Andretti’s Rossi Wins On Indianapolis Road Course
Race winner Alexander Rossi is congratulated by teammate Colton Herta at Indy on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of INDYCAR)
RacinToday.com
Alexander Rossi dominated the second half of Saturday’s IndyCar Series race on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to come away with the victory.
Rossi led a race-high 44 laps in the 85-lap race in his Andretti Autosport Honda and got his first win of 2022 and the eighth of his eighth.
“It’s a relief, man,” Rossi said. “It’s been so many things for so long. Thankfully something came our way.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard completed the 1-2 Honda finish as he was second – his best result in his rookie Indy car season.
“What a day,” Lundgaard said. “I didn’t think my first podium with INDYCAR would come this early with the performance we started the season with but it proves how much we’ve improved and what steps we are making as a team to get the car up here. Man, I’m exhausted now. It’s a huge relief. The team gave me the opportunity last year at this specific event and I didn’t perform well enough on race day so to back them up and show it was possible is absolutely amazing as a team result. I told them we were on a streak and we took the step we needed today. Obviously, I’m happy but I’m even happier for the team. They deserve this second place. I can for sure get used to this so I’ll go again next week in Nashville.”
Colton Herta led 17 laps but dropped out after 42 laps with an apparent transmission/driveline issue.
Will Power finished third in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet and took the championship lead with four races remaining. Power holds a nine-point lead over Marcus Ericsson, who rallied from starting last in the 25-car field to finish 11th in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Team Penske ended up with all three of its drivers in the top five. Scott McLaughlin finished fourth in the No. 3 Chevrolet, with two-time series champion Josef Newgarden fifth.
Rossi, who started second, took the lead for good on Lap 42 when leader and teammate Herta lost drive after navigating Turn 8 on the 11-turn, 2.439-mile road course. He was credited with 24th place.
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INDIANAPOLIS – Results Saturday of the Gallagher Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (2) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 85, Running
2. (6) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 85, Running
3. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running
4. (15) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 85, Running
5. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
6. (8) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 85, Running
7. (17) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
8. (20) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
9. (1) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 85, Running
10. (7) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running
11. (25) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running
12. (3) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 85, Running
13. (11) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Running
14. (19) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 85, Running
15. (18) Takuma Sato, Honda, 85, Running
16. (22) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 85, Running
17. (10) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 85, Running
18. (14) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 85, Running
19. (16) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 85, Running
20. (13) Jack Harvey, Honda, 85, Running
21. (24) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 84, Running
22. (23) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 84, Running
23. (21) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 84, Running
24. (9) Colton Herta, Honda, 42, Mechanical
25. (12) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 34, Off Course
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 114.483 mph
Time of Race: 01:48:39.1825
Margin of victory: 3.5441 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 5 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Rosenqvist 1 – 7
Herta 8 – 13
McLaughlin 14 – 23
Power 24 – 30
Herta 31 – 41
Rossi 42 – 85
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Power 431, Ericsson 422, Newgarden 399, Dixon 393, O’Ward 385, Palou 379, McLaughlin 350, Rossi 318, Rosenqvist 299, Herta 285, VeeKay 282, Rahal 274, Pagenaud 262, Grosjean 259, Lundgaard 248, Daly 236, Malukas 221, Castroneves 207, Sato 199, Ilott 166, Johnson 166, Harvey 158, DeFrancesco 151, Kirkwood 133, Kellett 103, Tony Kanaan 78, Santino Ferrucci 71, Ed Carpenter 67, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, Simona De Silvestro 21, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10.