Andretti Autosport’s Rossi, Grosjean top Honda’s qualifying effort in Laguna Seca

  • Alexander Rossi to start third, Romain Grosjean fourth in final NTT INDYCAR SERIES race of 2022
  • Championship contenders Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon to start 10th and 13th
  • Honda drivers Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas carry series Rookie of the Year battle into the final race

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 10, 2022) – Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean topped Honda’s effort today in qualifying for Sunday’s season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, while championship contenders Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon will start 10th and 13th, respectively.

Both Rossi and Grosjean advanced through the first two rounds of “knockout” qualifying; with Rossi claiming third in the “Fast Six” final round, while Grosjean will start alongside in fourth.

Dixon, 21 points away from scoring his seventh drivers’ title – with 53 points on offer tomorrow – will start 13th after just missing advancing out of the first qualifying round. His Chip Ganassi teammate, Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, will start 10th and is 40 points out of the lead.

In the tight battle for series Rookie of the Year honors between two Honda drivers, David Malukas will start seventh and his rookie rival Christian Lundgaard will line up 16th. Lundgaard carries a five-point lead into tomorrow’ championship finale.

Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Honda Qualifying Results

  • 3rd Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 4th Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 5th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 7th David Malukas-R Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
  • 10th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 11th Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 12th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 13th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 16th Christian Lundgaard-R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 18th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 19th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 21st Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 22nd Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
  • 23rd Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • R – Rookie

Quotes

Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) tied for second in the championship going into tomorrow’s season finale; will start 13th: “Because of the red flag [for Josef Newgarden’s spin], we only had a single lap at the end [to set a qualifying time] and unfortunately, some slower traffic kept me from getting my tires up to proper temperature. We missed [advancing to second-round qualifying] by less than a tenth of a second, which is always frustrating because we definitely had the speed in the car today, it felt really comfortable. For the race tomorrow, strategy is going to be the key, it’s going to be a struggle to complete a full fuel run without the tires going off on this slippery, very low-grip track. There may be more cautions as well. Everything’s to play for, so it may be even more exciting than usual here tomorrow.”

Alexander Rossi (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) will start third: “Overall, a really good day for the whole Andretti Autosport Honda team. I’ve started, second, third and third here previously, so hopefully we can close out the year – and my time with Andretti, NAPA and Honda – on a high note and get a great result for them this weekend.”

Romain Grosjean (#28 Andretti Autosport Honda) will start fourth: “We’re starting nine places up from where we started last year (to finish third), so that should make my life a little bit easier in tomorrow’s race! Qualifying went well, the changes we made to the car [since practice] all seemed to work and I feel really positive about our weekend so far. I definitely want to have a good race tomorrow, so we can go into the winter break with a bit more confidence than we had in recent races.”

Fast Facts

Honda comes to this weekend’s 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with two of its drivers in contention for the series championship.

Scott Dixon, a two-time winner this year and six-time series champion, comes to the classic central California road course third in the drivers’ title standings, 20 points away from a record-tying seventh title. His Chip Ganassi Racing Honda teammate, Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, is fourth, 39 points out of the lead.

In the contest for series Rookie of the Year honors, the coveted award will go to one of two Honda drivers. Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard leads with 293 points heading to Laguna Seca. But fellow Honda racer David Malukas is only five points back, driving for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD.

Where to Watch

Television coverage of Sunday’s season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey starts at 2:40 p.m. with pre-race activities on NBC, followed by the race start at 3 p.m. EDT. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).

Honda Racing social media content and video links from Monterey can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook

(www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).