Rahal looks to duplicate father’s big win
Victories at last two races on street courses have driver loving his Toronto chances
He’s currently 28 years old, which means Graham Rahal wasn’t yet born when his father Bobby won the inaugural Molson Indy car race on the streets of Toronto in 1986.
His age makes it hard to believe that the younger Rahal would qualify for veteran status in the Verizon IndyCar Series. But since his rookie season in the Champ Car World Series was in 2007 at the age of17, he’s now a little more than halfway through his 11th year of top-tier open-wheel competition.
“I am one of the old guys from an experience standpoint, but I’m still a young guy from an actual age standpoint,” he says.
He also thinks he’s in the best position of his career to carry on his father’s legacy at Exhibition Place.
Just a few weeks ago at the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit, Rahal scored a pair of wins on the street circuit on Belle Isle, making him the first driver to sweep that weekend since it became a doubleheader in 2013.
The Honda Indy Toronto is the next street race on the calendar (although the IndyCar Series has raced several times on ovals, in the meantime). Rahal hasn’t had the greatest of luck here — his best finish ever was a fifth place in 2010 — but he’s eager for his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team to pick up where it left off in the Motor City and battle for the top step of the podium in Toronto.
“We found something with the car there that worked well for us,” Rahal says. “It’s a combination of understanding the aero kit, having a better engine and having a great mechanical setup out of the car that makes the difference.
“Our (crew) just did a great job with that in maximizing every facet of the game in Detroit and, hopefully, we can do the same in Toronto.” Rahal and his team are among those benefiting from improved performance from Honda this season. Some key personnel changes at Honda Performance Development in California — including giving President Art St. Cyr the reins full time and hiring ex-Ferrari Formula 1 en- gine development chief David Salters — have delivered some enormous steps forward in results. The landmark achievement this season, of course, was a victory at the Indianap- olis 500 with Japanese driver Takuma Sato in May.
“I think Honda has done a tremendous job with everything that they’ve worked on,” Rahal says. “The engine is certainly very strong, and I’m proud of them for the effort that they’ve put in.”
This combination of factors has Rahal looking even further down the road. The best he’s ever finished in the IndyCar point standings is fourth in 2015, and thanks to the pair of Detroit wins and his team’s momentum, he thinks he’s in a position to do better this year — and possibly even make a run for the title.
“We definitely feel like we’re in the hunt,” he says. “I feel like we definitely have a good chance going forward, a hundred per cent. I’m excited by it.
“Hopefully we can keep a little Lady Luck on our side, keep things moving in the right direction, and put it all together.”
In the short term, though, Rahal has a visit to Toronto to look forward to. This year, he’ll be joined again by his wife, NHRA drag racer Courtney Force, and they have a few favourite stops planned.
“Toronto is one of my favourite cities that we go to,” he says. “Our family tradition going back many, many, many years is to go to La Fenice on King (an Italian restaurant). I don’t know why, but my father has been going there since he won the first race there.
“I also really love e11even down by the Rogers Centre (15 York St.), so I go there quite a bit when I’m in town.”
Whether you consider him a veteran, a young fellow, or both, Rahal intends to visit our fair city as an IndyCar driver for a long time yet. As he looks toward some of the other series veterans, and how their careers have progressed, he sees that the best years of his own career may still be ahead of him.
“If you look at Dario (Franchitti), if you look at a lot of these guys, that is certainly the case with them, that their best came in later years,” he says. “You look at Will Power, Hunter-Reay — most of these guys, they’re significantly older than I am, and I think that they’re performing at their best right now.
“My hope is that I’m going to be around here for many years to come.”
“Toronto is one of my favourite cities that we go to. Our family tradition going back many, many, many years is to go to La Fenice on King . . . my father has been going there since he won the first race there.” GRAHAM RAHAL INDYCAR DRIVER