Lexington, OH (Saturday, July 2, 2022) – Rookie David Malukas (#18 HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports) was once again impressive during qualifying for this weekend’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio by placing eighth on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Starting: 8th
Round 2 – 1:06.8201
Round 1 / Group 1 – 1:06.9932 – (6th)
- Malukas went out in the first group in Round 1 of qualifying and immediately jumped to the top of the time charts.
- After falling to fifth, he registered his best time of 1:06.9932 which put him back at the top, but he would end up sixth in his group at the end of the 10-minute session.
- His position in group 1 meant that he would move on to the Fast 12 for the second time this season.
- Once in the second round, he once again jumped to the top on his third lap and remained in that position until the final minute.
- While his best lap of 1:06.8201 initially placed him first, he would end up 8th when all was said and done.
- Unfortunately for Malukas, he was unable to improve his time on his final lap after being impeded by the car in front of him.
- Malukas has an impressive record at Mid-Ohio. He finished on the podium in all 4 Indy Lights races at the track in 2021 with two second place finishes and two thirds.
- He also finished second in the two Formula Regional Americas Championship events at Mid-Ohio in 2020.
- The rookie driver has a best starting position of sixth (Detroit) so far this season and a best finish of 11th (Detroit and Texas Motor Speedway).
David Malukas, #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
“I’m quite angry right now because I thought we were being impeded on my last lap but the car in front of me didn’t get a penalty for it, we left some time out there that I think would have sent us to the Fast 6. We were on a 66.5 lap which would have put us in the top 3. It’s unfortunate because I couldn’t show everything that the Dale Coyne HMD car had today. It was spectacular. We tried different things in practice and got to the top 6 in the first group and the car was right where it needed to be in the Fast 12. Unfortunately, I ended up getting blocked and couldn’t make it in. But overall, the fact that we’re unhappy with P8 shows that we’re going in the right direction.