Indianapolis 500: Alex Palou wins Indianapolis and reaches 500 miles as IndyCar leader

INvictory, leadership and Alex Palu’s power coup in the first chapter of the magical month of May in IndyCar: IndiGP. Repeating the same scenario as last year, the Catalan you crossed out the first cell scenario that should eventually unlock – this time yes – 500 miles: He victory in the Indianapolis road race.

And he did it, making a decent career, pilot and wall match perfectly overcome the pressure of two great riders such as Christian Lundgaard (RLLR) and Will Power (Penske). These three were the main characters… but there was only one winner, and that was the Spaniard.

From smallest to largest

The first part of the race was unsuccessful for the Spaniard. At the start, Palu made a small mistake when braking at the end of a straight line. A lot of time has passed and this cost him his position in Lundgaard. And that Palu preferred to use soft (used) models rather than hard ones, which both the Dane and Will Power.

First stop Ganassi, who are usually the strength of the Indianapolis team. He time The Spaniard’s stop not only did not help him overtake Lundgaard (both pitted on the same lap), but also forced him Palu came out with cold tires ahead of Power., which were heavy but very hot (I had stopped at a lap earlier). And this was crucial for the Australian took second place…at least for a moment.

However… at the second stop Ganassi did not make the same mistake and with amazing cut they planted Palou in front of Power and Lundgaard. Great job on the strategy and garages the Catalan used, holding the Danish rider while he warmed up his used soft tires (saving the new ones for last).

Champion already I was in the position I wanted… and I wasn’t going to forgive.. Palou earned a five-second advantage in this soft game, which was enough to last stop with some reserve. Moreover, the first four (Palow, Lundgaard, Power and Dixon) stopped on the same lap, so there was no opportunity to discuss the position with the leader.

The situation was fabulous for Palu: leader, with an advantage over three rivals (who, moreover, were going to fight among themselves for the podium), a greater push to pass and better tires (the only ones with the new soft ones). The only thing that could complicate it… is the color yellow. And appeared due to the spin of Ghiotto, who tightened things up with 16 laps left.

Palu spent some time problem with Power at the beginningBut ‘he stretched out his elbows’ and did not miss the Australian. And from there, played his trickswhich were much better than Penske’s to provide comfortable (and valuable) victory.

Nice return from Hertha

Another highlight of the day was the current IndyCar leader, Colton Hertha… who had “papelon”, starting from the tail platoon And, if that wasn’t enough, he found himself involved in departure incident with Eriksson (his teammate!) sending him to the grass.

Luckily for him, the Indianapolis route is a track where may be advanced and indeed, halfway through the race he was already in top 10, although it is based on finding a different tire strategy than the leader strategy. In the end, he retained a very commendable 7th place…not good enough, yes, to hold the lead.

Just as Indy GP closed today… It’s time for the big event: the Indianapolis 500.. Winning this race will now focus on the work of the 34 drivers who will take part… and now from Tuesday, with the start of training which will lead next weekend to qualifying session.