Dixon, Honda Claim Pole For 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 24.05.2021: Scott Dixon, Colton Herta will start one-two with Honda power Seven Honda drivers take part in Top Nine final qualifying shootout Fastest field in Indy 500 history

    Scott Dixon, Colton Herta will start one-two with Honda power

    Seven Honda drivers take part in Top Nine final qualifying shootout

    Fastest field in Indy 500 history



For the fourth time, Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon will lead the field to green at the Indianapolis 500. The 2008 Indy 500 winner and six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion claimed pole in an electric Firestone Fast Nine final qualifying session Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a four-lap average speed of 231.685 mph.



Dixon will line up on the front row alongside Andretti Autosport's Colton Herta, who briefly held provisional pole with his own four-lap run of 231.655 mph.



Two of Dixon's Ganassi teammates, Tony Kanaan and Alex Palou, also made the Fast Nine and will line up on row two, while row three is all Honda-powered, featuring Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay, Meyer Shank Racing's Helio Castroneves, and Ganassi's Marcus Ericsson.



Honda's HI21TT V-6 Indy car engine powered seven of the qualifiers in today's Fast Nine session, as well as nine of the top 11 qualifiers on the grid for next Sunday's Indy 500.



This year's 105th running of the Greatest Spectacle of Racing will feature the fastest Indy 500 field in history, with an average qualifying speed speed of 230.325 mph, eclipsing the previous record set in 2014.





Honda Drivers and Teams in the 2021 Indianapolis 500:   

       

    1st    Scott Dixon-W    Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

    2nd    Colton Herta    Andretti Autosport Honda

    5th Tony Kanaan-W    Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

    6th    Alex Palou    Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

    7th    Ryan Hunter-Reay-W    Andretti Autosport Honda

    8th    Helio Castroneves-W     Meyer Shank Racing Honda

    9th    Marcus Ericsson    Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

    10th    Alexander Rossi-W    Andretti Autosport Honda

    11th    Ed Jones    Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda

    13th    Pietro Fittipaldi-R    Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda

    15th    Takuma Sato-W    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda

    16th    James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Autosport Honda

    18th    Graham Rahal    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda

    20th Jack Harvey    Meyer Shank Racing Honda

    23rd    Santino Ferrucci    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda

    25th    Marco Andretti     Andretti Autosport Honda

    28th    Stefan Wilson    Andretti Autosport Honda


W - Previous Indianapolis 500 race winner
R - Indianapolis 500 rookie




David Salters (President, Honda Performance Development) on Honda's pole and overall qualifying effort for next Sunday's Indianapolis 500: "I'd just like to show our appreciation and massive admiration for Chip Ganassi Racing and Scott Dixon, and also the Andretti Autosport organization and Colton Herta.


Both teams – along with Meyer Shank Racing – put on a tremendous show today, for our fans and the public. I'd like to massively thank our team of Honda engineers and associates at HPD, who push every day. It's lovely to see their efforts rewarded. To sum it up as a native Englishman, this was the bollocks."



Kelvin Fu (Director, Program Management, HPD) on Honda's overall qualifying performance this weekend: "It was an incredible weekend for Honda and HPD. It's a real tribute to all the hard work everyone [at HPD's headquarters] in Santa Clarita [California].

Congratulations to Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing for getting all four of their cars in the Top Nine shootout, the perfect overnight repairs to Alex Palou's car [damaged in a crash on Saturday] and running a flawless week."





- Honda photos LAT and IndyCar