Front-Row Start for Rossi, Honda at Mid-Ohio

Front-Row Start for Rossi, Honda at Mid-Ohio
• Alexander Rossi qualifies second for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200
• Sebastien Bourdais, Felix Rosenqvist also advance to Fast Six final qualifying
• Andretti Autosport announces multi-year agreement to continue with Honda power

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 27, 2019) – Championship contender Alexander Rossi led the way for Honda in qualifying today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and will start Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 on the outside of the front row, second.

Earlier today, Rossi’s Andretti Autosport team announced the team has reached a multi-year agreement to continue with Honda power in the NTT IndyCar Series, and a multi-year deal with Rossi to continue driving for the Indianapolis-based organization.

After running only 14th in Friday’s practice sessions, overnight setup changes resulted in significant improvements to Rossi’s Honda, and he advanced through the first two rounds of “knockout” qualifying. Rossi led the final “Fast Six” round as well, until Will Power’s final lap secured the pole by 0.3748 seconds.

Sebastien Bourdais also advanced to final round qualifying in his DCR with Vasser-Sullivan Honda, and will start fifth. Felix Rosenqvist led the rookie contingent and will start sixth for Chip Ganassi Racing, his sixth top-six qualifying run of the season.

Another fast rookie, Colton Herta, will start seventh for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, while defending series champion Scott Dixon qualified eighth. Running his eighth race this season, Jack Harvey qualified ninth for Meyer Shank Racing, while Ryan Hunter-Reay made it seven Honda drivers in the top ten.

The Honda Indy 200, 13th round of the 2019 season, begin at 4 p.m. EDT Sunday, with live network television coverage on NBC.

Alexander Rossi (Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda) Qualified second, his sixth front row start of 2019; announced earlier today he had re-signed with Andretti Autosport, which also has renewed a multi-year agreement with Honda: “Looking back at [final-round qualifying], [pole qualifier] Will [Power] did a really slow first lap for his two-lap run, and I did two hard laps in a row. I think I ‘ran out of tire’ because they were used [up] by the time I got halfway through the [second, faster] lap, and that’s where the deficit [to pole qualifier Power] came from. A little bit of a strategy call they made better than us, but I think our race car is great. The boys have done a really good job overnight – we struggled yesterday [in practice]. The NAPA Andretti Honda boys put their heads together and made it happen today, and the front row is a good place to start.”