This weekend’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance is set to cap off an impressive year for Team Ethanol’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Twelve months since his IndyCar Series debut at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the 2003 Gold Coast Indy 300 winner has claimed his first victory (Watkins Glen 2008), IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year honours and the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year title.
During his 2007 hit-out at the 13 turn, 2.258 mile natural terrain road course, Hunter-Reay finished 10th in his first IndyCar Series appearance for Rahal Letterman Racing.
The race was the first time the IndyCar Series field had visited Mid-Ohio and the inaugural Pole went to Helio Castroneves and the win to current series leader, Brisbane-born Kiwi Scott Dixon, who will be eyeing the repeat this year.
Also holding fond memories of the Mid-Ohio stomping ground is Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal, the winner of the St Petersburg road-course earlier this year.
Rahal grew up with Mid-Ohio in his backyard, spending his childhood at the scenic road course watching his father - 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal - competing before taking the same national title there that his father won 30 years earlier in the Formula Atlantic class in 2005.
Rahal’s fellow transitioning driver Will Power of KV Racing Technology, along with the Queenslander’s fellow Australian Ryan Briscoe of Sydney, are sure to be looking forward to heading out on track for the 85 lap hit-out this weekend.
While this weekend marks Briscoe’s first IndyCar Series event at the track, his ALMS background at the 2.258-mile road course could provide him with a slight advantage.
When competing for Penske Racing in ALMS last season, Briscoe and teammate Sascha Maassen started on the front row for the race at Mid-Ohio and finished second, and while Power has no such experience at the track, his strong road-course past in Champ Car should serve him well this weekend.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…
Ryan Hunter-Reay – #17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol
“I guess this weekend’s trip to Mid-Ohio puts an end to any talk of me being a rookie anymore,” said Hunter-Reay.
“Frankly it will be good to start getting to tracks where I have experience in the IRL cars, and especially at a place like Mid-Ohio where I have always been comfortable even back to my rookie year in Champ Cars.
“I can not wait to get to Mid-Ohio as it is one of my favorite tracks anywhere in racing. You have to be smooth and flowing with your driving style.
“It has a great combination of fast corners, elevation changes and tight turns that takes it about as far away from a point-and-shoot street course as a track can be. The fact that Mid-Ohio is Rahal Letterman Racing’s home event and with the success that Bobby had there as a driver makes it even more special.
“It was cool for me last year to see just what a following Bobby still has with the Mid-Ohio fans. He’s mobbed like Helio Castroneves there!”
Graham Rahal - #06 Rahal Letterman Racing
“I have tested a Grand Am car at Mid-Ohio and I won my only national championship there in the Atlantic series. I did some other SCCA races there in Atlantics cars,” said Rahal.
“The Atlantic car was the one with the most power that I drove here and these Indy cars are like a big Atlantic car in terms of power and grip. These cars have a lot of grip although I didn’t think that at Watkins Glen but did at St. Pete. We can improve that with more experience.
“I will have a lot of friends and family at the race. We’re going to try to have as many people as we can at the track because it’s kind of my first time ever to race this close to home at this level.
“We’ve been lucky to have a lot of fans at Mid-Ohio because of Dad and he’s obviously had a lot of success there. I would like to continue that.”
Scott Dixon - #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing
“As always I look forward to going to road courses during the season and more so when it is a race that we won last year,” said Dixon.
“Mid Ohio is a very challenging track and requires a lot of emphasis on qualifying well. I hope to improve on our qualifying from last year.
“We tested for a few hours just recently and I believe we found a few things. So all in all I can’t wait to get back this weekend and try to defend our title.”
Ryan Briscoe - #6 Team Penske Racing
“Although I gained some experience running at Mid-Ohio in 2007 in the American LeMans Series, this will be my first trip to the track in an IndyCar,” said Briscoe.
“It’s a great circuit and it seems that Penske Racing has always been strong at Mid-Ohio regardless of what series they’re competing in, so I’m looking forward to returning.
“Last year, the ALMS Team qualified and finished 1-2 overall and Helio won the pole for the IndyCar race, so hopefully we’ll be able to bring the same level of competitiveness to the track again in 2008.”
Will Power - #8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia
I am looking forward to getting back on a road course,” said Power.
“The Aussie Vineyards team has shown it has a good car on the road courses and that we can be competitive.
“At Watkins Glen we had a fast car, we just ran into an electrical problem. Hopefully, we can have some good results on the upcoming road and street circuits, beginning this weekend in Mid-Ohio, and move up some more positions in the points standings.”
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