Hunter-Reay repeats at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): “We had just put on the slick Firestone tires on and I don’t know. Everything happened so fast, but I just stepped on the throttle, and I don’t know… I spun around and couldn’t do anything. I don’t think we went to slick tires too soon – everyone was on them at that point. Maybe I made a mistake and was too aggressive, I don’t know. Thank you to my Cinsay Andretti Autosport crew for working hard to get me back out to run a few more laps.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 GE Reveal Chevrolet): “It was a good day for us. I mean we passed half of the field on a track that people say you can’t pass on. We’ll take a top-ten finish, especially after the weekend we had and qualifying in the back. It was a great day for the GE Reveal team. We had some great pit stops and we’ll just continue to go forward from here.”

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 98 Charter/Castrol Edge Honda): “It was an exciting race with a lot going on. We started twenty-second and it was raining at the start. The car was good in the wet and we made some progress. Then we had some solid racing throughout the field. The BHA guys had some good calls on pit lane and I think we salvaged something from what was a difficult weekend. To get twelfth after the weekend we had was a good result in the end, so a big thank you to the team for working hard all weekend and for their ability to keep believing.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet): “It was a fun race starting in the rain and then going to slick tires, but it was a bit challenging with the fuel conditions. We were able to stay out of trouble and really keep our nose clean allowing us to move up a ton of positions. The whole NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing team definitely wants to be higher than eleventh, but considering where we started today I was really happy with the result.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet): “I have to say that I’m just so proud of the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing team. After crashing this morning, everyone from all three teams came together and just really put their heads down with no complaints and started working. It was a really upside-down race with it starting wet and ending dry, but we had really good pace and clean air. We just did what we could do and made the most of where we were at. I’m pleased to be able to bring the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet home with a top-ten finish and now we’re just ready to move onto the month of May.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): “At times we had a good pace. On the wet track, I was struggling with understeer and then at times I feel like we got some pace and the National Guard car was moving forward. Next thing I know, I got hit by two guys and lost about four spots there. And on the last pit stop, I’m not sure what happened. The guys weren’t slow but with the strategy we lost another three spots. I don’t really know how we ended up 17th but obviously I feel bad for the guys because they deserve better than this. We were creeping up there. I think the highest we got was tenth. We were kind of up into the territory that we need to be in but we just couldn’t quite keep it together. (On first laps on alternate tires after running rain tires:) “Those were the most difficult laps I have ever driven. Cold, slick tires in the wet produced, honestly the most difficult laps I have ever driven. I’m glad those are over and I hope I don’t see them again.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): “Tough and busy race. (On first spin?) “In the kink, a couple guys got sideways and it was an accordion effect and everyone hit the brakes, but I was in the middle of the corner and I had to avoid hitting the brakes. And then I spun. Fortunately I didn’t lose a lap. (2nd spin) On the restart I was side by side with Briscoe & we entered the hairpin – we tangled together. Another spin but I kept it going. After that we had good pace and I was able to gain a couple position but in the end, time was up. After a tough race, I’m pleased to bring the car home.”

MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): “The rolling start went much better for me today. I was overtaking cars one by one which was exactly what I set out to do. I had a really tough battle with Bourdais and everything was fair until he took me off the track in Turn 5. The car stalled and it took two laps for me to get restarted and join the race again. Honestly, I was really upset with being a lap down and I was pushing as hard as I possibly could to make up every bit of ground. I pushed too hard in Turn 13 and touched the wet area on the track, which sent me straight into the wall.”

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): “The start in the wet was crazy as expected. We couldn’t see anything. On the start actually I felt good. There were a couple of interesting maneuvers there and I think we were looking good and on the second restart people were acting actually even more crazy and I couldn’t see anything again. We were stuck at the back and it was single file and I couldn’t do anything really and I felt it was getting dry. I knew it was a little early but we had a lot to gain if it worked out and it almost did. The track was still too wet but it was on the edge. I saw that Ryan Hunter-Reay) was coming to lap me but I knew that if I was able to keep him behind for a little bit more until my tires warmed up, then I knew I would be faster because I was on slicks. But out of the chicane I almost lost it and he passed me and then the yellow came out for someone. So instead of all of a sudden inheriting the lead like we would have, Ryan had just passed me and we were a lap down and had to go to the back of the pack. There was really nothing gained there unfortunately but in dry conditions there were some moments where we had a good pace but when you’re 19th and there are no more yellows to make anything happen, we were stuck at the back. It was not a spectacular weekend for us but we knew we had some work to do at the test and were just not able to catch up. Fortunately now we have a test on the Indy road course so hopefully we can improve our road course setup. We have a good one for the Speedway but it will be good to spend more time on our road course setup at the test.”