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Constantly changing weather conditions – from wet to dry, back to wet again, and finally extremely wet – made for an extremely challenging GMR #grandprix today on the road course at the #indianapolis Motor Speedway. But at the end of two hours of intense competition, #coltonherta scored his first race win of 2022 and led fellow Honda driver #simonpagenaud home for a 1-2 finish for the manufacturer.
Herta and his Andretti Autosport team were among the first to change from wet weather “rain” tires to “slick” dry weather tires as the track dried early in the race, and were equally quick to change back to wet weather tires as conditions warranted. A mistake-free day from both driver and team netted Herta his seventh career INDYCAR victory, and first of the 2022 season.
Behind Herta, Meyer Shank Racing’s #simonpagenaud completed a 1-2 result for Honda with a charging drive from 20th on the starting grid to second at the checkers. Equally impressive, #marcusericsson recovered from early-race contact – and a resulting long pit stop for repairs – to put on a late-race charge when conditions were at their worst, to finish fourth.
GMR #grandprix of #indianapolis Honda Race Results
R – Rookie
Quotes
Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Autosport Honda) Finished 1st: “This is awesome! That was the hardest race I think I’ve ever done. [The early change to dry weather ‘slick’ tires] sure helped us a lot, we gained a lot of positions there. And the other [strategy] calls came at just the right time, too. Wet-to-dry; back to wet, incredible. And thank you to all the fans for sticking around in this kind of weather. Love you guys.”
Simon Pagenaud (#60 Meyer Shanki #racing Honda) Finished 2nd: “Visibility was a real problem at the end, it was really difficult to drive at the end. It was really unfortunate, as the car was really good to drive, but it was so hard to see. I was looking at the [signaling] lights on the side [of the track] to find my braking points at the end. It was really tough to even finish the race. Congrats to [winner] Colton [Herta], and it was an amazing job from everyone at Meyer Shank #racing. We made the right calls on the tires, even though it was tricky, really tricky to decide. But overall, a great day for us, a really good job.”
Marcus Ericsson (#8 Chip Ganassi #racing Honda) Finished 4th: “It was one of those days, you know? Just a crazy race. My car was really good in the wet, though. We made good progress at the beginning, then got spun around and had to replace the rear wing, and still had damage on the rear of the car for the rest of the race. The guys on the team made really good calls on strategy and then when the rain came again at the end, my car was great in the wet. It gave us another opportunity and I made some good moves. So P4 is a very good result.”
Wayne Gross (Manager, Trackside Support, Honda Performance Development) on today’s GMR #grandprix: “This was a great result for us. We've had our chances to win some of these early-season races, but things didn’t go our way. Today, when conditions were at their most challenging, #coltonherta and Andretti Autosport made all the right moves and scored a most impressive victory. #simonpagenaud and the Meyer Shank team again showed their prowess at the #indianapolis Motor Speedway to complete an outstanding 1-2 result for Honda; and Marcus Ericsson’s charge at the end – when conditions were at their worst – was inspiring. Thanks to everyone at HPD for keeping their heads down and focusing on the job at hand this weekend, and let’s go on to the ‘500’.”
Fast Facts
Next
Activities at the #indianapolis Motor Speedway continue this week, but move to the historic 2.5-mile oval with four days of practice, starting Tuesday, followed by qualifying next weekend for the 106th running of the #indianapolis 500 on May 29.
Honda #racing social media content and video links from the GMR #grandprix can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
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