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IndyCar will take to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois this weekend, as the thirteenth round of the 2021 championship gets underway.

The action will run from Friday to Saturday. Instead of the race taking place on Sunday, it will take place on Saturday just as it did for last weekend’s Big Machine Grand Prix due to NASCAR being staged the day after.

The last of an incredible triple-header culminates with the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, with plenty of drama to look forward to.

PALOU SET FOR ENGINE PENALTY

Alex Palou’s engine failure at Indianapolis is a serious setback for the Spanish driver’s aspirations for the IndyCar title. He still leads the championship but would have preferred to have left Indianapolis with 50 points over Patricio O’Ward rather than the current tally of 21 with Scott Dixon a further 13 behind. That may seem like a big buffer, but with a race win worth 50 points, a single retirement could eliminate the Spaniard’s championship position.

Further to Palou’s misery will be the six-grid place penalty he is set to take for his second extra engine following the mechanical failure at Indianapolis. Incredibly, engines have been something of a recurring problem for Palou. He broke his first in a preseason test and was left with only three engines – the limit being four. He had to start with a new engine at Indy, which cost him six grid spots at Detroit and had to change the engine again for Nashville – yet another six places.

However, he can take some comfort in the fact that it has happened at a circuit where it is possibly the least difficult to overtake out of those that remain in the calendar – or is it?

In theory, it is easier to overtake on an oval than on road courses. But Gateway is almost an exception to the rule. It is a short, ‘egg’ shaped circuit that is barely two kilometres in length. Therefore, the straights are shorter than on average ovals meaning traffic may become a big problem.

O’WARD TO SEIZE OPPORTUNITY?

Patricio O’Ward wouldn’t have believed his luck when he saw championship rival Palou retire in the closing stages last weekend. He started on pole position and was in an incredibly advantageous position to capitalise in the points standings. Unfortunately, starting on the red ‘soft-wall’ tyres seemed to hamper his progress, slowly falling down the order and eventually *behind* Palou, who had started sixth.

The Mexican has the opportunity to further capitalise at Gateway – a circuit where he performed extremely well in 2020. He finished third and second at the double-header weekend and was only outscored on points by Scott Dixon (himself finishing first and fifth).

Moreover, O’Ward has performed extremely well at the other oval tracks this year where a fourth-place at the Indianapolis 500 was arguably eclipsed by a magnificent double-header weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, finishing third before on his way to achieving his first career IndyCar victory.

Despite that, it has been Honda that has had the advantage over Chevrolet across both ovals this year so it is obviously not a clear cut as to who will come out on top this weekend.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN MAKES HIS OVAL DEBUT 

Dayle Coyne Racing with Rick Ware driver Romain Grosjean will make his IndyCar oval debut at Gateway, following on from a successful test at the same venue last month.

The French-Swiss driver has been a hit in the championship since leaving Formula 1 and embarking on a part-time IndyCar schedule, in which he is contesting the road and street circuits.

He scored a Top 10 on his debut at Barber while the highlight of his season came with a pole position and runner-up finishes on the Indianapolis road course in both May and last weekend’s running.

He showed encouraging signs during a test at Gateway earlier this year where he clocked in less than half a second off the fastest time that day.

His best time was 25.3625 seconds, only marginally slower than the fastest race lap set last year by Takuma Sato with a 25.3039s.

DRIVER CHANGES

This race kicks off a number of driver changes as is customary on oval circuits. Those that drop out include RC Enerson, Christian Lundgaard, and Helio Castroneves.

Additionally, Max Chilton will step aside leaving Conor Daly to take up his seat while Ed Carpenter moves into the vacant seat at Ed Carpenter Racing.

Pietro Fittipaldi has been substituted in place of Grosjean for the ovals circuits this year. However, he will return to the team again, this time in place of Cody Ware.

Lastly, Tony Kanaan returns to pilot the 48′ Chip Ganassi instead of Jimmie Johnson.

Will Power withstood late pressure to take victory at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, his first of the season. The win is his fifth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and extends his winning streak across 14 seasons, having taken his first in 2007.

Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta rounded out the podium, with Alexander Rossi fourth, and Patricio O’Ward fifth after late drama with Championship leader Alex Palou.

O’Ward started on pole position having edged out Power by an incredible margin of 0.06s. He led the field away strongly able to pull out a two-second advantage over the Australian, having started on sticker red ‘alternative’ tyres. He tried to use them to an early benefit, pulling a gap on the rest of the field knowing that he would be on slower rubber in the middle stint.

However, it was Will Power, who also started on sticker ‘reds’, who pitted before O’Ward. The undercut worked wonders as the Arrow McLaren SP driver emerged less than one second ahead of Power. Unfortunately, on cold tyres there was little O’Ward could do. He fought bravely but it was Power who triumphed, diving down the inside at the penultimate corner on Lap 18 to take the race lead.

The day went from bad to worse for O’Ward, now on primary ‘blacks’, was now vulnerable to those on fresh ‘reds’. Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean made light work of the Mexican who found himself in fourth by Lap 30.

Conversely, it was ‘easy-street’ for Power who was able to pull out an eight-second gap on the rest of the field. He would eventually pit on Lap 38 for his second stop and emerge comfortably in the lead.

Meanwhile, Championship leader Alex Palou had emerged from the pits behind both Alexander Rossi and Jack Harvey in seventh. After his first pit-stop, he would make light work of them find himself immediately behind points rival O’Ward.

Danish Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard did extremely well to qualify fourth on his IndyCar debut. However, it was a difficult day as he lost a position to Herta off the start and then lost out to those who had perfected the undercut on their first stop. He found himself down in tenth after the first cycle but would eventually slip further down the order.

Will Power had an eight-second advantage over Colton Herta on Lap 40. That was, he did until he encountered traffic in the form of James Hinchcliffe who was fighting to stay on the lead lap. What played out was an intriguing position where Herta’s teammate could help slow down the race leader, as there are no blue flags in IndyCar. An eight-second advantage fell to four within a few laps.

The final pit stops took place around Lap 60 with Power emerging ahead of Herta, now under immediate pressure from Romain Grosjean. This would prove to be Herta’s undoing as he proceeded to use up his remaining ‘Push-to-Pass’ to defend. Yet, the gap to Power continued to fall down to two seconds.

That was until Championship leader Alex Palou stopped on Lap 68 with a mechanical issue bringing out the first caution of the day. Luckily for Power, the safety car would bring Hinchcliffe out of his way and would have clean air with a significant ‘Push-to-Pass’ advantage over his rivals.

On the restart, Power got away cleanly while Grosjean courageously overtook Herta into Turn One for second place. The French-Swiss racer found himself fending off the American for the final laps having used up his ‘Push-to-Pass’ while attacking Herta.

Rinus VeeKay brought out the final caution following contact with Penske’s Scott McLaughlin which sent the Dutchman into a spin. On the restart, it was a good getaway again for Power who used up his remaining 70s of ‘Push-to Pass’ to cruise home to the chequered flag.

The victory is a huge relief for the Australian who came so agonizingly close to a win at Detroit before he was forced to retire following a late red flag where his ECU overheated.

It would be a second podium of the season for Grosjean who still continues to impress in his rookie IndyCar season while Jack Harvey, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the Top 10.

Christian Lundgaard impressed on his debut with a late-recovery to finish 12th, pulling off a sensational overtake on Dixon into Turn One.

Palou had entered the race with a 42-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and by 48 points over O’Ward. Going off sequence with an early pit stop, Dixon finished 13th and at least salvaged some points from starting 26th.

Palou’s advantage at the top of the championship has now been slashed to 21 points over O’Ward who moves into second place in the standings. The Spaniard will likely take a penalty for the next race at Gateway due to his need to change his engine due to his retirement.

We didn’t have to wait long for IndyCar as we prepare for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

This 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course will play host to the eleventh round of the championship. Since its inception, the road course has always been seen as the ‘warm-up’ act on the lead-up to Indianapolis 500, traditionally on a Saturday two weeks prior. However, the 2021 calendar included a *second* Indy GP to replace the cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix gave us an IndyCar spectacular like no other. Nine cautions and two red flags were enough to make any keen viewer dumbfounded as the chequered flag dropped.

Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Resurgence?

Nevertheless, Marcus Ericsson left Nashville a two-time IndyCar race winner and added a fascinating twist to the title fight. Who would have thought that before the start of the season?

In fact,  he was unfortunate not to win at Mid-Ohio as he chased down Josef Newgarden to the line. Since his first win in Detroit Ericsson has been a revelation, justifying Chip Ganassi’s decision to sign him and perhaps unleashing a level of performance that has always been there.

Importantly, he has finished ahead of his six-time champion teammate Scott Dixon 4 out of the last 6 times of asking and in doing so has thrown himself into championship contention.

Alex Palou sits comfortably in the lead on 410 points with his next closest competitor Scott Dixon trailing by 42 points. Patricio O’Ward is a further 6 behind. However, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson are only a couple of wins away from leapfrogging many of their aforementioned rivals, both on 335 and 331 respectively.

Three out of the top five in the championship are Chip Ganassi Racing, which underlines the impressive level of performance and consistency they have reached.  However, it remains to be seen how the team will be able to manage the driver battles as we draw closer to the business end of the season.

Christian Lundgaard Makes His Debut With Rahal Letterman

Rahal Letterman Lanigan announced on Monday that the team will enter FIA Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard into the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Danish driver recently tested with the team at Barber Motorsports Park and is a member of the Alpine Driver Academy, a program originally known as the Renault F1 Academy set up in 2002 to nurture and develop young drivers through their careers.

The news comes as RLL prepares to evaluate drivers in anticipation of expanding to a third entry.

McLaren Acquires Majority Stake in IndyCar Team

In a surprise announcement earlier this week, the McLaren Racing Group announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Arrow McLaren SP team.

The partnership, which saw McLaren partner with the former Arrow Schmidt Peterson team has seen remarkable success in their short time together. They were able to build on their five podiums in only their first season to achieve two wins in 2021 while sitting third in the drivers’ championship.

It is believed that they will acquire a 75% majority stake in the team which would give them complete control over drivers and whether to expand to a third car entry, something they are widely expected to do.

As part of the agreement, the Arrow McLaren team will be headed by a new management structure which will be comprised of, team founder Sam Schmidt, co-owner Ric Peterson, McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown and Taylor Kiel, the president of Arrow McLaren.

Who To Watch Out For?

Colton Herta was unfortunate not to win at Nashville, having dominated the whole weekend and being within touching distance of victory.

Having found himself in fourth after the penultimate caution, he made light work of James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon before hunting down Marcus Ericsson. However, his race ended with five laps to go as he locked up and went straight into the wall at Turn 9.

A victory at Nashville would have propelled Herta into the championship fight and will be looking to bounce back in spectacular fashion. He is no stranger to success at the IMS, finishing twice in the Top Five at the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix.

Rinus VeeKay won last time out at the IMS after usurping pole-sitter Romain Grosjean in the closing stages. Could they be a factor again this weekend?