Rossi won three years later, Power was the new leader and Palou finished tenth

alexander rossi (Andretti Autosport) returned to the top of the drawer after three years, winning this Saturday in a Gallagher GP who raised Will Power (Team Penske) in first place overall in Indycar and it saw the Spaniard Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi) finish with tenth position.

Fifty races have passed since my last time alexander rossi He crossed the finish line first and this Saturday the Californian triumphed with merit, as he led 44 of the 85 laps on the mixed track of the historic Indianapolis circuit.

The happiness on the face of the Honda driver was obvious: “I feel very relieved. I feel sorry for Colton (Herta), really. But I’m grateful that we were finally presented with this situation. My credit to Andretti Autosport for continued belief”.

Rossi and his team did not choose a bad scenario to return to the front. Doing it in Indianapolis is always special: “We still have one more thing to do, but it’s always a good track for us, we’re coming home to Indianapolis. That’s really amazing.”

The other correct name of the day is Danish Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan), second classified and always the star of the entire route. It was his first podium and the points gained allowed him to make the difference in the overall ‘rookies’ of the season, leading it by more than twenty points over the American David Malukas.

“I wasn’t very happy in practice, we improved in qualifying and look where we ended up,” said Lundgaard, not forgetting the legendary circuit where he climbed the box for the first time: “Indianapolis, this is the place if where I’d rather reach a podium “.

Third is a Will Power rising to the lead in the overall standings, proving to be, for another week, the most regular of all drivers despite having only one Grand Prix.

This is the seventh podium of the season for him: “The goal from the beginning of the year is to be consistent, this is what we do, we have to be like this every day, every race”.

With four races to go in the championship, Will Power nine points ahead of a Marcus Ericson (Chip Ganassi) who at Indianapolis could only be eleventh. third is Joseph Newgarden (Team Penske) 32 points from the lead and fourth Scott Dixon up to 38.

The two Spanish-speaking drivers maintain remote options to fight for the championship Duck O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) and Alex Palouwho are fifth and sixth respectively overall on 46 and 52 points behind the Power.

The Mexican was left aspiring on the second lap when he was hit and spun his car, dropping to last position. An incident in which Marcus Ericsson and Jimmie Johnson were also involved. O’Ward managed to return to a decisive twelfth position.

A Alex Palou The defense of his crown began to be complicated, as he finished tenth in the Gallagher GP losing positions with respect to the seventh position in which he started the race.

He never made it into the leadership positions at Indianapolis and was unable to give his new look silver ‘American Legion’ car much exposure.

Star of the cross for Andretti Autosport Colton Herthawho was firmly leading the race until lap 42 due to mechanical problems, his car lost power and he was forced to retire.

“There’s nothing I can do,” he told his mechanic over the radio as his car hurtled into the pit-entry corner,” he said.

the brazilian Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing) showed a very aggressive driving, causing several contacts with other cars in his attempts to overtake in the race and was penalized by the organization to the last position on lap number 50, managing to finish in the top twenty classifieds.

The next round of the Indycar championship is next weekend in Nashville with the Big Machine Music City GP, an urban circuit where Marcus Ericsson already knows what it feels like to win, the Swede needs to repeat the victory in order not to continue at the loss of options. in the championship.