Alexander Rossi's Indy 500 winner sells for over $1 million

Having racing cars sold at auction isn't a new thing. It's not usual either, but having a contemporary, competition-worthy machine cross the auction block is rather different.

Last weekend Alexander Rossi's 2016 Indianapolis 500 Dallara DW12 was sold for just over £850,000 ($1.1 million) at the Mecum auction in Monterey, California as part of the annual ‘Car Week'in the West Coast state.

Chassis 037 was driven by former-Formula 1 man Rossi during the 100th running of IndyCar's flagship event, taking a surprise victory – his first in the series – after outlasting his rivals on fuel mileage. According to the auction listing Alex Tagliani, Jack Hawksworth and Gabby Chaves also drove the car during its life as an active racing car.

Canadian driver Tagliani raced the car in 2012 and 2013, Hawksworth was behind the wheel in 2014, and Chaves in 2015. The latter two drivers also collected Rookie of the Year honours while driving the car.

Former Bryan Herta Autosport partner David Bowen was the owner of the car at the time of sale. When it won the Indy 500 the car was entered by Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian racing team, a partnership between Andretti Autosport and Bryan Herta Autosport.

Rossi's win at the 100th running of the Indy 500, in a #98, Honda-powered Herta entry, came six years after the late Dan Wheldon won the 100th anniversary event in a Honda-powered Herta entry, also sporting the #98.

The car was sold without its 2.2-litre twin-turbo V6 Honda engine, but a 99-year engine lease from Honda Performance Development (HPD) is available for the new owner to activate separately. The optional engine agreement, which would begin in 2020 should he new owner take up the offer, can include the actual engine used in the 2016 Indy 500 with an ECU and complete rebuild at a cost of around £97,000 ($125,000).

What was included in the sale was the Xtrac six-speed sequential transmission, Honda’s speedway aerokit – which was first introduced in 2015; and a set of Firestone tyres with decorated sidewalls commemorating 2016’s 100th running of the Indy 500.

The sale came in under the car's pre-auction estimate of £915,000-974,000 ($1.175-1.25 million), with a condition that the car must remain on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until the end of the year though to be the main reason behind the cars slightly lower final price.



Images: Chris Owens (1), Forrest Mellott (2), Walter Kuhn (3), IndyCar Media