Palou Builds Championship Lead with 2nd-Place Finish at the Honda Indy 200

July 8, 2024?— LEXINGTON, OH

• Alex Palou finishes a close second in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid as NTT INDYCAR SERIES hybrid power makes its competition debut
• Palou leads race-high 53 laps; build his championship lead to 48 points
• Andretti Global drivers Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson run fourth and fifth for Honda

Although he came just short of scoring his third victory of 2024, Honda's Alex Palou took another big step in defending his NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers' Championship today, leading 53 laps before finishing a close second in today's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid.

This weekend's race also marked the competition debut of INDYCAR's new hybrid Energy Recovery System, fitted for the first time on a race weekend to the full 27-car field.

Starting from pole, Palou led all but two of the first 55 laps, but a brief delay in engaging first gear during his final pit stop saw him return to the track just behind Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward. The pair fought hard for the remainder of the 80-lap contest, and Palou took the checkers in second by the narrow margin of just 0.4993 seconds.

Behind Palou, Andretti Global's Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson finished fourth and fifth, respectively; with Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Christian Lundgaard seventh, and Kyle Kirkwood eighth in his Andretti Honda.

Fast Facts

• This weekend's Honda Indy 200 Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid marked the start of the Hybrid era in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. The 27-car field features 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engines – supplied by Honda and series rival Chevrolet – supplemented by a hybrid Energy Recovery System (ERS) including an electric Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Honda Racing Corporation USA-developed Energy Storage System (ESS).
• Honda drivers have now won 12 of the 19 Indy car races run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course since the series returned under the Honda Indy 200 banner in 2007. Last year, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda teammates Alex Palou and Scott Dixon finished 1-2 at Mid-Ohio, as Palou went on to win his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in the last three years.

Race Standings

Overall Standings

Next The NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues its run of consecutive July events next weekend with the first short oval – and first doubleheader race weekend – of the 2024 season, July 12-14 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The Hy-Vee Homefront 250 runs Saturday night, with the companion Hy-Vee One Step 250 on Sunday.

?

For more information, please contact the below:

·?????? Mr. Raj Johal, General Manager, Training, PR and Comms : [email protected]

·?????? Ms. Suchita Tuli, Senior Executive, PR and Comms: [email protected]