Rahal still working on 2009 funding
Rahal Letterman Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal says his team should not be counted out of the 2009 IndyCar Series despite suggestions that they would have to withdraw from the championship due to a lack of sponsorship
The Indianapolis Star quoted Rahal as saying that his team - who won at Watkins Glen with Ryan Hunter-Reay last season and took victory in the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with Buddy Rice - currently only had funding in place for Indy, and this was reported by some other US outlets as a sign that RLR were set to exit the IndyCar Series.
But the team have now issued a statement clarifying that although they currently lack the finance to compete, they were still pushing to find a budget for the full 2009 season, and remained optimistic about their chances.
"As I said in the quote from the story, as of this time we do not have any sponsorship that will allow us to compete in the IRL in 2009, but by no means does that mean that we are giving up," Rahal said.
"We are continuing to search for sponsorship to run the 2009 season and to run in the Indianapolis 500 and we feel that there is still time for us to put something together that will allow that to happen."
RLR's Indy Lights programme in conjunction with Andersen Racing is already confirmed for 2009.
The team's IndyCar arm ran with Ethanol backing for the past three seasons, but this deal came to an end after last year.
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