alexander rossi Tag

By INDYCAR WATKINS GLEN, New York (Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017) – Alexander Rossi’s weekend of great news continued today when he won the Verizon P1 Award in qualifying for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen. A day after it was announced he would return to Andretti Autosport next season in a multiyear deal along with sponsor NAPA Auto Parts, Rossi clocked a dramatic last lap of 1 minute, 22.4639 seconds (147.119 mph) on Watkins Glen International’s high-risk, high-reward permanent road course. It was the fastest lap in the FirestoneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — After a season of qualifying frustration on the road and street courses, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball had his best road course qualifying of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season at Watkins Glen International by qualifying fifth ahead of Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen. Kimball advanced out of the first group in round one, beating out Spencer Pigot, Ed Jones, Tony Kanaan, Max Chilton and JR Hildebrand. In round two, Kimball was able to get himselfRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Friday practice has concluded for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen, the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season and Honda came up with the fastest times of the day in both sessions. In the opening practice session, Honda had the top five cars as Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal went fastest with a lap of 1:23.2603 seconds, averaging 145.712 mph around the 3.37 mile natural terrain road course. Second fastest was Andretti Herta Autosport’s AlexanderRead More

A partnership renewal between five-time Indianapolis 500 champions Andretti Autosport and NAPA AUTO PARTS will see Alexander Rossi return to the cockpit of an Andretti Autosport machine as part of a multi-year agreement starting in 2018. “It’s great to have NAPA AUTO PARTS return in support of Alexander and the team. NAPA has been a fantastic partner, and we look forward to building on the success of the relationship,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti. “Alexander has been a great ambassador both on and off the track and, with onlyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — In a performance that redeemed him for 2014, Josef Newgarden pulled off a dominant drive to win Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and with it, picked up the Verizon IndyCar Series points lead. It was a clean start as polesitter Will Power held off teammate Newgarden as the entire field got through the first lap without incident. The largest gainer in the field in the opening few laps was Marco Andretti, up four positions inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Takuma Sato has been a man on the move since the Verizon IndyCar Series arrived at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. The Andretti Autosport driver was 16th at the end of the first Friday practice session, more than three quarters of a second off of the fastest time. In the second practice session, Sato jumped to 11th fastest and despite the gap to the leader increasing, his lap time was a half second faster andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Friday practice for the Verizon IndyCars Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course indicated that it would be a very competitive weekend across Honda and Chevrolet for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. In the first session, Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal topped the chart for Chevrolet and Honda respectively with Pagenaud going around the 2.258 mile road course with a lap time of 1:04.9079. Rahal was .0343 seconds behind while Marco Andretti’s Honda was third fastest ahead of the Team PenskeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Josef Newgarden benefitted from a little bit of racing luck as he scored his second win of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season by winning the Honda Indy Toronto. The start was chaotic as Helio Castroneves went from third to first at the first corner, moving polesitter Simon Pagenaud to second with Graham Rahal behind. Heading down to Turn 3, Will Power was squeezed to the outside wall by Scott Dixon while trying to avoid Rahal. Power’s steering was damaged enough where heRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Expect the unexpected. This year has seen a massive improvement from Honda as they have won five out of eight races and heading into a newly-reconfigured Texas Motor Speedway, the Verizon IndyCar Series had no idea what to expect into Saturday’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600. Well, looking at the practice and qualifying recaps, it was a complete tossup until final practice. In the first practice session, Honda had the top six times as Scott Dixon led Charlie Kimball, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In Friday practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit doubleheader weekend, Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves were all alone at the top of the time sheet as both drivers were fastest in each of the two practice sessions. Not only that, but they were second fastest in the session where they weren’t fastest. In opening practice, Rahal went around the 2.35 mile Belle Isle street circuit with a time of 1 min 15.3328 seconds while Castroneves was justRead More