“Both cars did a lot of running today; each car ran over 70 laps so one-third of the race distance," said Technical Director Jay O'Connell.  "Michel did a lot of good running to increase his experience and confidence and was able to get up to 218 mph. He felt much more comfortable running behind cars, running in traffic and doing some race simulation. On Takuma’s side, he also did some great long race runs on two different sets of tires. The first set, he ran more on his own, was very consistent, and did some flat-out running, learning to use his tools. And on the second run he was in a lot of traffic, playing with other cars and made some good progress learning good lessons for the race.  Tomorrow we will still run in race trim, proving out some racing parts and setups. Thursday and Friday we will be back in qualifying mode getting ready for qualifying on Saturday.”

“Overall today was the perfect conclusion to the first two days of running here," said Tom Anderson, Managing Director of Motorsport Operations. "We are extremely happy with both drivers and programs. Obviously Takuma has got a lot more miles this season than what Michel has. Takuma was able to do basically wind tunnel work for us today all day. Michel had a good run just building miles yesterday. We took a little more time with Takuma today running through the aero program and translated that later onto Michel’s program. There is no real surprise in the different speeds because the aero was quite a bit different on Michel’s car than it was on Takuma’s. Basically, these first two days Gerry Hughes has been building a database for our engineers that are coming in tomorrow from our ALMS race in California. We will be at full strength and will have a barrel of information that we can ponder through. We are looking forward to a big week. We are very happy with the speeds so far.”

“Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a special place," said Sato.  "When I first came to the Indy 500, I already had a special memory of the place from 2004 when I finished on the podium. That was a great day.  It wasn’t an easy finish. At one stage, in the middle of the race, we were at the back of the grid.  Every time I come back to Indy I think of that memory. It was very special and now coming for the Indy 500 – there are no words to describe how special it is. The event is always very impressive.”

“It would mean everything to me," said Michel Jourdain Jr. on what it would mean to him to win the Indy 500.  "I grew up watching more Indy car racing that Formula One. Many people in the world think of Formula One when they think of open wheel racing but for me, because of Josele (Garza) and because of the races my father and uncle Bernard did, I was focused on Indy car racing much more than F1.  I remember standing in the race car when my father drove in the Mexico City race and the guys were pushing it. It was 1980 and 1981. I always grew up watching the Indy 500 so for me it would be the biggest thing ever to win the Indy 500!”

“It wasn’t a good day for us unfortunately," said Sato. "The first practice session was cut short because the engineers weren’t happy about some parameters and we had to stop early to check the gearbox.  Everything ended up okay but the session was cut short which didn’t help us in terms of setting up the car. And then in the second practice I only ran a few laps before we had an engine problem which led to us not being able to take part in qualifying because of the amount of time it took to change the engine. The long straight with heavy braking here means you can overtake but starting from the back it is going to be tough. We will fight back to gain positions tomorrow and hopefully we will have a strong package.  We will see how the car will be in the warm-up tomorrow.  I don’t mind whether it is a dry race or a wet race. To go from the back of the grid in the wet would be quite difficult in terms of visibility but there is more of a chance to go forward. In a dry race, realistically it would be very difficult to get a top result but nothing is impossible. It will be an exciting race for sure.”

The Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 Nestlé marks Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s first time to compete on the Streets of São Paulo.  Previously the team competed in five CART-sanctioned events in Rio de Janeiro from 1996-2000 with Bobby Rahal (1996-1998), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-00), and Kenny Brack (2000).  The best start for the team on the 1.86-mile, D-shaped oval in Rio was third by Rahal in 1997. The team’s best finish in Brazil is fourth, by Herta (1998) and Papis (1999). Over the 10 entries between 1996-00, the team had four top-five and eight top-10 starts as well as two top-five and seven top-10 finishes (chart available).  The team will field the No. 15 entry for Takuma Sato.

“I am disappointed to not make it through to Round 2," said Sato. "The track was quite slippery in the beginning of qualifying and unfortunately I kissed the wall a little bit and bent the toe-link. Because of the limited time I had to continue and improved the lap time but I couldn’t make it through to Round 2. We will go through the data from today and hopefully have a good package for the race.  We just need a trouble-free race and we can get a good result.”