An idyllic grid lead from the first pole of his career turned into an absolute nightmare at first, but nightmares sometimes have happy endings. At least, that’s how it has happened in the penultimate chapter of this novel, which is the IndyCar Series in 2021 for Álex Palou, who has obtained his third victory at the Portland Grand Prix it’s from the season. All this, after having reached position 18 at the beginning of the event after a chaotic exit, later resolved thanks to the strategy and a touch of fortune that was sorely lacking in the last two races.
The Ganassi driver was flagging all his competitors for the second time this year, but was the victim of an overly optimistic attack by Felix Rosenqvist at Turn 1. The Swedish driver, fourth on the grid, dived for Palou and Scott Dixon while they were in parallel and touched the New Zealander when he braked a little early, forcing them all and Alexander Rossi to go long at the opening chicane. In turn, from behind it was generated again the usual chaos at Festival Curves.
Loading tweet …
1437141598647857155
Oliver Askew was blown away trying to dodge Graham Rahal, Romain Grosjean ran past until colliding with James Hinchcliffe, and Callum Ilott attacked the apex too quickly, taking Hélio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden with him. The race was neutralized for 10 laps while everything was rearranged, this fact being controversial due to a decision apparently agreed in a previous briefing that not all the drivers and teams understood: cars that had jumped the chicane had to resume their march to the back of the grid.
Dixon and Palou had fallen to fourth and sixth positions after their departure, but this decision placed them in 18th and 19th places.. Rossi (who started in the front row and went from 8th to 22nd place), in addition to Rosenqvist and Colton Herta, were paid with the same coin: five of the top seven on the grid. All of them, except Herta, opted for refuel during this yellow, a decision that would play in their favor later. In the lead, Pato O’Ward was the first to draw the chicane around the site and managed to place himself ahead of Graham Rahal, Ed Jones and other drivers highly benefited by the situation, such as Marcus Ericsson, Sébastien Bourdais or Scott McLaughlin.
The race remained fairly stable until the first stops were made. Those who went to short stints stopped between laps 21 and 31, while the rest lasted until turn 41. It was here that Rahal managed to overtake O’Ward for the lead of the event, while McLaughlin and Pagenaud stood behind him by lengthening his detention. In the middle of these traffic situations, Dixon, Palou and Rossi took advantage to distance themselves from the rest of the pilots on the alternate strategy until stopping at laps 44 and 45. Having stopped a lap later, Palou managed to pit his teammate, coming two places ahead in tenth place.
Loading tweet …
1437171800350330880
The ‘overcut’ (lengthening the stints) had proven to be the winning option. There was no option to see how these options would converge naturally, as five laps later there was another caution for separate mechanical issues from Ilott and Dalton Kellett. Race Direction waited for the yellow flag until everyone who wanted to pit, and five drivers took the opportunity: O’Ward, McLaughlin, Pagenaud, Ericsson and Bourdais. What seemed an advantage to them ended up becoming a disadvantage, since the rest of the pilots would be able to finish their careers with just one more stop without excessive savings.
Especially, it was particularly troublesome for an O’Ward riding hard tires for a stint in the middle of the grid, adding to this less-ideal situation is a lack of top speed. With this, instead of advancing, it fell from 12th to 15th position. Rahal held the lead ahead of Ed Jones and Jack Harvey, but with a very committed strategy compared to that of Palou, Dixon and Rossi. In between was Newgarden, and Dixon tried to pass him, but his maneuver it only served to make Rossi account for both in the highlight.
Again, a quiet run for everyone without much fanfare until the last period of stops, where the ‘overcut’ was once again powerful, especially against Rahal and Jones for being the first to stop, Harvey came out of the pits in front of both, but was surprised by a Palou who made his final stop three laps later. Likewise, Dixon and Rossi also advanced at the expense of Harvey and Rahal, but the American was smarter to overtake Dixon and clinch second true race position.
Loading tweet …
1437173412049440770
The race would be interrupted twice more by the spins of Simon Pagenaud (after touching with his partner Will Power) and Oliver Askew (after touching with Sébastien Bourdais), but two excellent Palou highlights and a good rhythm on the hard used it was enough to contain the pack of drivers chasing him with the soft, especially a Rossi thirsty for victory since the beginning of 2019. In this way, Palou held on in the lead during the last quarter of the race until he saw an impressive checkered flag before than anyone.
This is how Álex Palou added a new notch to the record that he has premiered this year with triumphs in Barber and Road America, all of them permanent circuits like the one in Portland. A triumph that, in addition, allows him to regain the leadership of the championship and impose a 25-point lead over O’Ward, who could only be fourteenth. McLaren SP’s mistake in biting the panic hook with Callum Ilott’s yellow and an underlying engine problem has cost him all the advantage he flushed out in the last races, and forces him again to put the direct in the final two appointments .
Rossi’s second place It is the Andretti Autosport driver’s first podium since the two achieved at Harvest GP in October 2020, while Dixon kept his title chances relatively intact with his fourth podium of the season. All of them involved in the accident at the beginning, and all of them winners at the end of the day. Harvey finished for the second time this year at the gates of the podium on a Newgarden that raised a counterfeit strategy, and Rosenqvist posted his best result of the year in sixth place over Ericsson, Herta, McLaughlin (second top-10 on the road) and a frustrated Rahal whose win drought has continued since 2017.
The West Coast tour that will decide the IndyCar champion will continue next week in Laguna Seca with the Monterey Grand Prix, before the Long Beach Grand Prix dispute puts an end to a title fight that continues to be filled with twists and turns and script changes everywhere. Now, it is Álex Palou who regains his inertia after an almost perfect weekend on his part, and more than necessary to regain his status as the rival to beat. The Spanish has once again taken the target from O’Ward’s back, and he will wear it in the Corkscrew. Let it be what the fried chicken wants.