How will the premiere of the hybrid power unit play out?
That’s the focus as the NTT IndyCar Series heads to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200 on Sunday (July 7).
IndyCar’s work to get the delayed unit on track is finally coming to fruition as cars will hit the 2.2-mile road course nestled in Ohio’s rural hills by Lexington this weekend and show off what has been in the works since the effort was announced in May 2019.
While the series continues down the same old path with the current car and engine formula which have seen few updates since 2018, this investment will hopefully be a popular choice and add something new to what has slowly become a stale formula.
Last Year
Don’t be surprised as you read this, but in the 2023 IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio, Alex Palou won. It was his third win in a row and capped off his championship which was basically wrapped up in victory lane there, regardless of what Josef Newgarden or Scott Dixon were going to do.
The race started with Colton Herta on pole, intending to get revenge for a poor fuel strategy choice at Road America, however a pit road speeding penalty bit him and cut his race out from under him.
Ohio’s own Graham Rahal had his best qualifying spot (later bested by a pole at the fall Indianapolis road course race), but the run was ruined when there was an issue on his left rear during his second stop.
In the end it fell into Palou’s lap as he jumped to the front after going long during his first stint. The Spaniard is coming off a win at IndyCar’s most recent event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, so does he go two-in-a-row?
Arrow McLaren
Do you know who runs well at Mid-Ohio? Alexander Rossi, the soon to be free agent who Arrow McLaren announced earlier in the week would be replaced by Christian Lundgaard starting next year. It’s an unseemly split, as Rossi is completing just his 25th race with the team and has compiled a very respectable two podiums, nine top fives and 17 top 10s.
This situation might make sense if he was not meeting the performance level of his teammates, but the team’s alpha Pato O’Ward hasn’t blown Rossi’s sidepod off in results. While the first stat, podiums, is significantly different – O’Ward has nine since Rossi joined the team – its the other ensuing results that tell the story. O’Ward has one more top five and top 10 than Rossi, and even though he has the win at St….
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