Honda PR

Honda Performance Development / Honda Racing message points for GMR Grand Prix

Posted on by Steve Wittich

MANUFACTURER COMPETITION 

  • The “Month of May” begins this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the GMR Grand Prix.  Held on the IMS infield road course, Saturday’s 85-lap race will kick off three weeks of on-track activities leading up to the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30.
  • Honda continues to hold the early-season lead in the 2021 INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, with three victories in the first four races this season. After four of 16 races, Honda holds a 14-point advantage (332-318) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
  • Defending, six-time series champion Scott Dixon’s dominating win in Saturday’s opening race of the May 1-2 doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway moved him to the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings.  In addition to his Texas win, Dixon has finished fifth or better in all four races this season.
  • Dixon comes to Indianapolis with a 20-point championship lead (151-131) over Texas-2 race winner Pato O’Ward.  Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Alex Palou, won the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama last month, and is third in the championship with 127 points.
  • Following third and fifth-place results in Texas, Graham Rahal is fifth in the championship coming into the GMR Grand Prix, with 107 points.  The third Honda-powered race winner this year, Colton Herta, is currently ranked seventh with 100 points. Herta’s win came at the second race this season, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
  • Seven wins in 2020 brought Honda the company’s ninth INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and third consecutive title, with Honda driver Dixon prevailing to win his sixth Drivers’ Championship, highest among all active drivers in the series.
  • Honda will present an impressive lineup at Indianapolis for the GMR Grand Prix, all utilizing the Honda HI21TT twin-turbo V6 engine and Dallara chassis. It begins with six-time, defending series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 victor Dixon, and includes two-time and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato; 2012 series and 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay; 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi; multi-race winners Colton Herta, Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe.  
  • Last year at the GMR Grand Prix, Dixon and Rahal scored a 1-2 finish for Honda, with Herta finishing fourth.  Honda drivers went on to sweep the front row in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, led by pole qualifier Marco Andretti, with Dixon and eventual race winner Takuma Sato filling out the front row of the 33-car starting field.
  • Run in August due to the COVID pandemic, Sato’s victory at the 2020 Indianapolis 500 was the 250th for Honda in Indy car competition since 1994, and the 13th win by the manufacturer at the “500” – a record unmatched by any other OEM in the same period.

WHERE TO WATCH

  • Live network television coverage Saturday’s 85-lap opening race starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT on NBC.  Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network, also carried by SiriusXM satellite radio.