Palou, Honda Take First Pole of the Hybrid INDYCAR Era at Mid-Ohio

July 6, 2024 - LEXINGTON, OH

• Alex Palou scored his second-straight pole of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season; sixth career pole
• Honda drivers claim five of top-six starting positions at Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid
• Meyer Shank Racing's David Malukas qualifies third in second race back from wrist injury

Alex Palou is starting the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES hybrid era off exactly how he hoped, qualifying on pole for the first-ever hybrid race aboard his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Palou's laptime of 1:05.3511 was just 0.0024 of a second ahead of second place-giving him his second-consecutive pole position of 2024 following the race two weeks ago at Laguna Seca. Palou would go on to win at Laguna Seca, his second victory of the year, bolstering his championship lead to 23 points at the mid-point of the season.

Honda powered five of the top-six qualifiers, with Meyer Shank Racing's David Malukas rolling off third aboard his #66 Honda Indy car in only his second race back in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES following a wrist injury in the offseason.

Last year's Mid-Ohio pole sitter, Colton Herta, qualified fourth, with Andretti Global teammate Marcus Ericsson qualifying sixth. Meanwhile, Palou's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Armstrong qualified in the fifth position, but is facing a grid penalty for Sunday's race.

Christian Lundgaard and Linus Lundqvist also made it to the second round of INDYCAR knockout qualifying for Honda, qualifying 10th and 11th respectively.

Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Honda Qualifying Results

R - Rookie

Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) pole qualifier, 2nd consecutive pole and 3rd of the season, 6th career INDYCAR pole: "It's busy [on track] with the hybrid, but I think it was busy for everybody. Qualifying was super close, even Q1 and the Fast 12 was super tight. But I knew we had a really fast car. The car, the team and everyone was great today. Kudos to HRC for placing five cars in the Fast Six, they did an amazing job. It was an awesome result for them. Now we're looking forward to the first hybrid race tomorrow."

David Malukas (#66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) will start third in his second race back from injury: "Talk about a turn-around! This year has been an emotional roller coaster and honestly, just looking back at everything that's happened I feel like I'm back at my maximum potential. We haven't done much racing, but have done a lot of testing, and a lot of sim work. Also Josh [Pitts] from HRC helped a lot. I knew our car was there, the setup was there, so now we had to put it together. Man, it was a perfect situation for me and I couldn't be happier."

Pierre Descamps [Technical Director, Honda Racing Corporation USA] on INDYCAR's first qualifying session with hybrid power: "I think this pole position is a great reward for all the hard work that everyone has put into this hybrid program-at the factory, at the track, the suppliers. Everyone has been working hard for months and months to build this hybrid system and we're very happy to get the first pole of this new INDYCAR hybrid era. The hybrid system requires a driver to be smart and calm during their lap to use it to their advantage, and that's exactly how Palou was in that final round of qualifying. This is really a reward for him too. We are very proud, especially since it was so tight at the top. The competition also has this hybrid system and is learning how to best use it, and it makes it even more rewarding to get this first pole."

Fast Facts

• This weekend's Honda Indy 200 Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid marks the start of the Hybrid era in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. The 27-car field features 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engines - supplied by Honda and series rival Chevrolet - supplemented by a hybrid Energy Recovery System (ERS) including an electric Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Honda Racing Corporation USA-developed Energy Storage System (ESS).
• Honda drivers have won 12 of the 18 Indy car races run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course since the series returned under the Honda Indy 200 banner in 2007. Last year, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda teammates Alex Palou and Scott Dixon finished 1-2 at Mid-Ohio, as Palou went on to win his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in the last three years.

Where to Watch
Television coverage of Sunday's Honda Indy 200 Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid starts at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC. 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 and HRC US social media content and video links can be found on:

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