Category: Indycar

Alex Palou sealed the 2021 IndyCar championship with a measured and controlled race finishing in fourth for the final round at Long Beach, California which was won by Colton Herta. The Andretti Autosport driver finished the season in style with his third win of the season from 14th on the grid.

Josef Newgarden started on pole position ahead of Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves. Herta, who had been on the pace all weekend collided with the wall in qualifying meaning he started down in 14th, but it didn’t take long for the American to carve through the field – within a few laps he was already up to sixth with some incredible late-braking maneuvers on Romain Grosjean and Alex Palou.

Alex Palou started tenth and drove a tentative first half of the race as a Top 12 would be enough to seal the Spaniards first IndyCar title in his sophomore year. He made up a few places but largely remained in the upper half of the Top Ten.

The championship saw a dramatic turn as Palou’s primary rival, Patricio O’Ward was spun by Ed Jones and immediately fell to the rear of the field. However, he suffered further damage to the driveshaft and was forced to retire from the race effectively ending his title hopes to the delight of Alex Palou.

At this point, Newgarden was the only other contender, albeit a win and for Palou to retire would be the only perceivable permutation that would see the American seal his third championship – a long shot!

However, a long shot was all that Newgarden needed and he led the race up until shortly after the second caution of the race, brought out by the Chip Ganassi of Marcus Ericsson, who crashed into the wall after failing to pull off a move on Alexander Rossi. On the restart, Herta set about clearing Dixon and eventually passed Josef Newgarden for the net lead around Lap 35.

After clearing Newgarden, Herta pulled out almost a seven-second lead and putting the Penske driver effectively out of championship contention.

With O’Ward and Newgarden falling short,  Palou was in fifth and didn’t need to make up any more places in the race. But despite that, he continued pushing forward and putting the pressure on Hinchcliffe in front around Lap 37.

Alex Palou tried to take Hinchcliffe into Turn 1 but it was the Canadian who was later on the brakes to win out that fight, the Spaniard deciding to live to fight another day. In fact, soon after the second pit stop cycles got underway where Palou was able to jump Hinchcliffe in the pits.

Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean was in a title fight of his own, hunting down the prestigious ‘Rookie of the Year’ award. By Lap 37 he was up to seventh having gotten past Alexander Rossi around the outside of the fountain section. The Swiss-Frenchman only needed another 12 points to eclipse Scott McLaughlin.

Unfortunately, he would retire soon after with a rear-left suspension failure essentially gifting the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title to McLaughlin.

After the second set of pit stops, the overall situation at the front had not changed that much. A late caution brought out by a collision between Oliver Askew and Conor Daly threatened to shake things up with around 20 laps remaining.

On the restart, Colton Herta got a fantastic launch and was able to hold Newgarden off by just over a second ahead of Dixon, Palou, and Pagenaud. However, with five laps remaining Newgarden brought the gap down to less than half a second a put a great deal of pressure on Herta.

In the end, it was Herta who crossed the line to take his seventh career win ahead of Newgarden, Dixon, Palou, and Pagenaud. O’Ward briefly attempted to return to the track later in the race but fail to rescue any more points.

Rounding out the Top Ten was Alexander Rossi, Jack Harvey, Sebastien Bourdais, Takuma Sato, and Will Power. Helio Castroneves stayed out on a counter-strategy, refusing to pit after the first safety car, he was quickly swallowed up later in the race and finished down in 20th.

Both Rinus VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson, and Callum Ilott were the other three retirements from the race.

Palou, would be the new and deserving champion of IndyCar – the youngest since Scott Dixon at the age of 23 in 2003 finishing 38 points over new second-place man, Newgarden, as O’Ward slipped to third, just ahead of Dixon.

Ericsson’s retirement and Herta’s sixth career victory meant the Andretti Autosport driver moved up to fifth in the championship.

 

 

IndyCar returns this weekend for the final time this season, as California’s Long Beach plays host to the championship showdown between Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou and Arrow McLaren’s Patricio O’Ward.

Palou has a commanding lead with three wins and eight podiums to his name, the most out of any driver. This mix of consistency and speed has given him a sizable 35-point advantage over O’Ward with 54 points on offer for the season finale.

What this means is Palou can take the championship on Sunday as long as he finishes 11th or better This situation becomes even better if the Spaniard is able to seize pole position and lead the race into Turn One which would give him the extra two points to make 15th enough for the title.

Patricio O’Ward has everything to do this weekend and more. Without bonus points, the minimum target is third to stay with a shout of Palou’s points tally. But in reality, the Mexican needs to win and his nearest rival to be beset with issues.

The first thing on O’Ward’s mind will be to take pole position, putting himself in control of Sunday’s proceedings. He has the leading number of pole positions this year and has a good track record at street circuits, including a double podium at Detroit. But we have learned to expect the unexpected in IndyCar, and who knows what could happen to those in the mid-pack throughout a full race distance.

Of course, this provides Palou doesn’t qualify near the front – which unfortunately for O’Ward, he has – in four of the last five occasions, the Spaniard has qualified in the Top Six.

O’Ward has the slight advantage of having raced here once before in 2019, but how much that will favor the Mexican remains to be seen. In any case, it is set to be a thriller of a showdown with either driver set to take their first IndyCar title and become the youngest champion since Scott Dixon at age 23.

Is the Runner-Up Position Up For Grabs?

The short answer is, yes.

While O’Ward remains in the hunt for the title, he is still within reach of a host of drivers who, until last week, were within championship contention.

Josef Newgarden is mathematically in with a chance of the title himself but is adrift by a whopping 48 points. The two-time champion’s hopes of a third are remote, but not impossible. Effectively, a win and for both O’Ward and Palou to retire will do.

Therefore, we must turn our attention to what is entirely realistic. He is only 13 points behind O’Ward and could sneak into the runner-up position in the standings by Sunday evening. Scott Dixon is 34 points behind the Mexican and has won at this track on two occasions, could he sweep in under the radar and make it a one-two for Chip Ganassi in the standings?

Two-Way Rookie of the Year Fight

There are remarkably few names to watch out for this year as the two premier contenders for this award are between Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Dayle Coyne’s Romain Grosjean.

McLaughlin holds a 20-point lead over the Swiss Frenchman, with one podium to his name versus three in Romain’s favor. In fact, the latter is coming off a magnificent showing at Leguna Seca where an electric final stint saw him climb up to third having started outside the Top Ten.

However, you may be remiss in forgetting that Grosjean has missed three races this season, due to agreeing not to take part in the first few ovals on the season including the Indianapolis 500 worth double points. Therefore, to be only 20 points behind heading into the final race is remarkably impressive and by all accounts should be considered the Rookie of the Year no matter where he finishes.

He has found a place to call home in the IndyCar series, with a new lease of life where he has pulled of some incredible qualifying performances and overtakes along the way. No doubt he is part of the IndyCar family and will likely earn himself a place at the highly sought-after Andretti team next year.

Watch out for Herta and Rossi

Put simply, Herta is our most recent race winner and has been one of the most in-form drivers in the second half of the season. He took his seventh IndyCar victory and will likely want to finish the season in style.

Meanwhile, Alexander Rossi has taken the victory at Long Beach on the past two consecutive visits to the famous street course. He qualified on the front row at Leguna Seca and was pushing his teammate for the win until unfortunately spinning out of contention on Lap Two. Both will undoubtedly be the ones to watch to steal the limelight this weekend.

Colton Herta did what Colton Herta usually does, dominating from pole position to take his sixth career victory at Leguna Seca.

Herta led the field cleanly ahead of Alexander Rossi, Will Power, and Alex Palou. However, on Lap Two, it was Rossi who tried to capitalise on a brief mistake by Herta, diving down the inside of Turn Two. The Andretti drivrt understeered into Herta and spun out into the gravel bringing out the first caution of the day. Meanwhile, Arrow McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist spun but was able to return to the track and get racing again.

After the first lap, the championship leaders were in fourth (Palou), fifth (Dixon), sixth (O’Ward), and 17th (Newgarden).

IndyCar will take to the WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca, California this weekend for Round 15, as we sprint towards the conclusion of the 2021 season.

The penultimate round will run from Friday to Sunday with a maximum of 54 points on offer before we bookend the championship with the final race at Long Beach, California.

This is always an incredibly popular destination, with the famous ‘Corkscrew’ section, and with plenty of fast sweeps and narrow apexes to navigate around the 2.2-mile circuit, as well as a tricky pit lane that could cause some chaos in the race.

The title fight has also taken an interesting turn following the events of Portland with only a handful of contenders still mathematically in contention.

Can Anyone Stop Alex Palou?

The Spaniard went into Portland ten points behind rival Patricio O’Ward and on the first lap, you would be remiss in thinking he may have lost his championship hopes.

However, after falling down the order a fantastic two-stop strategy, helped by a few cautions, allowed him to fight up the order and take his third win of the season.

A 35-point swing in Palou’s favor means he now leads O’Ward by 25 points. Newgarden is third in the standings, 34 points behind Palou. Dixon is 49 points behind in fourth, and Ericsson, now the last driver that is mathematically eligible to win the championship is fifth, and 75 points behind.

But should we really be surprised? He has shown remarkable speed, consistency, and maturity beyond his years, and had it not been for a run of misfortune he would have definitely been out of reach in the points standings.

For example, Palou was set for a Top Five finish at the recent outing at the IMS road course before a frustrating engine failure spelled the end of his race. He has also faced grid penalties due to engine changes resulting in a nine-grid place penalty and starting 21st at Gateway. But after carving through the over 60 Laps the Spaniard would be collecting in a three-car crash out of his control.

If you were to assume he would have finished fifth at IMS, disregard Gateway altogether, and take his average finishing position since Detroit Race Two it would be a remarkable third.

That consistency is what may seal the championship for Palou.

Concern for O’Ward?

The Mexican driver had no explanation for his lack of pace on Sunday, suggesting he lacked three-four mph on the straight as his race deteriorating after he switched on the black primary tyres.

It will be a concern that out of the previous three finishes outside the Top Ten this year, two of them were because of a lack of pace. He has struggled with consistency as of late and has only been able to complete three races in a row that he was happy with. This inconsistency could be the difference between being an IndyCar champion or not.

O’Ward definitely has the ability to pull it out of the bag on his day, evidenced with a series-leading four pole positions. Moreover, he set the pace during the pre-season test at Laguna Seca in March and has previously won here during his Pro Mazda Championship campaign in 2016.

Without a doubt, this is one of O’Ward’s most important races of his career.

Who Else Is In The Mix?

The three contenders that remain include Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Ericsson but realistically the first two are the ones that have a good chance.

Josef Newgarden is always on top form come to the tail end of the season, having had two wins and been inside the Top Ten at every race since Mid Ohio. His race at Portland saw him qualify near the back but was able to run a magnificent counter-strategy to finish inside the Top Five.

Scott Dixon remains without a win at Laguna Seca in his career and will be looking to steal a march on his high-flying teammate. A podium at Portland has rescued what has been a difficult few races for the New Zealander. However, the six-time world champion is accustomed to pressure and will now his objectives going into the final two rounds.

Colton Herta will be another one to watch out for after winning here in 2019 while Rinus VeeKay dominated the circuit during his Indy Lights campaign.