Amazing third in qualifying at Indy for Foster, 500 up next

Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Louis Foster took a brilliant third place in qualifying for the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis road course, the best start by a rookie this INDYCAR year.

Foster has regularly been the best qualifying rookie this NTT INDYCAR Series season, and in a brilliant performance for the team with Graham Rahal in second and Devlin DeFrancesco in fifth, Foster took third.

“For my fifth INDYCAR race, I think I’ll take a third place start!” said Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions.

“Like I’ve said a million times, it’s all credit to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew. 

“We’ve been super-fast and obviously the proof of that is all of us are in the Fast Six.”

In the race on Sunday, Foster ran fourth in the early going but struggles with the soft tyre and the race proving very difficult to predict in terms of what strategy to use, Foster eventually came home with 11th, which is the best result recorded by a rookie this season.

He was the second-highest placed RLL car, and added 19 points to his tally making him the top rookie in the standings.

“It was a good race for us,” added Foster. 

“It’s nice to get some decent points on the board. 

“We definitely had more potential today. Usually, I would say I’m happy with 11th but after qualifying third, it’s definitely more disappointing. 

“We’re going to go back over the race and try to understand the things we need to work on and why we just didn’t have the pace of the other cars. 

“Aside from that, I’m happy to get 11th. It’s a good result for us. I’m looking forward to the rest of May.”

Foster immediately switches focus to his first Indy 500, the world’s biggest single-day sporting event in terms of attendance, with practice running Tuesday-Friday this week ahead of qualifications at the weekend.

After having one of the best qualifying simulations in the test last month, Foster is hopeful.

“I’m really looking forward to my first Indy 500 as an NTT INDYCAR Series driver,” said Foster.

“Obviously Mike Lanigan, David Letterman and Bobby Rahal have an incredible history at this race so it’s an honour to represent them and the whole Rahal Letterman Lanigan team.

“I don’t think anyone can prepare you for the experience of the 500, so we’ll take every day as it comes, try to enjoy the experience but focus fully on learning and bringing home a good result.”

The Indy 500 has a unique qualifying format. Cars take it in turns to do solo four-lap runs on Saturday. The cars positioned from 13-30 have their results set and their qualifying is complete.

On Sunday, for the drivers from 31st onwards, they must qualify in a shootout until three cars make it and any other cars beyond that fail to qualify for the race entirely. Only 33 cars can start the race.

Also on Sunday, the top 12 and then top six is decided by more qualifying sessions. 

Indy 500 practice and qualifying timetable (times ET)

Tuesday May 13

Practice - 1200-1400 (1700-1900 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FS2

Refresher Tests - 1400-1600 (1900-2100 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FS2

Practice – 1600-1800 (2100-2300) Sky Sports F1 and FS1

Wednesday May 14

Practice - 1200-1800 (1700-2300 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FS2 then FS1

Thursday May 15

Practice - 1200-1800 (1700-2300 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FS2 then FS1

Friday May 16

Practice - 1200-1800 (1700-2300 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FS2 then FS1

Saturday May 17

Practice - 0830-0930 (1330-1430 UK) Sky Sports Mix and FS2

Qualifying - 1100-1750 (1600-2250 UK) Sky Sports Mix then Sky Sports F1 and FS2 then FS1 then FOX

Sunday May 18

Practice - 1300-1500 (1800-2000 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FS2

Top 12 qualifying - 1605-1705 (2105-2205 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FOX

Last Chance qualifying - 1715-1815 (2215-2315 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FOX

Fast Six qualifying - 1825-1855 (2325-2355 UK) Sky Sports F1 and FOX