Colton Herta (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Gainbridge Honda) won one of the wildest races in recent NTT INDYCAR SERIES history, controlling the chaos of changing weather conditions, ever-evolving tire strategies and numerous incidents to take the checkered flag for the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Herta, from Valencia, California, earned his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory of the season and his seventh career win in after starting 14th. The win was also the first of the season for a Honda-powered driver. The race, originally scheduled for 85 laps but slowed by numerous incidents and the arrival of rain near the midway point, reached its two-hour time limit during a caution period. “This is the hardest race I think I’ve ever done,” Herta said. “Wet to dry, dry back to wet. Thank you so much for the Hoosiers for sticking around. I know you’re used to this weather, so thank you very much. Love you guys.” The box score indicated there were 10 lead changes among six drivers and eight caution periods for 31 laps, but that doesn’t begin to describe what unfolded on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. This was a test of speed, strategy and survival that will live in the memory for a long time. Watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)
Simon Pagenaud climbed from the 20th starting position to finish a season-best second in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda.
NTT P1 Award winner Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) placed third, tying his season best and climbing into the series points lead. Marcus Ericsson drove from 18th at the start to end up fourth in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Huski Chocolate Honda, with Indianapolis native Conor Daly finishing a season-best fifth in the No. 20 BitNile Chevrolet. “I’ve never been in a race like that in my life,” Daly said. “That was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced.”
(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)For the third time this season, Enea Bastianini (above, at COTA last month) is a MotoGP™ race winner. Riding the No. 23 Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati, "The Beast" put in a flawless performance in front of over 110,000 spectators to come out on top of a pulsating SHARK Grand Prix de France at Le Mans. Bastianini capitalized on a mistake from longtime race leader Francesco Bagnaia (No. 63 Ducati Lenovo Team) to take the maximum 25 points, while Jack Miller (No. 43 Ducati Lenovo Team) celebrated his second podium of the season, and Aleix Espargaro (No. 41 Aprilia Racing) making it three premier class rostrums on the spin. Local heroes Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) and Johann Zarco (No. 5 Pramac Racing Ducati) were unable to mark their home GP with a podium, as they had to settle for fourth and fifth. (Thank you to MotoGP Media) Whit Bazemore's report to follow.
(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)Enea Bastianini has stunned the factory teams with his performances this season.
(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)Jack Miller (No. 43 Ducati Lenovo Team) celebrated his second podium of the season at Le Mans.
Ricky Taylor (No. 10 WTR Konica Minolta Acura DPi) came out best in a tense door-banging clash with the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi driven by Renger van der Zande following a restart after the only full-course caution of the Lexus Grand Prix at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The clash in Mid-Ohio’s famous Esses just past the halfway point of the 2-hour, 40-minute contest left van der Zande spinning through Turn 6 across the path of eventual second place finisher Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Meyer-Shank with Curb Agajanian Acura DPi, while Taylor accelerated away to a lead he would not relinquish. The son of Konica Minolta Racing team owner Wayne Taylor crossed the finish line 2.098 seconds ahead of Blomqvist to claim his fourth Mid-Ohio victory in the last five years in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class of the WeatherTech Championship. The Acura ARX-05 DPi prototype is an undefeated five-for-five at a track that Acura and parent company Honda consider a home course. Honda employs more than 16,000 women and men in the state of Ohio. Pipo Derani and Tristan Nunez finished third in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi. Watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
Juan Pablo Montoya had to barge his way past Jonathan Bomarito twice during Sunday’s race, but the second time was good enough to lead the former DPi champion and two-time Indy 500 winner to his first Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) victory in WeatherTech Championship competition. Montoya and co-driver Henrik Hedman (No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA LMP2 07), won by 13.652 seconds over Bomarito and Steven Thomas (No. 11 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA) that dominated all but the final stage of the race. Montoya moved into second place, thirteen seconds behind Bomarito, with an hour remaining. From there, he chopped into Bomarito’s advantage and made a first attempt to take the lead in Mid-Ohio’s famed Keyhole (Turn 2) with 25 minutes to go. The cars made significant contact, with Bomarito spinning before continuing. Montoya earned a pit-lane drive-through penalty for incident responsibility. Returning to the track behind Bomarito, Montoya closed again quickly and took the inside line into Turn 6 with 10 minutes on the clock. The cars made side-to-side contact again, but this time the pass was legal and Montoya pulled away to victory. “I understand the penalty because I spun him,” Montoya said after collecting his seventh IMSA win. “I didn’t want to spin him; I thought I could pass him fair and square. Then we got the drive-through and I came out like four seconds behind and caught him. He made a mistake in traffic, he hesitated and I went for it. “I’ve raced here, I’ve won here many times and I know traffic is the key. And he didn’t use it well.” Bomarito said the first contact with Montoya damaged the No. 11 so that he couldn’t keep pace when the No. 81 was in his shadows once again. “The problem is he bent the car for us,” Bomarito said. “We had right-rear damage and the penalty just wasn’t enough. The drive-through only puts him back a few seconds and then he got back by us again to win. Disappointed, for sure. Steven did a great job. He checked out to like a 50-second lead. The team executed perfect so from that I’m super happy for everybody. We can hold our head up high.” Hedman was especially pleased with his third career win because he did all the driving to set up and qualify the car on Friday and Saturday while Montoya was racing in Saturday’s IndyCar Series event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. “It was really fun to work with the team and try to set up the car,” Hedman said. “I was actually more nervous of hearing Juan Pablo’s opinion after warmup (Sunday morning) than to qualify. I thought if he doesn’t like the car, boy! But he liked it. We were lucky with the safety car, we got on the lead lap and then he did his stuff. That’s what he’s paid for.” With the win, Hedman and Montoya took an unofficial nine-point lead over No. 18 Era Motorsport drivers Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel in LMP2. (Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Wire Service)
In an event fraught with pit-road mistakes and mechanical issues, Kurt Busch (No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota) nosed past leader Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) at the finish line of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Lap 259 of 267 and completed the pass two corners later off Turn 2, as Larson scraped the outside wall. Seven laps later, Busch crossed the finish line 1.413 seconds ahead of Larson to win for the first time at Kansas, the first time this season and the 34th time in his career. Busch has now won NASCAR Series Cup races for five different car owners and with four different manufacturers. Watch the video highlights here. (Thank you to Reid Spencer/NASCAR Wire Service)
(IMS photo)
Former INDYCAR SERIES driver and team owner Sarah Fisher, who remains the fastest woman in Indianapolis 500 history, will drive the 2023 Corvette Z06 70th Anniversary Edition Pace Car to lead the field to the green flag for the 106th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 29, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ohio native Fisher started “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” nine times between 2000 and 2010, a record for female drivers. Her fastest four-lap qualifying speed of 229.439 mph in 2002 also remains an event record for a female driver. Fisher now co-owns with her husband, Andy O’Gara, the successful Speedway Indoor Karting facilities in Speedway, Indiana, and Daytona Beach, Florida, and is the mother of two children. “Every time I’ve had the opportunity to drive at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it’s been special – from INDYCAR SERIES cars to two-seaters to vintage cars,” Fisher said. “Driving the Pace Car is just as special of an honor. And to have served in that role for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since Johnny Rutherford retired, I’ve had many great memories to add to my career." The 2023 Corvette Z06 is powered by the all-new 5.5L, 670HP LT6, making it the highest-horsepower naturally aspirated V-8 ever to hit the market in any production car. This year’s Pace Car is equipped with the available Z07 Performance Package, featuring a carbon fiber rear wing, aerodynamic ground effects, carbon ceramic brakes and more, for maximum track capability. With a nod to Corvette’s 70-year history, the Pace Car is a model year 2023 70th Anniversary Edition Z06, finished in a special White Pearl Tri-Coat Metallic paint. Unique to this package on the production car and the Pace Car are 70th Anniversary Edition exterior badging, including special Corvette crossflags, Edge Red brake calipers and the 70th Anniversary Edition logo on seats, steering wheel and sill plates. Chevrolet’s Performance Design Studio created an asymmetric stripe package specifically for the Pace Car that draws inspiration from the 70th Anniversary Edition badging on the door of the Z06. Chevrolet and Corvette have led the starting field more than any other manufacturer and nameplate, respectively. The 2022 race marks the 33rd time for Chevrolet to pace dating back to 1948, and the 19th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car. Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on all Month of May events and activities at IMS.
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