It wouldn’t be Portland without a Turn 1 crash!
The West Coast swing of the championship is underway, and the first instalment gave no driver or team an easy race, with the order constantly changing and shuffling, as a result of varying pit strategies.
It ended up being a perfect weekend for Palou, with pole and the win, however after Lap 1, when he was hit by Rosenqvist, and sent to the back, it looked very different for the now title leader. He, along with his teammate Dixon, took the opportunity to pit then, which made it an easy 2 stop to the end, which turned out to be the best strategy, as he calved through the field, to end up at the front with the most fuel at the end. Alex deserved the win, as he was fastest all day it seems, and with a very strong championship lead, it will be tough for anyone to overtake him now. That being said, going to 2 new tracks for him, there is a chance for him to slip up!
For this to be Rossi’s first podium of the year, just shows what kind of a year he has been having, with a mixture of bad luck, and mistakes. He followed Palou’s strategy, and used his aggression to stay with him. In the closing laps he did put pressure on Alex, on the softer red tyres, before making a mistake as he pushed too hard, and settled for 2nd. Dixon ending up 3rd in a race this chaotic is what you expect from him, unfortunately, when his main title rival wins the race, it means it is very close to impossible for him to get back to back titles.
Harvey had an excellent day, showing great pace throughout the race, and looking at one point as though he could challenge for the win. Sadly, the overcut, and pace from other cars was too much for him, but to be the first car to do an actual 2 stop, shows great ability to fuel save. This was also the case for Newgarden, who was the last car not to pit after the order was reshuffled early on in the race, however, instead of falling back, he held these behind off, and effectively stayed on the best strategy. Later on in the race, he was passed on restarts and in the pits, yet, after a terrible qualifying, this was as good a recovery as he could have hoped for. Many think that he could be the biggest threat to Palou!
Rosenqvist did well not to wipe out the 2 PNC Bank cars on the 1st lap, although he did still severely affect their races. His pace was similar to theirs, but just couldn’t get through the traffic quite as well. Ericsson, Herta and McLaughlin also made their way into the top 10, which keeps Marcus’ hopes of a title barely alive.
What could have been for Rahal! He was 2nd after the order was altered after Lap 1, and got past O’Ward in the pitstops, and looked to be making great fuel mileage. However, an untimely caution brought the pack together, and made it easier for others to save fuel, and so Rahal gradually dropped back during the final stages of the race. He can take solace from the pace he had this weekend, apparently brought on by Askew joining the team for the rest of the year.
Jones was in a similar boat to Rahal, so 11th is disappointing for them, compared to what it could have been! Power had a multitude of issues, as he had to pit 7 times in the end, including being caught up in the Lap 1 mess. O’Ward had one issue on Sunday, but it cost him big, as his engine was down on power for whatever reason. To be fair, when they pitted early, compared to Rahal, it did rather doom them anyway, but they had better potential than 14th. His title lead is now gone, and the team needs to be consistent over the next two rounds if McLaren wants their Astor Cup!
Considering he got barely any practice, and didn’t do qualifying, the race didn’t go too badly for Hunter-Reay. He got a bit aggressive with Grosjean at one point, partially as the Frenchman was many laps down, and partially because he could be taking his seat for next year! It may not have been Johnson’s best result in IndyCar, but in terms of racing, I would say it was the best, as he was in the pack all day, and able to fight with other cars. Hopefully he can build on this going into next year!
This was Grosjean’s worst weekend so far in the US, as he lacked pace compared to everyone else, and then sent it on Lap 1, which added to the carnage we saw at the chicane! Let’s see if Laguna Seca is more to his liking! Ilott, given this was a team that hadn’t raced for 2 years, performed probably as well as Lundgaard did a few weeks ago, it just didn’t show up as much in the times. Hopefully, as he and the team learn over the next few races, they can make progress forwards!
Portland once again gave us a race full of drama, and shook up the championship fight, with just 2 rounds left. Having been there just once before, Laguna Seca won’t be familiar to anyone that much, and qualifying will be important on a tight track like that!
-M
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