Former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal’s team is back in business.
Rahal announced he has reached a deal with a new sponsor to put veteran Spanish driver Oriol Servia (OHR’-ee-ohl SER’-vay-ah) in the cockpit of his No. 17 car for this month’s Indianapolis 500. The Associated Press
As long as he can qualify, former Champ Car driver Oriol Servia has a ride in the Indianapolis 500. Final qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is this weekend and Servia will enter an entry with Rahal Letterman Racing in hopes of getting the team its sixth consecutive top-10 finish in the race.
“We all know it’s not ideal to jump in the car for Thursday and Friday,” said Servia. “We have two days to prepare for qualifying and one for the race.’’ AHN
“Obviously, we’re pleased that we could be back at least for the 500,” Rahal said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, we’ve got a good driver and we’ve got good people on the team.”
Twenty-two of the 33 starting spots were filled during the first two days of qualifying last weekend. That means Servia has two more days to qualify, with a maximum of three attempts each day, for one of the remaining 11 open spots.
In his first Indy start last year, he qualified 25th and finished 11th, and his results prompted Rahal to line up Servia even before the deal was finished.
“He is a darn good driver and we’ve always held him in high esteem,” Rahal said. “I think last year, he really outperformed (Will) Power.
He has not competed in any IndyCar races this season. There are still 12 driver-combinations still not qualified for the race, and speculation has persisted there could be a couple of more deals cut before qualifying resumes Saturday.
“I feel I am at the top of my game,” he said in a statement. “I have raced many years against the Rahal Letterman team, and it makes me very proud to be finally part of it.
“I am sure that together our focused efforts will make a very successful experience.” The Canadian Press
