By: Spencer Neff
June 17,2023
Capping off a turbulent day at Road America that saw him spin off-track in multiple sessions, Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta (1m40.1944-144.223 mph) earned his first pole of 2023 and the 10th of his career.
It is the second of his career on the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. After becoming the youngest pole winner in series history during his 2019 debut, the driver of the No. 26 earns his first pole since Toronto last year, 14 races ago.
The 2021 runner-up will look to earn his first win in over a year (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course 1-2022) in Sunday’s 55-lap Sonsio Grand Prix.
Round 3-Fast 6
Herta would lead the run for the pole by .1698 of a second over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward. On Row 2 will be points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing and 2022 Road America winner Josef Newgarden of Tam Penske. They are the only drivers to win multiple races in the first seven of 17 rounds of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship.
Round 2-Fast 12
It would be Herta (1m40.5476-143.717 mph) on top for Round 2, leading a Honda 1-2-3 ahead of Palou and teammate Kirkwood. The driver of the No. 27 stopped in between Turns 8-9 due to a mechanical issue at the conclusion of the session, preventing him from running in Round 3.
The Chevrolet trio of O’Ward, Newgarden and Rossi also would advance.
Not advancing from Round 2 would be Christian Lundgaard, Marcus Armstrong (fastest rookie-best starting position), Marcus Ericsson, Benjamin Pedersen (best start), Santino Ferrucci and Devlin DeFrancesco.
Round 1-Group 2
O’Ward (1m40.9158-143.193) would lead the way for the second part of the opening round, which set the outside half of the bottom of the grid. Joining him in the Fast 12 would be Lundgaard, Armstrong, Rossi, Ericsson and Palou.
With 11 seconds remaining in the 12-minute session (extended from 10 minutes), Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay went off-course in Turn 14.
Not advancing and starting on the outside of Row 7-13 and the inside of Row 14 (14,16,18,20,22,24,26 and 27) will be Graham Rahal, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott McLaughlin, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Jack Harvey, Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves.
Due to causing the red flag, Hunter-Reay would lose his two fastest laps (Rule 8.3.6-“If a Car causes a Red Condition in any segment, the Car’s best two (2) timed laps of the segment shall be disallowed, the Car may not continue in the segment, and the Car shall not advance to the next segment.”
Round 1-Group 1
Herta (1m40.5881-143.659 mph) would lead the first session. Also advancing into the second round (Fast 12) would be Pedersen, DeFrancesco, Newgarden, Kirkwood and Ferrucci.
Not advancing would be David Malukas, Rinus VeeKay, Callum Ilott, Romain Grosjean, Agustin Canapino, Scott Dixon and Sting Ray Robb. They will start on the inside of Rows 7-13, 13,15,17,19,21,23 and 25 on the grid.
Dixon and Grosjean were docked their fastest laps to the point of yellow after causing separate caution flags during the session.
Those penalties were assessed as part of Rule 8.3.7.3-
“If a Car causes a Yellow Condition that requires another Car to comply with Rule 7.1.3.2, the Car’s best-timed lap to that point during that Qualifications segment shall be disallowed, regardless of whether the other Car complied with Rule 7.1.3.2. If the Car does not have a timed lap recorded when causing the Yellow Condition, a Black Flag drive-through penalty will be assessed once the lap on which the Yellow Condition occurred has been completed.”
(cont-Road/Street Courses (Local yellows) – All Drivers shall demonstrate caution as defined by the criteria set forth in Rule 7.2.2.1. (a) & (b) and be prepared to stop. Overtaking is not permitted between the first Yellow Condition and the subsequent Green Condition. Any Driver passing through a Local Yellow Condition in Practice or Qualifying will have that lap time invalidated).
Up Next
Here is the on track schedule for Sunday. Stay with IndyCar1909 for the latest on the Sonsio Grand Prix.
Sunday, June 18
9:15-9:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, Peacock
10:10 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America Command To Start Engines
10:15 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America (20 laps/55 minutes), Peacock
11:45 a.m. – Driver Introductions
12:23 p.m. – Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR Command To Start Engines
12:30 p.m. – Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR (55 laps/222.64 miles), USANetwork (live)
Header Image By Travis Hinkle/INDYCAR
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