Front Row Start for Sato, Sixth Place on the Grid for Malukas


Detroit, MI (Saturday, June 4, 2022) – The Dale Coyne Racing team put together their best qualifying effort of the season on Saturday with Takuma Sato scoring a front row start and rookie David Malukas registering his best career NTT INDYCAR SERIES start with a sixth place on the grid. See below for further details on each driver.

#51: Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda – Photo Courtesy of Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR

Detroit, MI (Saturday, June 4, 2022) – Takuma Sato gave himself and his Dale Coyne Racing with RWR team their best start so far this season by registering the second fastest lap in Saturday’s Firestone Fast 6 qualifying for the Detroit Grand Prix aboard his #51 Nurtec ODT (Rimegepant) Honda.

Starting: 2nd
Firestone Fast 6 – 2nd
Best lap: 1:15.3490
Fast 12 – 5th   
Best Lap: 1:14.9363 
Group 2 / Round 1 – 6th
Best Lap: 1:15.3911

  • Sato’s second place in qualifying is his best start this season. His previous best start was a third place at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. 
  • Today’s qualifying result is his second-best starting position on the racetrack at Belle Isle, having scored two pole positions in the past (2014 and 2017).
  • The driver of the #51 Nurtec ODT Honda guaranteed himself a position in the Firestone Fast 6 after placing himself sixth in the first round of qualifying and fifth in the Fast 12.
  • Sato sat in the provisional pole position until the final seconds of the six-minute session when Josef Newgarden bumped him to second with a time only 0.1337 seconds quicker.
  • He is making his 18th start at the Detroit Grand Prix this weekend and has a best finish of second (Race 2, 2015).
  • In six races in 2022, Sato has a best finish of 10th on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Takuma Sato #51 Nurtec ODT Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
“We’re really proud of the Dale Coyne Racing team. David (Malukas) pushed me so hard in the first two rounds and I was finally able to hook up quite a good lap on in the Firestone Fast Six. That was quite satisfying! We always knew that we had the speed, I just wasn’t able to put everything together aboard our Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Nurtec ODT Honda until that point. We were quite positive heading into the weekend, carrying the momentum from Indy. Everyone on the team is really happy, it’s an absolutely great team effort.”

#18: David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda – Photo Courtesy of Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports

Detroit, MI (Saturday, June 4, 2022) – Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports rookie David Malukas impressed with his qualifying performance on Saturday making it into the Firestone Fast 6 by dominating the two previous rounds. The highest finishing rookie at this year’s Indianapolis 500 will be starting a career best of sixth in Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix.

Starting: 6th
Firestone Fast 6 – 6th
Best lap: 1:16.6104
Fast 12 – 2nd
Best Lap: 1:14.8251
Group 2 / Round 1 – 1st
Best Lap: 1:14.8833

  • Malukas impressed right from the start of qualifying, immediately jumping up to P1 with his first timed lap. 
  • He improved with each lap in Round 1 of qualifying and topped the 10-minute session, making it to the Fast 12 with ease for the first time this season. 
  • In round 2, Malukas once again took over first place early on and was sitting second by the end of the session. 
  • His performance sent him to the Firestone Fast 6 for the first time in his young career.
  • Malukas registered his best NTT INDYCAR SERIES start by placing sixth in the final round of qualifying.
  • So far in six races this season, he has a best finish of 11th at Texas.
  • The rookie finished third in Detroit in the second race of the doubleheader Indy Lights weekend last season.

David Malukas – #18 HMD Honda – Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports
“I feel like this whole start of the season we’ve always been close to finding the car right before qualifying, but we’d always miss it at the last second. For the first time now, we finally put it all together. I remember the first two laps and I thought ‘wow, the car is just spot on’. I came in and they asked me if I wanted any changes and I said do not touch it, this is very good! I’m so happy. Takuma and I had a friendly competition. I kept hearing that Takuma made it and kept asking for the times and that made me push even harder. I think it was very good for the team. I was this close to those walls!”