IndyCar Session 3 at COTA: Herta again fastest

Colton Herta – Steinbrenner Harding Honda

Harding Steinbrenner Honda IndyCar rookie driver Colton Herta was fastest in both test sessions on Tuesday at the Circuit of the Americas and on Wednesday morning he proved it was no fluke by doing it again.

Herta, with engineering help from Andretti Technologies, almost matched his Tuesday afternoon fast time with a 1m46.640s lap.

While remaining his normal reserved self, the 18-year-old Herta couldn’t help but marvel with the results he’s achieved this week, considering it was questionable at one point whether the team would even test at COTA.

“This track just suits my driving style a lot," the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires runner-up said. “The team has been working really hard to get the car where it needs to be. Obviously, they’ve made really big gains in the winter time compared to last year, and we’re kind of seeing that. Really stout job by the boys.

“We weren’t even sure we were going to make it to Austin for this test. The car is still all black. It was a tough winter for everyone, so to get the car ready and have no problems on any runs from a technical standpoint proves how good the team is and how hard everyone is working."

Andretti Autosport Honda driver Alexander Rossi was 2nd quick at 1m47.013s ahead of Penske Chevy driver Simon Pagenaud who put up a 1m47.212s lap.

While Herta was not able to improve on his time from Tuesday, Rossi was 1.1-seconds faster than Tuesday and made one of the biggest leaps forward.

Scott Dixon (Ganassi Honda) and Josef Newgarden (Penske Chevy) rounded out the top-5.

Session 3 Results