Title challenger Alexander Rossi believes maintaining his strong qualifying form will be crucial in helping close the gap to Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon.
The Andretti Autosport driver sits 70-points adrift of Dixon as the 2018 championship heads to Mid-Ohio. Despite a run of 3 races without a top-5 finish, the former Indy 500 champion believes his NAPA-sponsored Honda has the speed to overhaul the deficit, starting at the Honda Indy 200.
Rossi: the pace is there
“We’ve had a difficult run the past three races, but we also haven’t qualified outside of the top five at any of those events”, remarked Rossi whose best finish from two visits to Mid-Ohio is 6th place. “The pace is there, which is the most important thing”.
This weekend’s Honda Indy 200 is round 13 of 17 and the American is under no illusions about the importance of getting back to the front of the field: “We are getting into the home stretch now and every race is incredibly important.”
Focused on closing the gap to Dixon
With the double-points paying season finale at Sonoma in September still to come, Rossi is not panicking: “All of our focus is on executing and doing our jobs in Mid-Ohio and if we can do that we will close the gap up to Scott.”
2018 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Practice for the 2018 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio starts at 11 am Friday, July 27 with qualifying at 1.30 pm on Saturday, July 28.
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio takes the green flag at 3.40pm Sunday, July 29 for 90 laps of the sports car course.
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