ELKHART LAKE, Wis., July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — A thrilling “battle of the young guns” saw Felix Rosenqvist come from behind to claim his career Indy car victory, and extend Honda’s winning streak to four in as many races in the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

In the second race of a doubleheader weekend at Road America, Rosenqvist chased down fellow second-year Indy car driver Pato O’Ward in the final 15 laps of Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix, erasing an eight-second deficit following the final round of pit stops to catch O’Ward with just over two laps remaining, pulling alongside on the run up the hill from Turn 5 to Turn 6 on the 4.0-mile road course.  The pair continued to side-by-side through Turn 6, with Rosenqvist finally establishing an advantage on the run back down the hill through Turn 7 and through the “Carousel”. 

Once in front, Rosenqvist extended his advantage on the final lap, taking the checkers 2.8 seconds clear of O’Ward.  The win is the fourth in as many races this season for both Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing, with teammate Scott Dixon winning the opening trio of events this year, including the opening 55-lap race here on Saturday. 

Championship leader Dixon was unable to sweep the weekend, but salvaged a 12^th-place result after contending with chassis balance issues throughout the race, and problems during two of his three pit stops.  Dixon remains atop the Drivers’ Championship standings with 173 points, while Herta moves into second with 119 points.

Behind the lead pair, 2019 Road America winner Alexander Rossi scored his first podium result of 2020 with a third-place finish in his Andretti Autosport Honda; while Marcus Ericsson, driving the third Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, gained 12 positions during the race to finish fourth.

With four wins in four races this season, Honda also continues to lead the IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship, with an unofficial total of 362 points to 270 points for Chevrolet.  Honda drivers claimed seven of the top eight finishing positions today.  Colton Herta continued his string of top-six results this year, finishing fifth in both races this weekend.  Dale Coyne Racing’s Santino Ferrucci came homes sixth, while teammate and promising rookie Alex Palou started on the front row and finished seventh.  Takuma Sato rounded out the top eight in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.

After strong runs on Saturday and in qualifying for today’s race, both fourth-starting Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal, who had qualified fifth, were eliminated in separate opening-lap clashes with Will Power.

Next
Following this weekend’s doubleheader at Road America, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES wraps up its run of five races over a 15-day period with another doubleheader next weekend, July 17-18, on the short oval at Iowa Speedway near Des Moines.

Honda Racing social media content and videos from the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America will be available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at  (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).  Produced by the CoForce Digital Media, YouTube video packages can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.  

Quotes
Felix Rosenqvist (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started seventh, finished first; first Indy car win, fourth consecutive win for Honda in 2020: “We’ve been close [to a win] so many times, this race was for my #10 NTT Data crew and Honda..  We’ve been strong in so many races, but it never quite came together until today.  The car was fantastic, and now we’re four for four for Ganassi and Honda, that’s huge. We had so much pace.  We kept closing in, almost half a second every lap.  We had a really good fight [with O’Ward] at the end, it was a good show and good fun. I’m really proud to be part of the NTT and Honda families.”

Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport Honda) Started 10^th, finished third: “It’s been a difficult start to the season, but one constant has been this #27 AutoNation Andretti Autosport Honda team.  There’s never been a question of what we’re doing, or why we’re doing it.  It’s all been problem solving and keeping our foot down on the pedal and attacking as much as we can.  We knew it would come good at some point, our race pace has always been strong.  We’ll take this [third-place finish], it’s a step in the right direction and it’s what we needed to get some momentum going heading into Iowa.”

Ted Klaus (President, Honda Performance Development) on today’s fourth consecutive Honda win in the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES: “What a great way to end a great weekend for everyone at Honda and HPD.  It’s so satisfying to see Felix Rosenvqist break through for his first win, and really happy to see Alex [Rossi] on the podium where he belongs.  It’s unfortunate that both Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay were eliminated through no fault of their own, but Colton [Herta] continues to impress with his consistent results, and now is second to [Scott] Dixon in the championship.  We’re proud to power all of our partner teams: Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Meyer Shank Racing and Dale Coyne Racing.  Now we head to Iowa, a completely different challenge to these past three road races.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES REV Group Grand Grand Prix
Circuit:                      Road America (4.0-mile road course), Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Saturday Winner:     Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) 116.027 mph average
Weather:                    Mostly sunny, mild, 72 degrees F

Top-10 Race Results:

Other Honda Results

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Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/83597/honda_performance_development__inc__honda_racing_logo.jpg

SOURCE Honda Racing/HPD

ELKHART LAKE, Wis., July 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — A strategic pit call by his Chip Ganassi Racing team, combined with Scott Dixon’s ability to run qualifying-like laps in clean air, enabled the Honda driver to continue his season-opening streak of NTT INDYCAR SERIES races wins to three Saturday at the REV Group Grand Prix.  Today’s race was the first of a doubleheader race weekend at the challenging 4-mile Road America road course.

Starting ninth, Dixon was seemingly stuck in a pack of cars contesting fourth through ninth for the first two dozen laps of the 55-lap contest, so his Ganassi team elected to make his second stop on Lap 26.  Exiting pit lane with no nearby traffic, Dixon rattled off a series of ultra-quick laps to find himself second to Will Power when the pit stop sequence concluded on Lap 30.

Dixon repeatedly challenged Power for the lead, then jumped ahead during the final round of stops under caution on Lap 40.  Once in front, Dixon remained in charge to the finish, despite a series of late-race caution flags, to score his 49^th career Indy car victory and three in a row for the first time in his career.

The late-race sequence of cautions provided Honda-powered rookie Alex Palou with the opportunity he needed, as the Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh driver jumped from sixth, to fifth, to third in a series of ambitious overtaking moves on the succeeding restarts. The strong finish promoted Palou to third at the checkers, after starting mid-field in 14^th. The podium finish is the best to date in the promising rookie’s Indy car career.

Honda drivers claimed four of the top five finishing positions, and eight of the top 10.  After starting third, Ryan Hunter-Reay ran in the lead group for the entire day, finishing fourth with his Andretti Autosport teammate, Colton Herta, fifth.  Santino Ferrucci ran as high as second in his Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda, but a near collision with a slower car during his final pit stop dropped the second-year Indy car driver to sixth at the checkers.

Starting fourth, Graham Rahal looked like a potential race winner in the opening stint, but a refueling issue during his first pit stop dropped the Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver deep in the field.  A strong recovery saw Rahal claw his way back to seventh at the finish. Teammate Takuma Sato worked his way from 15^th to ninth, with Marcus Ericsson rounding out the top 10 for Honda despite a spin on the final lap.

With three wins in as many races this season, Honda also continues to lead the IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship, with an unofficial total of 267 points to 213 points for Chevrolet.

Next
Today’s race was the opening round of a doubleheader REV Group Grand Prix weekend at Road America.  Tomorrow’s 55-lap finale starts at 12 p.m. EDT, with live coverage on NBC. A second doubleheader follows next weekend, July 17-18, on the oval at Iowa Speedway.

Honda Racing social media content and videos from the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America will be available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).  Produced by the CoForce Digital Media, YouTube video packages can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.  

Quotes
Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started ninth, finished first; third consecutive INDYCAR win to open the 2020 season and 49^th career victory: “I’m not sure how that happened! I know we had huge out laps [exiting the pits] and a big in lap as well.  We’re definitely proud to be powered by Honda here.  This is a huge weekend for us.  We definitely didn’t start the way we wanted [qualifying ninth], but we dialed it in a little bit better for the race.  That was awesome, man! But it’s not me, the team does such an amazing job to cover all the bases.  I’m proud of this team, and proud of everyone on it.”

Alex Palou (Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda) Started 14^th, finished third: “This is amazing, it feels so good.  It took time to get here [finishing on the podium].  We still need more practice, but we’re getting there.  I’m becoming more comfortable with the car, and with the team.  I was a little bit lucky today, to be honest, with the restarts.  It was one of those days were you try something, and it works!  We had tough luck in qualifying [14^th], but good luck in the race.”

Ted Klaus (President, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Honda win in the GMR Grand Prix: “Today’s effort by Scott Dixon and his Chip Ganassi Racing team demonstrated exactly why they have won so many races, and championships, over the years.  That was a brilliant race strategy, and perfect execution by both driver and team to make it work.  It was amazing to watch, and a well-earned third consecutive win for Scott, and for Honda. Alex Palou had some fantastic restarts, and it was great to see him get a well-earned result after demonstrating so much speed earlier this season.  Ryan Hunter-Reay also drove an excellent race, as did Santino Ferrucci.  But for the refueling issue during his first stop, I think Graham Rahal would have challenged for the win.  Jack Harvey also deserved better luck after his great qualifying effort and race pace.  Best of all, we get to do this again tomorrow!”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES REV Group Grand Prix
Circuit: Road America (4.0-mile road course), Elkhart Lake, Wis.
2019 Winner: Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) 132.894 mph average
Weather: Mostly sunny, warm, 82 degrees F

Top-10 Race Results:

Other Honda Results

SOURCE Honda Racing/HPD