The New Zealand pilot Scott McLaughlin led the Portland Grand Prix with authority this Sundaypenultimate race of the 2022 IndyCar season and that leaving Álex Palou, the current champion, with no options to retain the title.
It’s hard to win with more force than McLaughlin, who was fastest in qualifying and was fastest in the race again, led the race by more than a hundred laps.
It was the third victory this season for a McLaughlin who happily got out of the car.
“The whole weekend was very fast. We are happy to win and increase all possible points. My next challenge is that: I hope one day to win the championship. You have to have dreams, dream big,” he assured the broadcast of American.
For the seventeenth time the IndyCar title will be decided in the final race, this time at Laguna Seca.
Next weekend, this famous circuit in Monterrey (California, USA) will crown one of the five drivers still eligible to relieve a Palou was ruled out after his twelfth-place finish in Portland, after starting fourththis leaves him mathematically with no options (he is 66 points from the head).
The Mexican Pato O’Ward, 67 points behind the leader, cannot be the champion either.
Leading the overall standings is Australian Will Power (Team Penske), who finished second in Portland and who just needs to finish in the top three at Monterey.
In that case, he will be able to repeat the success he already achieved in the 2014 edition, when he reaches the final stage of the season as champion.
Power sees the championship as a prize for all his teammates.
“I want to win a championship for the people I’ve been with on my team for over a decade. I want to win for them. It’s still very difficult, we’re in the best position and we’ll do our best.”
The overall leader will have four title threats at Laguna Seca: two Team Penske teammates in the form of Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin and two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers in the form of Australian Scott Dixon and Swedish Marcus Ericsson.
Newgarden and Dixon are within 20 points of the Power and they came with a very different feeling after Portland.
The former, after the penalty on Saturday, had to start the race six positions behind, his team failed both in strategy and in the choice of tires and finished eighth.
Disappointed after the race, Newgarden said it had been a “tough day”.
“We’re in the race, we’re going to Laguna Seca to try to be faster. At this point everything is what it is, it’s been a weird year. We will play to win and see what happens,” he said.
For his part, Dixon starred in one of Portland’s great comebacks as he started sixteenth and finished third.
After the race’s only yellow flag start (Rinus VeeKay pushed Jimmie Johnson into the wall and forced him to retire), the Chip Ganassi Racing driver took advantage of a gap between Power and O’Ward to move up to fourth and, eventually, took advantage of the Mexican penalty to reach the podium.
O’Ward, fourth in the race, expressed his discomfort with the organization for what happened: “I hope IndyCar makes the same decision when someone hurts me too“.
The Mexican was disappointed not to be able to offer the podium to the hundreds of fans from his country who came to cheer him on.
“These people come from far away, they are Mexicans who live in this part of the United States, we have several groups. I am happy that they are here,” he said.
In another sense, Ericsson does not look like a serious threat to Power at Laguna Seca even if he has a mathematical chance (he is 39 points behind).
He himself, who has been the leader of the general in several sections of the season, made it clear when he finished in Portland.
“To be honest, the championship is very far away now, I would like to win the race and see where I stay, that’s all I’m thinking about right now,” he said.
With his victory in Portland, McLaughlin earned the right to compete until the final day for the title although he has few options as he is at 41 Power points.
One of the photos of the day in Portland starred Conor Daly in his pit stops as, in all his returns to the track, his car caught fire for a few seconds, eventually being forced to retire on lap number 72.
“I was burned several times, I felt the fire on my shoulders“, he explained.
The Monterrey Grand Prix, the last of the seventeen that will be held this 2022 season and which will determine who is the champion, will be held next Sunday, September 11.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
