Herta, Dixon Head Honda Qualifying at Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
・Colton Herta qualifies third in his Andretti Autosport Honda for Sunday's Honda Indy 200 Presented by the All-New 2023 Civic Type R
・Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud also advance to final round qualifying and will start fifth and sixth, respectively
・David Malukas heads rookie qualifiers, will start eighth for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
Colton Herta led the way for Honda today in NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in preparation for Sunday's Honda Indy 200 Presented by the all-new 2023 Civic Type R, and will start third in his Andretti Autosport Honda.
Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud also advanced through the first two rounds of "knockout" qualifying to end the day fifth and sixth, respectively. While missing the third and final qualifying round, David Malukas continued his impressive debut season of INDYCAR competition and will start eighth in his Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda, the best among the six rookies in the field.
Fast Facts
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Honda drivers have won 11 of the 16 Indy car races run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course since the series returned to the circuit under the Honda Indy 200 banner in 2007.
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This weekend's Honda Indy 200, presented by the all-new 2023 Honda Civic Type R, will include the North American public debut of Honda's newest performance passenger vehicle. The 2023 Honda Civic Type R will be featured at the Honda Product Display in the Mid-Ohio Midway throughout the weekend, will run demonstration laps on Friday and Saturday; and will lead the NTT INDYCAR SERIES field prior to the start of Sunday's feature event.
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American Honda has a long history of involvement in central Ohio and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Honda was the first Japanese company to establish auto manufacturing operations in the United States, opening Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio, in 1982. The company has had an Official Vehicle relationship with Mid-Ohio since 1994, and nearly 10,000 associates and their family members are expected to attend the Mid-Ohio race weekend.
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Today, Honda operates multiple manufacturing facilities and a major Research & Development center in Ohio. Combined, they employ more than 13,000 associates and have the capacity to produce more than 650,000 vehicles and 1.18 million engines annually.
It was nice to make it to the Fast Six [final qualifying]. It was definitely pretty tight there in the Fast 12. I think there were four of us who left at the same time, so it was nice to be on the right side of that. The PNC Bank #9 was really nice to drive. Maybe we could have used reds in the Fast 6, but we're starting fifth, and we've won from further back at this place. We're looking forward to it and hopefully we can make it to the podium for a Honda event.
It was nice to make it to the Fast Six [final qualifying]. It was definitely pretty tight there in the Fast 12. I think there were four of us who left at the same time, so it was nice to be on the right side of that. The PNC Bank #9 was really nice to drive. Maybe we could have used reds in the Fast 6, but we're starting fifth, and we've won from further back at this place. We're looking forward to it and hopefully we can make it to the podium for a Honda event.
It's a bit unfortunate [not to advance to final round qualifying]. The car was good and we had the pace. We definitely should've been in there [but for traffic on his final lap]. But to be upset about qualifying eighth means we're going in the right direction.
It's a bit unfortunate [not to advance to final round qualifying]. The car was good and we had the pace. We definitely should've been in there [but for traffic on his final lap]. But to be upset about qualifying eighth means we're going in the right direction.
