Honda Dominates At Laguna Seca: Palou Wins With Herta Following Closely

Published: Monday, June 24, 2024, 22:54 [IST]

Alex Palou extended his lead in the championship points with his third win of 2024. Colton Herta secured a 1-2 finish for Honda at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Honda drivers led 80 of the 95 laps, continuing their winning streak at Laguna Seca.

Palou's victory marks his third win of the season and fourth for Honda. He led 48 laps to claim the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey title. Herta, from Andretti Global, finished second after leading eight laps, matching his season-best finish and moving up to fourth in the points standings.

Kyle Kirkwood, also from Andretti Global, led 24 laps and finished fifth for Honda. This win is Honda's fifth consecutive victory at Laguna Seca since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned to the Monterey Peninsula. Previous winners include Herta in 2019 and 2021, Palou in 2022, and Scott Dixon last year.

The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey saw several Honda drivers finishing strong. Scott Dixon came in sixth, Marcus Ericsson tenth, and Felix Rosenqvist eleventh. Other notable finishes included Pietro Fittipaldi in fourteenth and Christian Lundgaard in fifteenth.

The race results for Honda were impressive: Alex Palou first, Colton Herta second, Kyle Kirkwood fifth, Scott Dixon sixth, Marcus Ericsson tenth, Felix Rosenqvist eleventh, Pietro Fittipaldi fourteenth, Christian Lundgaard fifteenth, David Malukas sixteenth, Linus Lundqvist seventeenth, Marcus Armstrong twenty-second, Kyffin Simpson twenty-third, Graham Rahal twenty-fourth, Jack Harvey twenty-fifth, and Luca Ghiotto twenty-seventh.

In the Manufacturers' Championship standings after eight of seventeen rounds, Honda leads with 647 points while Chevrolet follows closely with 634 points. The Drivers' Championship standings have not been officially updated yet but are expected to reflect Palou's extended lead.

Quotes from Key Figures

Alex Palou expressed his excitement after the race: "Yeah, it was a chaotic race man. Those restarts at the beginning of the race were really tough for us. But we knew we had the pace, so the middle part of the race was a lot of fun. But then it got really intense with the restarts at the end. But overall, yeah, an amazing win for the #10 team and everyone at Ganassi."

Colton Herta shared his thoughts on finishing second: "It's a good result. I think we were the strongest car on the strategy we used today. The Gainbridge Honda had a lot of pace today; whether we were fuel saving or not, we were fast all day. As much as I really want to win at Laguna Seca you have to be happy with second place for sure."

David Salters praised Honda's performance: "A massive thank you to our hard-working men and women at HRC-US. We dominated qualifying sweeping the first two rows for the second race in succession. Then it was very nice to see that converted to a 1-2 in the race extending our win streak here to now five in a row at one of our 'home' tracks. Great job and congratulations to Alex Palou Colton Herta and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global Job well done and a very very successful Laguna Seca."

Historical Context

This victory continues Honda's success story at Laguna Seca which began with Alex Zanardi's famous pass in 1996 on Bryan Herta in the "Corkscrew" corner. Zanardi’s teammate Jimmy Vasser won in 1997 while Helio Castroneves led another 1-2-3 sweep for Honda in 2000.

Upcoming Events

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will take a break next weekend before heading east to central Ohio for Honda’s Midwestern "home" event. The competition debut of hybrid power plants will feature during The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid from July 5-7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The event promises exciting developments as teams prepare for this new challenge.