Herta, Rossi Sweep Front Row for Honda in Road America Qualifying
ELKHART LAKE, Wis., June 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nineteen-year-old Colton Herta became the youngest pole qualifier in IndyCar Series history today at Road America, and will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday's REV Group Grand Prix in his Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda.
Already Indy car's youngest race winner - a mark he set in March at the Circuit of the Americas - Herta edged fellow Honda driver Alexander Rossi by just 0.1773 seconds around the four-mile Road America circuit in Saturday's Firestone "Fast Six" final round of NTT IndyCar Series "knockout" qualifying to secure his historic pole.
Graham Rahal, the former holder of both youngest race and pole winner records prior to Herta, will start his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda from fifth, with teammate Takuma Sato alongside in sixth as Honda driver's claimed four of the top-six qualifying positions.
Although failing to advance to Fast Six final qualifying, Sebastien Bourdais will start his Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda from seventh. James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti also advanced to the second qualifying round, and will start ninth and tenth, respectively. Although he advanced out of first-round qualifying, mechanical issues prevented defending series champion Scott Dixon from running in the second round, and he will start his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda from 12(th).
Live network television coverage of Sunday's 55-lap REV Group Grand Prix, the 10(th) round of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season, begins at 12 p.m. EDT Sunday on NBC.
Colton Herta (Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda) Pole qualifier, first career IndyCar Series pole, youngest pole qualifier in Indy car history: "I'm so happy with how the day went. The #88 GESS Capstone Honda guys are all working so hard and so well together. The car was fast. This is the first time that we've had that edge in qualifying to go for pole, and I loved it. We really took advantage of it and got the best starting position for tomorrow. Now we'll keep checking the weather [the possibility of rain is in the local forecast] and make changes accordingly so we can have a great race!"
Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport Honda) Qualified second: "It came down to the [final lap], but that's the NTT IndyCar Series. It's what we have week in and week out, and requires perfection from both the team and the driver. It was a good day, I think in general for the #27 NAPA Andretti boys - and congratulations to [pole qualifier] Colton [Herta], he did a good job. It's unfortunate to miss out on the [championship] point [awarded to the pole winner] that we need. But that's the way it is. We're ahead of [main championship rival] Josef [Newgarden, on the starting grid] and we'll try to keep it that way."
NTT IndyCar Series REV Group Grand Prix
Circuit: Road America (4.0-mile road course) Elkhart Lake, Wis. 2018 Winner: Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) 132.101 mph average Weather: Sunny, mild, breezy, 73 degrees F
Top-12 Qualifying Results:
Ps. Driver Team Manufacturer Best Time Notes --- --- 1. Colton Herta-R Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda 1:42.9920 140.306 mph average 2. Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 1:43.1693 + 0.773 seconds 3. Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 1:43.3749 Fast Six final qualifier 4. Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 1:43.6036 Fast Six final qualifier 5. Graham Rahal Rahal Letterma n Lanigan Honda 1:43.8077 Fast Six final qualifier 6. Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda 1:43.8790 Fast Six final qualifier 7. Sebastien Bourdais DCR with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 1:43.2989 2nd round qualifying 8. Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 1:43.3083 2nd round qualifying 9. James Hinchcliffe Arrow Schmidt Peterson Honda 1:43.3814 2nd round qualifying 10. Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 1:43.3945 2nd round qualifying 11. Ed Jones Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 1:43.5162 2nd round qualifying 12. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda No time Mechanical issue Q2 Other Honda Results --- 14. Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Honda 1:43.4488 1st round, Group 2 15. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 1:43.6980 1st round, Group 1 17. Marcus Ericsson-R Arrow Schmidt Peterson Honda 1:43.8913 1st round, Group 1 18. Felix Rosenqvist-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 1:43.5038 1st round, Group 2 19. Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 1:44.6179 1st round, Group 1 21. Santino Ferrucci-R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 1:49.3060 1st round, Group 1
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SOURCE Honda Racing/HPD