Race Report: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio July 31, 2016—‘Is there a bullseye on our ABC Supply Hondas?’ After running in the top five for most of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, the ABC Supply team may well be asking themselves just that question.

For the second straight race, an ABC Supply car was taken out in the final four laps of the race. This week it was Takuma Sato who was running fourth when Sebastien Bourdais locked up his brakes and ran into the back of the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda in Turn 4. The impact sent both cars off the track.

Sato kept his car running and rejoined the race while Bourdais was stuck in the grass. Afterwards Bourdais took full blame for the accident which happened on lap 87 of the 90-lap event. Sato was able to fend off a hard-charging Josef Newgarden to finish ninth.

Team owner A.J. Foyt congratulated Sato afterwards saying, “You drove a helluva race, but if you’re going to go off in the dirt, I’ll let you drive one of my tractors!”

Sato, who was headed for his best finish of the season and second straight top-five showing, had started 20th but was able to run in the top-five for most of the race due to a great alternate fuel strategy, fast pit stops, a solid car and a little bit of luck with a timely yellow.

“Heckuva day! Incredible job from the team,” Sato said after climbing from the cockpit. “Larry [Foyt] called the perfect strategy even though it was a little bit optimistic when we came to pit. Later on we caught a good yellow and gained track position. Then we were fighting the whole field! It was like qualifying every lap. My ABC guys gave me a super pit stop to get me out on the last stop -- then we were fighting for fourth. It's a real shame what happened at the end (getting hit by Bourdais). We were able to salvage a ninth so still a good result for the second straight race. I’m looking forward to the last part of the season."

Starting 17th in the No. 41 ABC Supply Honda, Jack Hawksworth’s crew did not pursue an alternate fuel strategy as the team wanted to split their fuel strategies. When the first yellow came out on lap 15 for contact between Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, Hawksworth pitted with the leaders to take on black primary tires.  Dixon went to the garage for repairs while Castroneves was penalized for the accident and received a drive-through-pit penalty. It was that timely yellow wherein Sato gained his track position and moved from 19th to sixth.

Hawksworth’s first stop went fine but he dropped back to 17th after moving into the top 12. Running well on the black tires, he climbed to 10th before pitting on lap 40 for sticker (new) red alternate tires. It was on that next stint that his car did not respond well and he nearly pitted early for another set of the primary black tires. He decided to stick it out and had just radioed to strategist George Klotz, “I don’t think I can keep him behind me” speaking of Marco Andretti as the two were battling for 15th.

Moments later Hawksworth’s car slid off in Turn 1 – one of the fastest turns in the 2.258-mile road course--and headed straight for the tire barrier, making a hard impact. Fortunately he escaped without injury.

“At the beginning of the race we were holding steady but we weren’t great on the used reds,” said Hawksworth, who was credited with 21st. “We decided to stay out at the beginning and then the yellow came out and we got hosed and sent to the back. On the new blacks I was fine running in the pack with Graham [Rahal], Kimball and Kanaan. Then for some reason on the new reds [in his third stint] the left front tire went away and I had no grip. I was just hanging on at the end of the stint. I think I dropped an outside rear wheel into the grass going into Turn 1 trying to open up the corner and the car snapped when it was in the grass and off I went.”

Team President Larry Foyt was disappointed with the finishes but appreciated the resolve and effort which saw the ABC Supply Hondas running competitively, especially Sato.

“I’m really proud of the whole ABC Supply team this week,” Foyt said as he watched his team pack up the transporters in the paddock. “It was a really tough weekend, especially in qualifying. We struggled for the speed we needed to start towards the front. The engineers kept their heads down and we were able to have a pretty good race car in the race. We should have had an easy Top-5 for the 14 car but we got hit and it put us back to ninth so a little bit of bad luck there, but I’m just really proud the way all the guys fought. We had really fast pit stops and I’m glad we got the Top-10 but it should have been a Top-5. Our guys don’t quit, so we’ll go after it at Pocono.”

Pole winner Simon Pagenaud won the race while his teammate Will Power (who started second) finished runner-up. Third through fifth were Carlos Munoz, Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe.

The ABC Supply team is heading to Pocono Raceway along with many other Verizon IndyCar Series teams for a one day test this Thursday in preparation for the ABC Supply 500 the weekend of August 20-21. That race will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network starting at 3 p.m. ET.