The 22-year-old Brazilian was unstoppable, leading all 35 laps to take victory by 6.8091 seconds over championship leader Louis Foster on the two.258-mile, 13-turn natural terrain course.
“It’s my first win,” said Collet. “I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. We led every session, pole position, fastest lap; I thought the car was great. From Friday, from the first lap, I felt really good and I managed to put it together. I’m very happy. Thanks to the whole HMD team, they did a great job in every respect.”
When asked if the victory will help him in his title fight, Collet remained reserved.
“I’ll answer that question next Sunday, this time. We’ll see how I do in my first oval race,” he said, referring to the following round at Iowa Speedway.
On the rostrum, alongside Collet and Foster, was Jacob Abel, who took third place.
HMD Motorsports took fourth to ninth, with Callum Hedge and Christian Brooks leading the best way in fourth and fifth respectively.
The remaining spots were taken by Reece Gold, Jonathan Browne, Nolan Allaer and Josh Pierson, with Jamie Chadwick of Andretti Global taking the ultimate spot in the highest ten.
Foster leaves Mid-Ohio with 386 points, while Abel is second in the general championship standings with 345 (-41) and Collet third with 315 (-71).
Race
The yellow flag got here just seconds after the beginning following a multi-car incident within the midfield that occurred after contact between Andretti Global teammates Jamie Chadwick and Bryce Aron, in addition to Abel Motorsports rookie Jordan Missig, who was trapped within the gravel trap at Turn 4.
Collet led the single-file pack after the green flag restart on lap 5, courtesy of a clean jump from Foster.
Moments later, the No. 99 HMD Motorsports Force Indy automobile driven by Myles Rowe lost momentum and was sent to the pits to analyze a possible mechanical issue.
The battle for eleventh place intensified when Yuven Sundaramoorthy went outside Salvador de Alba Jr. at Turn 4 on lap 8, breaking the latter's front wing and requiring a pit stop. Sundaramoorthy, meanwhile, received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact following the incident.
Collet continued to steer Foster and by lap 10 he had a lead of 0.9265s.
The mechanical issue appeared to have been resolved for Rowe, who got here back on lap 12, six laps down.
Collett's advantage temporarily shrank on lap 13 when he got here up against the limping automobile of James Roe, who had previously suffered a broken front wing and was picking up speed. Roe allowed the leaders to pass before Foster could put pressure on him and Collet prolonged his advantage to 0.9s.
By lap 18 Collett's lead was 1.1983s and the sphere had dispersed to the rhythm of the race.
Rowe returned to the pits after a throttle position sensor error on lap 20, while Collet prolonged his lead over Foster to 1.7633s.
With 10 laps to go Collet had a lead of three.Nineties over Foster, with Abel some 5.7s behind in third.
Abel began calling out over the radio, “my tire’s falling apart,” with seven laps remaining within the race, forcing him to cruise to the finish line within the No. 51 Abel Motorsports automobile as an alternative of putting pressure on title rival Foster.
Ultimately, Collet didn’t quit and took his first victory within the series.
