Palou dominates Indy GP, McLaughlin and Power struggle

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou has taken a big victory in the IndyCar GP while both Scott McLaughlin and Will Power struggled.

In a battle of strategy, Palou proved he had the speed in his #10 Honda and his crew had the smarts to prevail by 16.8006s after 85 laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s infield road course, taking over the series lead in the process.

The McLaren IndyCar Team got a double podium, with Pato O’Ward (#5 Chevrolet) second and Alexander Rossi (#7 Chevrolet) third, the latter’s best result so far since his off-season move.

Pole-sitter Christian Lundgaard clung on to fourth in the end in the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, with Felix Rosenqvist (#6 Chevrolet) making it all three McLaren cars in the top five.

Scott Dixon (#9 Ganassi Honda) did as Scott Dixon does, finishing sixth in the IndyCar Grand Prix despite dropping to 16th on the opening lap, and Josef Newgarden (#2 Team Penske Chevrolet) came from 13th on the grid to finish seventh, while Power finished 12th and McLaughlin 16th.

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A day earlier, Lundgaard had qualified on pole position for the first time, and he jumped well at the green flag, but so did Palou from Row 2.

Despite starting on primary tyres versus alternates, Lundgaard held him at bay at Turn 1, but ceded the position at the final corner of the circuit.

A Caution was called on Lap 2 after Sting Ray Robb (#51 DCR w/ RWR Honda) tagged Dale Coyne Racing team-mate David Malukas (#18 DCR w/ HMD Motorsports Honda) back in the pack at Turn 7.

Under yellow, it was Palou from Lundgaard, Jack Harvey (#30 RLLR Honda, blacks), Rossi (reds), Rosenqvist (blacks), O’Ward (blacks), Marcus Ericsson (#8 Ganassi Honda, blacks), Newgarden (reds), Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda, reds), and Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Honda, blacks).

Dixon (reds) was 16th, with both McLaughlin (#3 Penske Chevrolet, reds) and Romain Grosjean (#28 Andretti Honda, reds) outside the top 20 after losing ground on the opening lap and using the Caution to pit.

The restart came on Lap 6 and so began Harvey’s slide down the order as he was picked off by those on reds.

Power (#12 Penske Chevrolet), who started 12th, tried to likewise overtake Kirkwood for 10th at the start of Lap 7 but was turned around by the Andretti driver at Turn 2.

Power plummeted to 24th but Kirkwood soon joined him outside the top 20 when he was deemed guilty and issued a position drop penalty, to behind the aggrieved Queenslander.

Up front, Palou and third-placed Rossi pitted on Lap 17 to swap from reds to blacks from about five seconds apart.

Lundgaard was showing good enough pace and much better longevity on blacks but caught traffic and was called into the lane on Lap 20 to switch to reds.

Once all had stopped, at least once, Graham Rahal (#15 RLLR Honda) led but was off-sequence after copping a puncture in the cut and thrust of the opening lap.

Palou ran second but was passed for the effective lead by Lundgaard on Lap 24 at Turn 7, with Rosenqvist a couple of seconds back in his first red stint.

O’Ward got by team-mate Rossi at the same spot on Lap 27 before Rahal did pit again on Lap 31.

It put Lundgaard into the official lead from Palou, Rosenqvist, O’Ward (reds), Rossi (blacks), Newgarden (blacks), Herta (blacks), Ericsson (reds), Rinus VeeKay (#21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, reds), and Devlin DeFrancesco (#29 Andretti Honda, reds), with Dixon (blacks) 12th, Grosjean (blacks) 13th, McLaughlin (reds) 14th, and Power (blacks) 20th.

O’Ward had started the stint on used reds and was seriously struggling by the time he pitted for a set of blacks on Lap 39, while Lundgaard had got out to almost a three-second lead over Palou but was being reeled in by the 2021 champion once his reds started to wear out.

Palou made the pass at Turn 1 on Lap 42 and was a second up by the end of the lap, when Lundgaard stopped for more reds, albeit a used set.

Palou pitted himself, for another set of blacks, and rejoined between O’Ward and Lundgaard, all nose-to-tail, before the two former leaders got by the #5 McLaren on Laps 45 and 46.

Once Dixon pitted on Lap 48, Palou was back into the lead, by a full second, from Lundgaard, an off-sequence Rahal, O’Ward, Rossi (blacks), Rosenqvist (reds), Newgarden (blacks), Herta (reds), Ericsson (reds), and Dixon (reds), with Grosjean (blacks) 13th, McLaughlin (blacks) 15th, and Power (blacks) 18th.

Lundgaard had to persevere on his used reds but had drifted to six seconds behind Palou when O’Ward picked him off on Lap 57 at Turn 7.

The pole-sitter was 10 seconds from the lead when he pitted on Lap 59, before Palou took his final stop on Lap 60.

O’Ward ran two laps longer until he was into the lane from the official lead, rejoining between Palou and Lundgaard again.

It set up a fascinating run home because Palou had only scuffed blacks left for the final stint, O’Ward necessarily had to take new reds to obey the sporting regulations, and Lundgaard had started the stint on new blacks.

UPDATE: Palou advised post-race that he was also on new blacks for the final stint

When the final pit cycle wrapped up with 20 laps to go, Palou led by almost 10 seconds over O’Ward and another five over Lundgaard, with Rossi fourth on used reds, from Herta, Rosenqvist, Dixon, Newgarden, Kirkwood, and Ericsson in 10th, the latter five all on blacks.

McLaughlin was 12th, Grosjean 13th, and Power 16th, with those three on blacks also.

Despite a theoretical tyre advantage, Lundgaard was not moving forward and instead came under pressure from Rossi.

With 10 laps to go, he had used up all of his push-to-pass and was a sitting duck for the #7 McLaren pilot at Turn 7 on Lap 76.

Rosenqvist dived past Herta for sixth at the same spot on Lap 80 and while he ran long, the Andretti driver was called for blocking and forced to cede the position anyway.

Palou, meanwhile, continued to increase his gap and pull off a dominant victory, his first of the year.

Herta’s slide down the order continued and he would take the chequered flag in ninth, one spot behind Ericsson, with Rahal getting home 10th, then Grosjean and Power.

McLaughlin had been running 11th when he pitted with a lap to go and was classified 16th.

UPDATE: McLaughlin ran out of fuel

Practice for the Indianapolis 500 starts on Tuesday morning (local time; Tuesday night AEST).

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Results: Race, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course)

Race winner: 85 laps

Series points