Rossi led 44 of the 85 laps, to attain his eighth profession IndyCar win and his first in additional than three years.
Nonetheless, following post-race technical inspection final Saturday, the #27 Andretti Autosport-Honda was discovered to have reached minimal weight in a fashion not allowed by the IndyCar rulebook.
Rule 14.4.1.1. states that the minimal weight shall embody the automotive in ready-to-compete situation excluding Driver, Driver Equivalency Weight, gasoline and drink bottle content material. Rule 14.4.1.1.1. states that minimal weight for street/avenue course occasions is 1700 kilos.
“From a sporting perspective, the automotive met minimal necessities,” mentioned IndyCar president Jay Frye. “From a technical perspective, the best way [Andretti Autosport] achieved the burden just isn’t allowed.
“To fulfill minimal weight, the drink bottle and its contents had been used as automotive ballast, which isn’t permitted and why the group is being fined and penalized.”
As a consequence, IndyCar has fined Andretti Autosport $25,000 and penalized the group 20 entrant/driver factors.
That cuts Rossi’s factors tally from 298 to 278 – in order that his factors deficit to championship chief, Staff Penske-Chevrolet’s Will Power, is 153 with solely 4 rounds remaining. It additionally means Rossi slips from ninth to 11th within the championship, in order that Colton Herta is now Andretti Autosport-Honda’s top-ranked competitor in ninth with 285 factors. Their teammates Romain Grosjean and Devlin DeFrancesco sit in 14th and 23rd respectively.
Though IndyCar acknowledged that “members could contest the imposition of the penalties detailed within the assessment and enchantment procedures of the NTT IndyCar Sequence rulebook,” group COO Rob Edwards knowledgeable Motorsport.com that Andretti Autosport accepts the penalty.
Rossi shall be departing Michael Andretti’s squad at season’s finish to hitch Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet because it expands to 3 automobiles. Rossi, who completed within the prime three of the IndyCar championship in 2018 and ’19, shall be changed at AA by present IndyCar rookie, 2021 Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood.
Herta, Grosjean and DeFrancesco will stay within the #26, #28 and #29 automobiles respectively.
