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IndyCar Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Rahal pleased with Pigot’s progress
Team owner Bobby Rahal says he’s impressed with rookie Spencer Pigot’s progress so far, on a strong first day for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: May 13, 2016, 10:58 AM
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Graham Rahal’s RLLR-Honda was second and third fastest in the opening two practice sessions, giving him a combined result of fourth overall, yet only 0.15 behind pacesetter Scott Dixon.
Meanwhile, Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot, whose only previous IndyCar race was the season-opener in St. Petersburg, finished 12th in both sessions, but closed the gap to his teammate from 0.47 in FP1 to just 0.26sec by close of play.
“I was pleased,” Bobby Rahal, told Motorsport.com. “So far so good. He’s not far off and he’s ahead of some big names.
“But you know, I thought Spencer did a great job for us at St. Pete, too. We had some issues in the race, but his actual pace was strong, and I think he’ll be even more competitive here relative to the others.
“St. Pete, I think he was playing it smart, being conservative – you don’t want to crash the thing in your first race. But around here there’s more room, a little margin for error, you can take bigger risks.
“Lucky for him, he’s got a teammate who’s fast and has a fast car so he can see, ‘OK, this is the way I need to go.’”
RLLR drivers are content, too
Pigot, who earned three guaranteed IndyCar race entries as part of his prize for winning last year’s Indy Lights title, commented: "We had a really good day today. We kept improving, the car is getting better and better and I am getting comfortable in it again.
“It's cool to be driving an Indy car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The straightline speed here is higher than I have ever experienced, and you are braking all the way down to really slow corners. It's a unique track."
Graham Rahal added: "I think we are okay in terms of performance. We took a big swing there and made a big change for Practice 2. It was one of those things that would either go our way or not and I think it hurt us a bit so we will go back on that change for tomorrow.
“Spencer had some good finds so we will work with that. Overall we are competitive but I have been fighting a pretty bad cold so it beat me up a little today.
“I think we learned some stuff there. We definitely learned the wrong way to go. We're going to make some changes and get this Steak 'n Shake machine back up front."
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