Lexington, OH (July 28, 2018) – Dale Coyne Racing’s Pietro Fittipaldi took part in his first road course qualifying on Saturday for the Honda Indy 200, qualifying 22nd aboard his #19 Paysafe car in what ended up being a shortened session due to a red flag.
Unfortunately for Fittipaldi, the red flag came out before he could register a fast lap and with time ticking away, he then only had about four minutes left in the session when it returned to green flag conditions.
With only three laps to set a fastest time around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course, his best time of 1:06.2128, registered on his final lap, placed him 11th in his group and 22nd on the starting grid.
“It was difficult today,” said Fittipaldi. “Obviously, we’re disappointed with our result. I felt I couldn’t turn on the tires. It’s my first time qualifying on a road course in an Indy car and you really have just a short amount of time and with the red flag we only got three push laps after that. I’m looking forward to the race. It’s very difficult to overtake here so it’s not going to be easy to move forward, but we’ll look at strategies and I’m confident our pace with the Paysafe car will be better in the race.”
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be televised live on CNBC on Sunday, July 29 from 3:00pm ET with an encore presentation on NBCSN later that evening starting at 6:30pm ET. The 13th round of the 2018 season can also be heard live on the Advance Auto Parts IndyCar Radio Network, including SIRIUS/XM 209/214.
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