Race Report: 2021 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

Session Notes:

• The 2021 edition of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio was 80 laps on the 2.258-mile road course totaling 180.64 miles. The pit window was approximately 26–28 laps under green-flag conditions.
• Just before the start, the ambient temperature at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was 79 degrees with 56% relative humidity and mostly sunny skies. The track temperature was 106 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• The race was slowed by two cautions, both near the beginning:
  • On the opening lap, Newgarden led the field to to the start line however there was an incident further back in Turn 4. James Hinchcliffe made contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay, causing Hunter-Reay's No. 28 Honda to spin out. In a nearby but separate incident, Romain Grosjean and Felix Rosenqvist came together, ending with Rosenqvist stopped on course in Turn 4.
  • On Lap 4 shortly after the restart following the initial caution, Will Power spun the No. 12 Chevrolet in Turn 5 while dueling with Scott Dixon. Stopped in the middle of the track, Power sustained further contact from Ed Jones in the No. 18 Honda. Both cars were retired form the race. Power and Jones were checkered and released from the infield care center and they were cleared to drive.
• Newgarden went on to lead 73 laps, clinching four bonus points: two for leading the most laps, one for leading a lap and one for winning pole.
• Despite a late-race challenge from Marcus Ericsson in the No. 8 Honda, Newgarden brought the No. 2 Chevrolet home in first with a 0.8790-second advantage over Ericsson.
• Alex Palou charged from fifth to third during the final round of pit stops and the boost in points padded his championship lead.
  • Palou: 384
  • O'Ward: 345 (-39)
  • Dixon: 328 (-56)
  • Newgarden: 315 (-69)
  • Ericsson: 280 (-104)

Session Notes:

• The final on-track session for drivers prior to the 80-lap race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was a 30-minute warm-up session.
• Two minutes after the 3:30 p.m. EDT green flag, warm-up was red flagged with Ryan Norman stopped on course in the No. 52 Honda. Three minutes later, the session resumed and continued for the remainder of its duration without interruption.
• At the checkered flag, Scott Dixon proved fastest with a 1:08.0256, just 0.0489 seconds quicker than second-fastest Colton Herta.

Session Notes:

• Qualifying at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course utilized the standard three-segment knockout format, beginning with Round 1 featuring two groups with 10 minutes of track time each, followed by a 10-minute Round 2 featuring the fastest six from each of the Round 1 groups. The fastest six cars advanced out of Round 2 to the Firestone Fast Six.
• Group 1 was almost free of penalties until the end, when Jack Harvey spun and stopped on course in Turn 9. The incident stripped Harvey of his fasetest lap for causing a local yellow that affected another competitor. Both Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi went through the local yellow on their final laps and were judged by INDYCAR to have not slowed enough, thus invalidating both of their laps. These penalties dropped Pagenaud out of the top six while Rossi was able to advance to Round 2 on the strength of his second-fastest lap.
• After an incident-free Group 2, Round 2 only featured one penalty in the form of a drive-through for Sebastien Bourdais who was judged to have sped on pit lane.
• Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta, Will Power, Rossi, Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson advanced to the Firestone Fast Six which ran its full six-minute duration free of incidents.
• Newgarden's 1:06.6739 was the fastest lap of Round 3, earning the Team Penske driver his 14th career pole position and third consecutive pole in 2021.

Session Notes:

• The second of three practice sessions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Practice 2 was 45 minutes in duration.
• While some drivers went off track, including defending series champion Scott Dixon, no incidents were severe enough to necessitate pausing the session.
• At its conclusion, Practice 2 was topped by Pato O'Ward with a 1:06.0911 with the top 21 drivers all within one second.

Session Notes:

• Like this year's visit to Road America, the 2021 Honda Indy 200 features a single 45-minute practice on Friday, a second 45-minute session Saturday morning, three rounds of knockout qualifying midday on Saturday and a 30-minute warm-up after qualifying.
• The first on-track action for the NTT IndyCar Series paused only once, when Felix Rosenqvist spun the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in Turn 1 and brought out a red flag.
• The red flag period only three minutes and the session resumed with 16 minutes to go.
• Despite not causing red flags of their own, both Colton Herta and Takuma Sato had off-track excursions.
• Josef Newgarden ended the session with the fastest lap, a 1:07.2524.