Simon Pagenaud sped off to victory in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday. As a result, he increased his points lead over Team Penske teammate Will Power. The win was Pagenaud’s fourth of the season but the speedsters first since the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May.
Simon Pagenaud now holds a 58 point gap over Will Power with four venues remaining on the season. Pagenaud is seeking his first ever Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Pagenaud tweaked his back during a practice run on Friday. The eventual race winner opted for a numbing injection before the race.
“My back was fine was all race. I’m also not feeling any pain right now (after winning),” Simon Pagenaud said. “That was a race; wasn’t that fun? I knew I had to get Will right there. It’s racing. It’s fair, it was clean. I’m just glad I won. The car was really good today. I just pushed really hard when I needed to.”
Trying to pass can be a tricky and difficult thing at this 14 turn, 2.258 mile permanent road course. Never the less, Simon Pagenaud saved on of his best passing moves on the race’s final re-start lap. As a result, the maneuver proved to be the winning move of the race.
The four time winner went side by side with Team Penske teammate Will Power on the race’s re-start lap. The Frenchmen bumped his speedy teammate at least twice before taking the lead in the corner just ahead of pit road. Will Power drifted to the outside of the track and was passed by Pagenaud.
From there, Simon Pagenaud sped off and officially regained the lead on Lap 85 when fellow competitor Conor Daly made a pit stop for more fuel. Despite the second place finish, Will Power’s hot streak continues. The Team Penske mainstay has a trio of wins and two second place results over the last five events. Obviously, the road to his second Verizon IndyCar Series title goes through Pagenaud. Frustration could be heard in Will Power’s comments when asked about the contest’s final re-start.
“I was sleeping on that bloody restart.” Power said. “I regret that. Should have had my head in the zone. It’s on me for not really be on top of it on the restart. It was an interesting battle there. We had a good clean battle; it was tough. This sucks I finished in second after all the effort you put in the race but Simon also did a good job today. He went for it as he should.”
Scott Dixon’s weekend didn’t go as planned. The five-time winner of this event’s crew under estimated the speed of his competitors in the second round of qualifying. That forced the 2015 Verizon IndyCar champion to start the race in the 11th position.
To make matters worse, Scott Dixon spun in Sunday’s warm up round and damaged his front wing. Dixon also said that in the race he was pushed into the curb in Turn 2 by Helio Castroneves. As a result, Dixon broke his left front suspension. He would end his day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the 22nd spot. The finish may have crippled the four-time and reigning champion’s 2016 title 2016.
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course took one hour and 50 minutes to complete. The average speed of the field was 110.856 miles per hour and the margin of victory was 4.162 seconds. There were seven lead changes among five different drivers. Simon Pagenaud was the pole sitter for the event that had only two cautions for 10 laps.
Final Results for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 90, Running
2. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 90, Running
3. (15) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 90, Running
4. (6) Graham Rahal, Honda, 90, Running
5. (9) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 90, Running
6. (22) Conor Daly, Honda, 90, Running
7. (19) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 90, Running
8. (5) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 90, Running
9. (20) Takuma Sato, Honda, 90, Running
10. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 90, Running
11. (8) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 90, Running
12. (14) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 90, Running
13. (21) Marco Andretti, Honda, 90, Running
14. (12) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 90, Running
15. (7) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 90, Running
16. (13) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 90, Running
17. (10) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 90, Running
18. (4) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 90, Running
19. (18) RC Enerson, Honda, 89, Running
20. (16) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 86, Off Course
21. (17) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 60, Contact
22. (11) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 27, Mechanical
Winner’s average speed: 110.853.
Time of Race: 1:49:59.6875.
Margin of victory: 4.1620.
Cautions: 2 for 10 laps.
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers.
