That was undoubtedly the most chaotic race IndyCar has ever had on the Indy Road Course, mainly thanks to the weather not making its mind up as to what it wanted to do. The various strategy calls left drivers out on slicks when the track was waterlogged, which ended well! Driver skill shone through in the end, and we had some surprising results!
It has been a tough start to the year for Herta, with plenty of potential, but unable to get results from it. In this race though, great strategy calls, car control, and probably some luck, allowed him to get his first win of the year. The car was not good in the dry, but in the wet he looked to be the fastest out there, and the bold call to be the first on slicks elevated him 13 positions, from where he could control the race. His save when battling O’Ward may be one of the best ever. Herta needs to keep this up if he wants to get back in title contention, but at least he now has momentum on his side.
Pagenaud was probably the one driver who wanted rain the most, given his past form here when it rains, and the cars issues in the dry. His wishes came true, and he made the most of it, going from 20th to 2nd. He never looked to have anything for Herta, but going to the 500, he will have confidence once again. Power was a bit in the wars, even having a tough battle with Newgarden, he showed maturity though, and stayed out of trouble to end up 3rd, and take the championship lead.
Ericsson was anonymous for most of the race, until in the closing stages he was one of the fastest cars on the track, which got him up to 4th. His pace is improving in this series, as he tries to get on terms with his teammates. Daly is another with an eventful day. Following his great qualifying, he fell back as he was the only one saving fuel, which probably made it feel like his race was over. Through pit stops though he climbed back up, as well as the chaos around him, including passing some cars. He was cautious in the dying laps, and complained about the aeroscreen making him blind, but still got a top 5, which he desperately needed.
What could have been for Rosenqvist, he was right up at the front in the first half of the race, but got caught up in his teammate’s incident. The change of front wing dropped him to the back, and he could only get back to 6th. It was no surprise to see Sato being aggressive, especially in the wet. At one point, he was getting close to the leaders, but fell back to 7th in the end. It was a superb race for Ilott, to end up in 8th, his European experience clearly helping him here. Juncos are another team on the up right now.
Lundgaard too had a brilliant weekend, bearing in mind his lack of experience. Dixon did what he does best, but qualifying is hampering his season. Rossi had one of the biggest hero to zero races, just through tyre choice. They had to try something, and it didn’t work out, that team needs a result soon. Malukas did well to survive. Harvey was in the mix for a top 5 near to the end, but an incident on pit road put paid to that. His crash with Newgarden was probably his fault, but it wasn’t a clear cut error.
Calderon got her best finish of the year, but was one of the last on the lead lap, nevertheless she did well to keep going, hopefully she can build confidence soon. Rahal and Grosjean both span during the race, which cost them any good results. Grosjean was also being paid back by Rahal’s friends for last race. Palou made an uncharacteristic error, which hurt him for the rest of the race. O’Ward made a bold call to stay on slicks as it kept raining and it didn’t pay off. Mclaughlin did the same. Veekay and Montoya succumbed to the conditions, and Juan did it rather dramatically, but luckily was all fine.
Newgarden was unlucky to be the innocent bystander as the cars either side of him didn’t know they were 3 wide, causing one to tag him, puncturing both his tyres. Kirkwood and Kellett had incidents which ended their races.
Whilst it may have been a great race to watch, there are legitimate safety concerns being raised about the aeroscreen. Remember though that this was the first wet race with it in place, and fixes were already being planned, so it isn’t a disaster yet. The length of yellows was also rather disappointing, especially when it is a great race being shown on US network TV. Indy 500 is next, and whilst there won’t be bumping, I am sure it will still be two weeks full of action!
-M
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