Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone:
“To be honest I didn’t think we were going to be P1. In the first 15 minutes, it felt like it, but then in the first run we just really struggled and we had not changed much on the McDonald’s car. So I didn’t know what really happened. “
“On the second and third run, when we went out with the red Bridgestone alternate tires, it was fantastic; the car came alive and I had a great time. Like I said this place is fantastic. It’s really fast and a lot of fun when the car is working. So just another one, and hopefully we can have a good race and do the best we can. It’s going to be hard to conserve fuel based on the track layout and the race can go any way since we’ve seen a lot of people go off. The timing of the yellow flags could determine the outcome of the race if some people take an alternate strategy. ”
Graham Rahal, No. 2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone:
“The Medi | Zone car is much better than the qualifying position shows. I’m actually disappointed with the outcome. It was eventful day and session for us. There were a lot of ‘offs’ today which is usually uncharacteristic for me. We ran well in the pre-qualifying practice and ended up P2 (second fast) so we were hoping challenge for pole. There were times when the wind just caught me out like when I had the thing sideways. There was a cone on the track and I was trying to avoid it and got a little sideways. “
“It was just a tough day but at the end I think that we have a pretty quick car. The problem is, literally, there is no passing here. Certainly the last lap I had a pretty good lap going but then I messed up in Turn 8 and lost it. I don’t think I would have gotten Gommendy but I certainly would have been in front of Pagenaud and Jani but that’s the way it goes. The segment times don’t matter, you have to put the whole lap together. I think we’ll do okay in the race. “
“The Medi | Zone team does great pit stops and their strategy is strong so we’ll be able to move forward that way. It’s going to be a tough race. We had a three run strategy in qualifying because we didn’t use any Bridgestone “reds” yesterday (in the wet) so we figured since we had 15 laps and the tires were good here on the fourth or fifth lap so you don’t need a six-lap stint. Therefore you could make three runs and that’s what we did. ”
| 
|