The Indianapolis 500 is one of the most revered and challenging form of motor racing in the world. Among a few others, one name that has been a part of this popular race is Honda. After 8 of 17 races, Honda’s Marcus Ericsson finished the NTT IndyCar Series Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America in a respectable second place, bringing him back into the championship points.
Initially commencing in fourth place in the 55-lap, 220-mile (354 km) race, Ericsson raced in the lead group throughout the first two stints. At some point, second-running Alexander Rossi almost took the lead from Ericsson when a late-race caution flag led to a restart with only three laps remaining. Unfortunately for Rossi, he had to ditch his overtake attempt at the last moment, giving Ericsson the chance to maintain his second place.
Eventually, Ericsson will end up finishing the race in second place, putting him three seconds behind the race’s winner Josef Newgarden. The result of this NTT IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship witnessed driver Will Power finishing in 19th position, whilst Honda’s Ericsson garnered 27 points with his remarkable second-place victory. Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Ericsson’s team, is sure to be proud of its and its driver’s accomplishments in the race.
Marcus Ericsson (from Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), who finished second in the race had this to say after moving into the Drivers’ Championship points lead. ““It was a really good race, and we were strong throughout the weekend. Honda, HPD, and everyone on the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing team did an awesome job this weekend, they gave me a really good race car today. Finishing second is great for the championship. I am sorry about the [early race] contact with Alex [Palou]. From my point of view, we were side-by-side and it was a nice racing move. But you never want to have contact with a teammate, and I’m super sorry Alex was damaged there.”
Meanwhile, one of the other drivers of the team, Scott Dixon, finished in the ninth spot. At the same time, Andretti Autosport Honda’s driver Alexander Rossi was not only the pole qualifier but also the one that took the third spot in the race. His teammates, Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta, went on to finish the race in the fourth and fifth spot, respectively.
As for Alexander Rossi, who finished third in the race and part of the Andretti Autosport Honda team, he had this to say; “We went for the lead on that last restart, and it kind of cost us [dropping from second to third], but ultimately a good day for us. It took us until the last stint to get the balance right in the car, and then we could make up ground on Josef [Newgarden]. It’s always disappointing when you start on pole, but don’t win the race, but it’s been a good couple of races for us [with podium finishes at both Detroit and Road America]. We’ll take the positives from that and move on to Mid-Ohio.”
The race also saw Graham Rahal and Christian Lundegaard, both of whom are part of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda team, improving their positions this time around. For example, Rahal finished in the number eight spot (up from last time’s underwhelming 22nd spot), whilst rookie contingent Herta finished in 11th in the race. Overall, all of Honda’s teams in the Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America (including Andretti Autosport Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda, Meyer Shank Racing Honda, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) performed decently.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Johnson (Senior Manager, Director of Production at Honda Performance Development) chimed in. She said, “While we can’t be fully satisfied with missing out on the race win, it was good to seen Marcus [Ericsson] move back to the championship points lead with a strong second-place finish and Andretti Autosport had their best result – across the board – today with [Alexander] Rossi, Romain [Grosjean] and Colton [Herta] all scoring top-five finishes. After five consecutive weekends at Indianapolis, Detroit and now here in Wisconsin, it will be nice for the HPD race team to get a brief, but well-deserved break, before resuming the season at our “home” circuit, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, on the Independence Day weekend.”
