Graham Rahal finished in the top ten after starting 22nd and regretted yellow flags at the end of the Elkhart Lake GP that took away a chance for an even better result
Rahal Letterman's season has not been easy. The team's best results in 2022 are two seventh-place finishes by Graham Rahal at St. Pete and Long Beach, and they have not been able to fight at the front of the grid so far. Last weekend at Road America, the team performed poorly in qualifying, but saw its drivers climb the field during the race. Rahal was the one who stood out the most, taking eighth place after starting 22nd.
"I think the team did a good job and our performance relative to the mileage we had was very good. Until the last yellow, we were consistently opening up a lead to Scott [Dixon, ninth place], we had a three-second margin, and it'swe're getting closer to Felix [Rosenqvist, sixth] and Scott McLaughlin [seventh], so I thought we were on the right track," Graham told the American Racer website.
"It is what it is, obviously with the yellows showing up at the end, but it was a good day for us. It's not a victory, but in a way it feels like it's for everything we've been battling for," celebrated the American driver.
Besides Rahal, rookie Christian Lundgaard also finished among the top ten, while Jack Harvey was 13th. In total, the trio gained 22 positions throughout the race, but Graham prefers to be cautious when talking about a possible improvement, and says that the car still has glaring deficiencies.
"I think Christian is trying very hard to drive, which is okay, but he is driving that at various times has no grip and goes off the back, and he is holding back at the moment. But that's not something I'm going to do. I think the differentiator this weekend is that he is relaxed about it, he is accepting it," explained the RLL driver.
"Jack and I, maybe, are not accepting it and we have to improve the cars. Even my car in the race had glaring deficiencies, but that's okay. We are trying different things to see what works. We tested a different setup today and we are changing things to try to learn, that's the progress we are looking for," Rahal concluded.
Graham is currently 15th in the drivers' standings, just ahead of Lundgaard. IndyCar racing returns on July 3 for the Mid-Ohio Grand Prix, with full coverage from GRANDE PRÊMIO.