After years of struggle, Rahal Letterman Lanigan is making a comeback on the ovals.

How far removed it seems from the time when Takuma Sato won the Indianapolis 500 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2020. Since then, the team has steadily fallen to the bottom of the oval standings, notably with Graham Rahal failing to qualify for the 2023 event. Last August, in Nashville, the team's three cars failed to qualify in the top 20 for the championship finale.

This Saturday, two of Bobby Rahal's team's three cars will start in the top 5, with Louis Foster starting sixteenth, almost the worst performer. Mick Schumacher, fourth in his first qualifying session on an oval, rightly impressed the paddock, it is the road captain, Graham Rahal, who will start from third position.

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"It's impossible not to be really excited, because we've worked incredibly hard to get to this position."Rahal explained. "Achieving this performance is very important for all our partners, even though it's not the race yet, it's only qualifying."

While enthusiasm reigns in the RLL camp, a certain amount of pressure accompanies these excellent results. Indeed, while in recent years Rahal and his teammates were almost supporting players, this time they will have a real say in terms of competitiveness, and therefore flawless execution from both the drivers and mechanics will be necessary to achieve the best possible result.

“For Saturday’s race, it will be really important to be at the top of our game, because we have good cars. The qualifying performances were superb, Mick did an excellent job in qualifying, I’m very proud and very happy for him. Louis will come back up the field in the race, that’s for sure. Starting third is a shock for me, but I’d take it in a heartbeat, that’s for sure!”