IndyCar Classic: Herta takes historic win at COTA
- Published on 24 Mar 2019 20:44
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Colton Herta has become the youngest winner in IndyCar history after taking the win at the Circuit of the Americas.
The 18-year-old crossed the line ahead of Josef Newgarden, who held off fellow former champion Ryan Hunter-Reay for second place.
Herta claimed the lead after a yellow was thrown out with just over 15 laps to go. The American had just pitted prior to the caution, with then leader Will Power still to pit.
Power, who started the race from pole position and led every lap of the race up to that point, suffered a mechanical problem during his scheduled final stop of the race, which put him out.
Herta was in the fight against Power and Alexander Rossi for much of the race, but dropped off the pace before the yellow.
The incident that caused the yellow involved Felix Rosenqvist and James Hinchcliffe, as the two came together at the exit of Turn 19, which sent Rosenqvist into the barrier.
Graham Rahal took his best result since the opening round of the 2018 season, crossing the line in fourth. Despite having little push-to-pass in the final laps, he held off Sebastian Bourdais, who fought his way up from the back after a disappointing qualifying.
Marco Andretti was sixth, leading Takuma Sato and Patricio O'Ward, who displayed good spirit in his first race of 2019.
Alexander Rossi, who was caught out by the late yellow, ended the race in third place. He had a scrap with Simon Pagenaud in the latter stages, which sent the Frenchman towards the back of the finishing runners.
Jack Harvey scored a consecutive P10 finish, which remains his highest result in the NTT IndyCar series.
It was a messy race for Andretti's Zach Veach who suffered an off on the opening lap. Later on in the race, he also hit Scott Dixon's left rear tyre when pulling out of the slipstream on the run into Turn 1.
Chip Ganassi Racing had a tough day, as Dixon couldn't compete with the leaders after struggling throughout the weekend. He ended the race in P13 ahead of Ed Jones and the Schmidt Peterson Motorsport duo of Marcus Ericsson and Hinchcliffe.
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Colton Herta | Harding Steinbrenner Racing | - |
| 2. | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | + 2.7182 |
| 3. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | + 3.2311 |
| 4. | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | + 8.0612 |
| 5. | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | + 15.4015 |
| 6. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | + 19.8494 |
| 7. | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | + 22.1467 |
| 8. | Patricio O'Ward | Carlin | + 23.2628 |
| 9. | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | + 23.5279 |
| 10. | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | + 23.9532 |
| 11. | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | + 24.3838 |
| 12. | Tony Kanaan | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | + 27.0568 |
| 13. | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | + 31.0677 |
| 14. | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | + 35.6602 |
| 15. | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | + 36.2308 |
| 16. | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | + 36.7699 |
| 17. | Matheus Leist | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | + 39.2619 |
| 18. | Kyle Kaiser | Juncos Racing | + 46.2357 |
| 19. | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | + 55.0378 |
| 20. | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | + 1:53.6876 |
| 21. | Max Chilton | Carlin | + 1 Lap |
| 22. | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | + 2 Laps |
| 23. | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | + 5 Laps |
| 24. | Will Power | Team Penske | Mechanical |
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Replies (2)
Login to replyRam Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Just finished watching the recording. Some good racing. They drive pretty impressively considering there's no power steering in those cars. Herta was basically gifted the race because of the no pitting under yellow rule in Indycar and Power's dnf. I was looking forward to a good fight at the end. It should of been Rossi on the top step. He got robbed.
Fergal Walsh
Posts: 46
It was a fun race. Herta drove fantastically all race, maybe over-did his second last stint, but nevertheless a worthy winner and a champion of the future.