IndyCar Classic: Herta takes historic win at COTA

  • Published on 24 Mar 2019 20:44
  • comments 2
  • 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
undefined
1.
undefined
Colton Herta
undefined
Harding Steinbrenner Racing
undefined
          -
undefined
2.
undefined
Josef Newgarden
undefined
Team Penske
undefined
+ 2.7182
undefined
3.
undefined
Ryan Hunter-Reay
undefined
Andretti Autosport
undefined
+ 3.2311
undefined
4.
undefined
Graham Rahal
undefined
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
undefined
+ 8.0612
undefined
5.
undefined
Sebastien Bourdais
undefined
Dale Coyne Racing
undefined
+ 15.4015
undefined
6.
undefined
Marco Andretti
undefined
Andretti Autosport
undefined
+ 19.8494
undefined
7.
undefined
Takuma Sato
undefined
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
undefined
+ 22.1467
undefined
8.
undefined
Patricio O'Ward
undefined
Carlin
undefined
+ 23.2628
undefined
9.
undefined
Alexander Rossi
undefined
Andretti Autosport
undefined
+ 23.5279
undefined
10.
undefined
Jack Harvey
undefined
Meyer Shank Racing
undefined
+ 23.9532
undefined
11.
undefined
Spencer Pigot
undefined
Ed Carpenter Racing
undefined
+ 24.3838
undefined
12.
undefined
Tony Kanaan
undefined
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
undefined
+ 27.0568
undefined
13.
undefined
Scott Dixon
undefined
Chip Ganassi Racing
undefined
+ 31.0677
undefined
14.
undefined
Ed Jones
undefined
Ed Carpenter Racing
undefined
+ 35.6602
undefined
15.
undefined
Marcus Ericsson
undefined
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
undefined
+ 36.2308
undefined
16.
undefined
James Hinchcliffe
undefined
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
undefined
+ 36.7699
undefined
17.
undefined
Matheus Leist
undefined
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
undefined
+ 39.2619
undefined
18.
undefined
Kyle Kaiser
undefined
Juncos Racing
undefined
+ 46.2357
undefined
19.
undefined
Simon Pagenaud
undefined
Team Penske
undefined
+ 55.0378
undefined
20.
undefined
Santino Ferrucci
undefined
Dale Coyne Racing
undefined
+ 1:53.6876
undefined
21.
undefined
Max Chilton
undefined
Carlin
undefined
+ 1 Lap
undefined
22.
undefined
Zach Veach
undefined
Andretti Autosport
undefined
+ 2 Laps
undefined
23.
undefined
Felix Rosenqvist
undefined
Chip Ganassi Racing
undefined
+ 5 Laps
undefined
24.
undefined
Will Power
undefined
Team Penske
undefined
Mechanical
Photos IndyCar Circuit of the Americas 2019

Replies (2)

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  • 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.

    • + 0
    • Mar 25 2019 - 03:43
    • 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.

      • + 0
      • Mar 25 2019 - 09:43

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