HONDA - Detroit Preview

 

Dual in Detroit

Race 1, 3 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 1

Race 2, 3 p.m. EDT Sunday, June 2

Race Broadcast on NBC, IndyCar Radio Network

Practice, Qualifying on NBCSN and NBC Gold

 

 

HONDA AT DETROIT

• Honda returns to Detroit having swept both races of the doubleheader weekend in both 2018 and 2017.  Last year, Scott Dixon led a 1-6 sweep for Honda in Saturday’s opening race.  Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi completed the victory podium.  Marco Andretti finished fourth, followed by Takuma Sato in fifth and Ed Jones, sixth.

 

• Hunter-Reay used a three-stop strategy to claim victory on Sunday, with Jones finishing third.  Fourth through sixth were again Honda-powered, with Dixon, Graham Rahal and Robert Wickens finishing in that order.

 

• In 2017, Rahal led a 1-2-3 Honda result in Saturday’s race, with Dixon and James Hinchcliffe completing the podium positions in second and third, respectively.  Rahal completed his sweep of the weekend by taking his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda to victory in the second race on Sunday, leading all but three of the 70 laps to become the first Indy car driver to take victories in both rounds of the Dual in Detroit.

 

• Honda drivers and teams have won 14 times in 23 Indy car races on the Belle Isle Park temporary circuit.  Alex Zanardi scored Honda’s first win in Detroit in 1998, en route to his second consecutive drivers’ championship. 

 

• Other Honda-powered winners in Detroit include Dario Franchitti (1999), Helio Castroneves (2000 and 2001), Tony Kanaan (2007), Justin Wilson (2008), Dixon (2012), Mike Conway (2013 Race 1), Simon Pagenaud (2013 Race 2), and Carlos Munoz (2015 Race 1).

 

 

MANUFACTURER COMPETITION

• On the strength of three race wins and 12 podium finishes in six races, Honda has a 34-point lead in the NTT IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship.  Honda has 491 points to 457 for Chevrolet.

 

• The 2019 season marks the eighth season of manufacturer competition in the NTT IndyCar Series, following six years of Honda serving as single engine supplier from 2006-11.  Chevrolet and Honda are again battling for supremacy throughout the 17-race season.

 

• Honda drivers claimed six of the top 10 finishing positions last month at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Alexander Rossi scored his second consecutive race victory at the iconic Southern California street circuit, with fellow Honda driver and defending series champion Scott Dixon third.  Other Honda-powered race victories this season include a podium sweep at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, with Sato taking the win at Barber Motorsports Park.  Dixon finished second and Sebastien Bourdais, third.  Just before his 19^th birthday, Colton Herta became the youngest race winner in IndyCar Series history at the Circuit of the Americas in March, with Hunter-Reay finishing third.

 

• Honda drivers hold down six of the top 10 positions in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship points standings.  Rossi is third overall, 22 points behind leader Simon Pagenaud (250-228).  Sato is fourth, tied with Dixon at 203 points, but listed ahead on the tie-breaker of his win at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.  Hunter-Reay is seventh with 157 points; and Hinchcliffe is eighth with 145.  Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top 10 with 129 points.

 

• Honda’s Indy car win total of 240 in 25 years of North American open-wheel racing – including 12 Indianapolis 500 victories since 2004 – is unmatched by any other manufacturer in the same period.  In addition, for the second year in a row, each full-time Honda team scored at least one IndyCar Series race victory in 2018.

 

• Eleven wins from 17 races in 2018 brought Honda the company’s seventh IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship, highlighted by a 1-2 finish in the Drivers’ Championship for Honda-powered Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.

 

 

WHERE TO WATCH

• Television coverage from the Dual at Detroit on the NBC Gold App begins with the opening practice Friday at 10:30 a.m. EDT, and continues through each practice and qualifying session of the race weekend.

 

• Live race coverage of the Dual at Detroit races can be viewed on the NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. EDT both Saturday and Sunday.  Additional coverage can be found on the INDYCAR Radio Network, with live timing and scoring information available at INDYCAR.com.

 

• Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.

 

• Video recaps from this weekend’s Dual at Detroit races, as well as Acura Motorsports activities at the accompanying IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday, will be available on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel.  Produced by the Carolinas Productions Group, the video can be found at https://wwwyoutube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.