While Graham Rahal, who drove for his father's team in the 2010 race, has a full season lineup with the Ganassi Racing team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan announced that plans for the 100th anniversary of Indianapolis 500 race, will include a two-car effort with Bertrand Baguette and Jay Howard.
Baguette will drive the #30 Honda/Dallara/Firestone with the support of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium and Aspria. Moreover, it is now official that Jay Howard will drive the #88 Service Central entry which is a joint effort between RLL and Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
RLL co-owner and 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal commented:
“We anticipate an exciting month at Indy with a pair of young drivers that are hungry to make their own marks in Indy Car. Adding Bertrand to our lineup gives us a chance to make both entries stronger. Bertrand has shown throughout his career that he is a proven winner and he improves every time he gets into the car. We look forward to giving both Bertrand and Jay a great opportunity to compete and show their skills at the Indianapolis 500.”
Baguette, who won the Formula Renault 3.5 World Championship in 2009 qualified 24th and finished 22nd during the 2010 Indy 500 race. He also competed in the final 15 races of the 2010 IZOD Indy Car Series season with Conquest Racing, placing in the top 15 in five of the year’s final seven starts.
“This is a very good opportunity for me and it is important for me to compete in the 100th anniversary of this great race. To be there with a team of the caliber of Rahal Letterman Lanigan is very exciting. They have great people and a rich history and I know we can do great things. Last year was my first time at Indy and it’s a big place and the speeds are high, but once you get used to that, you just focus on improving the race car. We qualified pretty easily on the first day and had a car that was running as fast as the top-10 guys in the race, but we had some misfortune with a broken mirror that set us back. I look forward to joining Rahal Letterman Lanigan and showing the world that I have the ability to run up front there.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan has earned 11 top-10 finishes at the Indianapolis 500 since its inception in 1992, punctuated by a victory in 2004 with Buddy Rice. The Ohio-based team has also led young drivers such as Graham Rahal, Vitor Meira, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Roger Yasukawa to the brickyard.
