INDIANAPOLIS – Rookie drivers continue to make their presence known at the INDYCAR Grand Prix.
A day after NTT IndyCar Series newcomer Felix Rosenqvist appropriately won the NTT P1 Award for the pole position in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, fellow rookie Colton Herta was fastest in Saturday morning’s 30-minute warmup – the last practice before the sixth annual race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
INDYCAR GRAND PRIX: Warmup results I Combined practice results
Herta turned a best lap of 1 minute, 9.2003 seconds (126.884 mph) in the No. 88 GESS International Honda for Harding Steinbrenner Racing. Herta, who qualified fourth, clocked the fastest lap of the weekend in a Friday practice. He became the youngest winner in Indy car history on March 24 when he was victorious at Circuit of The Americas.
Rosenqvist, who’ll lead the 24-car field to the green flag at approximately 3:50 p.m. ET Saturday, was ninth fastest in the warmup (1:10.1267, 125.208 mph).
Veterans also sent a reminder in the warmup that they’re not to be for the race. Scott Dixon, the reigning and five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, was second quick in the warmup with a lap of 1:09.5805 (126.191 mph) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon will start alongside teammate Rosenqvist on the front row for the race.
Takuma Sato, winner of the most recent permanent road course race, April 7 at Barber Motorsports Park, was third in the warmup with a lap of 1:09.6791 (126.012 mph) in the No. 30 Mi-Jack/Panasonic Honda. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Graham Rahal was fourth in the No. 15 Mi-Jack Honda (1:09.6828, 126.005 mph).
Team Penske’s Will Power and Simon Pagenaud are the only two drivers to win the INDYCAR Grand Prix to date. Power, a three-time victor on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road circuit, was 13th in the warmup and starts sixth in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet. Pagenaud, a two-time INDYCAR GP winner, was 16th in the warmup and goes off eighth in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet.
Live race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on NBC, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network. The INDYCAR Grand Prix is the fifth of 17 races on the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series schedule. It precedes the centerpiece event on the calendar, the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 26.