Dale Coyne Racing Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS Race Report

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 11, 2024) – Dale Coyne Racing drivers Jack Harvey (#18 INVST Honda) and Luca Ghiotto (#51 Bimecc, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR) both had a strong start to Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix as the team continued to show its progress. However, a damper failure on Harvey’s car meant he had to settle for 19th while a mistake by Ghiotto late in the race sent him to the back of the field and 25th at the finish.

Jack Harvey, #18 INVST, Dale Coyne Racing Honda

Started: 17th

Finished: 19th

Harvey had a great start to the 85-lap event, moving up 6 positions and into 11th place despite being hit on the first lap.
He had great pace in his first stint and was running 12th before making his first pit stop on Lap 16.
The British driver continued to run strong but started lacking pace later in the event as he fell as low as 21st.
He made his third and final stop on Lap 63.
While he successfully battled with Josef Newgarden for 18th place on the Lap 68 restart, he fell to 19th four laps later.
The team discovered a part failure during a post-race inspection of his #18 INVST machine that hindered Harvey’s pace in the race.

Post Qualifying Quote

“I think the race was more confusing than anything. I went from 17th to 11th in the first corner so that was really great. Unfortunately, that was probably the peak of my race in Turn 1, Lap 1. After that it just kind of went downhill. I don’t really understand why at the moment. We’ve been quicker than our teammate all weekend and then in the race we just seemed to really struggle. We’ll look into it and find out why. In the end we brought home the car in one piece and that’s how it went. It’s disappointing, especially after how our qualifying went where we had a bit more pace than what we showed, the warmup was quite good, and then I get to turn 1 and I thought let’s have a day but it just didn’t go that way.”

Luca Ghiotto, #51 Bimecc, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda

Started: 22nd

Finished: 25th

Ghiotto, who was making his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES start, showed great progress throughout the 85-lap event.
The rookie ran competitively and continuously gained on his closest competitors.
Unfortunately for Ghiotto, he stalled his #51 Honda after spinning on Lap 65 exiting Turn 10, while running fifth.
The Dale Coyne Racing driver had to wait for the AMR Safety Team to restart him and he lost a lap in the process.
While he reduced the gap to the car in front of him with every remaining lap, he still had to settle with a 25th place finish.

Post Qualifying Quote

“It was a really sad end because it was going very well for us, we were moving forward. But I made a mistake coming out of turn 10 and I touched the grass on the exit and spun. Unfortunately, I stalled the engine and I had to wait for the Safety Team to start the car up again, so I lost a lap in the process. It’s a shame because we were doing well. I think it was a very good step forward from Barber in the race and I probably could have finished in the top 15. As I said, it’s a shame but there’s some good positives to take from the race.”

Next up: The team now turns its attention to the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 where Nolan Siegel will take over driving duties of the #18 Honda powered entry, while Katherine Legge will be behind the wheel of the #51 e.l.f. Honda. Practice on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval starts Tuesday, May 14 at 9am ET. The Indianapolis 500 takes part Sunday, May 26.