comments.

“I had a great start and was up four positions. I got the maximum out of that and was up to third and running strong and settled into our strategy of saving fuel. We were looking good and then the gearbox started performing less good on the downshifts and it slowly got worse until we ended up with no ability to shift. It’s a very frustrating end to the race given the potential we showed at the start.”

The series will take a much needed weekend off after four races in a row before returning to Edmonton for the Rexall Edmonton Indy. In the four races in Edmonton to date since 2005, NHR/NHLR has won two of them including the inaugural race in 2005 and in 2007 – both by Bourdais, who also started from pole in 2006. The team has also amassed six podium finishes in the four events including a podium finish every year. The most recent came last year when Justin Wilson finished third. McDonald’s driver Graham Rahal finished second in the Atlantic race in 2006 and finished third in 2007 but was hit by Viso in the 2008 IndyCar race. Robert Doornbos competed in the 2007 Champ Car race for Minardi Team USA but contact with Tagliani limited his finish to 11th.