Kirkwood opens in Long Beach and Palou takes third place in the championship

The American Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Autosport) this Sunday achieved the first victory of his career in IndyCar with his success in Long Beach, while the Spanish Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi), who finished fifth in this event, is now third in contention for the championship.

kirkwoodwho beat his teammate, the Frenchman Romain Grosjean, in a close duel, was also the fastest in qualifying and managed to defend the first position in a very demanding race.

“When I crossed the finish line, it was a relaxation, I felt that I needed this win. I can’t thank enough the team, the strategy, the stops… and with Romain (Grosjean) behind me ,” commented the young driver. online. purpose in American broadcast.

Palou achieved a creditable fifth place in Long Beach allowing him to rise to third place overall with 91 points, four behind the second classified, the Mexican Duck O’Ward (Arrow McLaren), who was seventeenth this Sunday and thus lost the championship lead. The new driver at the helm of IndyCar is the Swede marcus ericsson (Chip Ganassi), who took 19 points from Palou.

This victory for Kirkwood (the third winner of three Grand Prix this year) allows him to climb fourteen positions in the table to be fifth and has only 21 points behind him separating the top four finishers.

kirkwood protected his pole position in a very competitive start where American Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) overtook four single-seaters, including Palou’s. The rivalry led to situations of maximum tension in the first pit stop, the role of the mechanics was mainly in strategy and newgarden he ventured to the limit trying to overtake a Kirkwood who miraculously saved his position by joining the track.

Newgarden led for 27 laps taking advantage of how chaotic the race was in its middle section. That lack of control made O’Ward one of the main protagonists, first in a parallel crash with Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi) that ended with the New Zealander crashing his car with protections and leave the race.

This action seems likely to end in a penalty for McLaren, but it is not so and to Dixonand seems very angry. “It’s a frustrating day. If this is how they want us to drive, I guess they’ll have to take off their gloves and start fighting,” he said.

O’WardAfter his career, he wanted to answer her forcefully: “I’m in and he’s out. If he feels it’s my mistake, I’m sorry, I don’t see it that way. I won’t apologize. for that. This is racing. If you’re from outside, you’re more vulnerable to what’s happening.”

Another miscalculation by O’Ward when the race reached the first third put his car in the middle of the track during a corner, affecting, among other things, a Palou who had to brake hard and lost many positions. Both drove for most of the race below the Top 10.

The driver from San Antonio Vilamajor was able to lead the test for two laps by delaying his tire change and benefiting from the fact that the others went through the pits. When he started, with 30 steps to go, he was in sixth position.

palou He completed a great finish of the race, placing fifth and putting a lot of distance with respect to his pursuer, Alexander Rossi (Arrow McLaren). In addition, he was less than a second behind Californian Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport). “We’re top 5 in the championship, that’s great. It was a great race in St. Pete and Texas, I’m happy where we are. We’ll fight these races until the Indy 500 and see where we are,” Palou said.

With 30 laps remaining, Kirkwood regained the lead at the second pit stop and Grosjean slipped to second place relegating a Newgarden who continued to lose positions until finishing ninth. The final stretch left an exciting rivalry between the two teammates like Kirkwood and Grosjean and in the end the American prevailed.

It remains to note that the Argentine Augustine Canapino (Juncos Hollinger) led the race for three laps benefiting from no pit stops. Shortly after, a hit to the wall forced him to leave for the first time in this debut season.

In two weeks the fourth round of the championship will be held in Alabama, the first traditional circuit of the 2023 IndyCar after running so far in two urban and one oval.