Herta, Honda Head Indy Car Field at Mid-Ohio
Herta, Honda Head Indy Car Field at Mid-Ohio
LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 26, 2019) – Honda-powered rookie Colton Herta led the way Friday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the opening day of NTT IndyCarSeries practice in preparation for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. Herta’s best lap time of 1:05.7292 was more than two-tenths of a second clear of second-quickest Simon Pagenaud.
Another Honda-powered rookie, Felix Rosenqvist, ended the day fourth fastest, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Andretti Autosport Honda, with the Arrow Schmidt Peterson Honda of James Hinchcliffe rounding out the top six. Defending series champion Scott Dixon led the morning session, but dropped down to seventh for the day after a late red flag [for a crash by Josef Newgarden] prevented him from making a run on the alternate, softer-compound Firestone “Red” tires.
Activities continue Saturday at Mid-Ohio with final practice and qualifying for Sunday’s 90-lap race. The 13th round of the 2019 season begin at 4 p.m. EDT Sunday, with livenetwork television coverage on NBC.
Colton Herta (Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda)Fastest in Friday practice: “I picked up 1.1 seconds [on the Firestone Red tires], so it is a pretty big step up considering how short the track [length] is here. There are a couple of places where you really gain time [on the Red tires] like Turn 12. It really ‘grips up’ when you have the Reds on. Turn 2 and Turns 4 and 5, too. The Capstone car has been great, and we’re ready to go racing now.”
NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200
Circuit:Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile road course) Lexington, Ohio
2017 Winner:Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) 116.957 mph average
Weather:Sunny, warm, 82 degrees F
Top-10 Friday Practice Session Results:
Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Best Time |
Notes |
1. |
Colton Herta-R |
Harding Steinbrenner Racing |
Honda |
1:05.7292 |
123.671 mph average |
2. |
Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:05.9313 |
+0.24021 seconds |
3. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:05.9935 |
|
4. |
Felix Rosenqvist-R |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:06.0218 |
|
5. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:06.0268 |
|
6. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Arrow Schmidt Peterson |
Honda |
1:06.0318 |
|
7. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:06.0973 |
|
8. |
Matheus Leist |
A.J. Foyt Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:06.1627 |
|
9. |
Spencer Pigot |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:06.2455 |
|
10. |
Jack Havey-R |
Meyer Shank Racing |
Honda |
1:06.2480 |
|
Other Honda Results
12. |
Sebastien Bourdais |
DCR with Vasser-Sullivan |
Honda |
1:06.4366 |
|
13. |
Marcus Ericsson-R |
Arrow Schmidt Peterson |
Honda |
1:06.5765 |
|
14. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:06.5806 |
|
15. |
Zach Veach-R |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:06.6510 |
|
17. |
Santino Ferrucci-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
1:06.7523 |
|
20. |
Takuma Sato |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:06.9536 |
|
22. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:07.1140 |
|
23. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:07.2755 |
|