Palou Wins At Road America After Gearbox Problem Costs Newgarden Win
Grid Talk Reporter 20:25 20/06/2021
Álex Palou took his second win of the IndyCar season, as Josef Newgarden lost the victory on the penultimate lap when his car developed a gearbox problem in the REV Grand Prix at Road America.
Newgarden built up a 6.5s lead in an absolutely untouchable first stint, but a caution for Jimmie Johnson spinning erased that gap and put Palou on Newgarden’s tail. The pair were then glued together - within a second or two - for the rest of the race, until the last round of stops when Newgarden peeled off for fuel and tyres a lap earlier than Palou.
The undercut for Newgarden worked a treat as he emerged 2.5s to the good and on track to give Penske its first IndyCar win of the year, but there was another factor in the fight for the win as well as Palou. A lap 34 caution - for Arrow McLaren SP’s debutant driver Kevin Magnussen who had to stop on track when he lost power - meant four cars pitted in an attempt to stretch fuel saving and gamble on a late caution to jump to the front.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey from seventh was the most significant driver to attempt that strategy, but he was jumped by Oliver Askew - subbing for Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay who has a broken clavicle - after the stops and then fell back further with 10 laps to go. Max Chilton and Takuma Sato tried a similar strategy but those two drivers pitted inside the last 10 laps and then Askew came in with four to go.
Incredibly, as Askew was in the pits, a caution came out as Ed Jones had a tyre issue and spun at Canada Corner - bringing out the caution that likely would have won Askew the race. He finished 12th after his pitstop. That caution ended with two laps to go, and immediately on the front stretch Newgarden - who complained of being stuck in third gear earlier in the race - looked sluggish. Palou dived past into Turn 1 and then Newgarden fell all the way to the back of the order, trundling in emergency mode.
Palou becomes the second double-winner of the season, taking the points lead from the other driver with the same achievement, Pato O’Ward. Colton Herta started second and finished third, and had to work past Will Power and Alexander Rossi during his drive - with a particularly unruly Andretti car - before finishing ahead of Power, who was strong all day long. Scott Dixon pulled off an excellent drive to fourth. After he had started 13th he made sensible moves on track before undercutting a train of cars on the last pitstop to gain track position. The late caution helped keep his soft tyres alive longer, too.
Rookie Romain Grosjean was one of the stars of the race as he fought back from falling from fifth to 13th with a slow second stop. His bravery at Turn 5 was almost unmatched and he made brilliant passes there throughout the race including on Graham Rahal, and then fought series veteran Rossi wheel-to-wheel, disposing of him with a move around the outside at Turn 1 with fewer than 10 laps to go.
The next race is at Mid-Ohio on July 4th.
2021 REV Grand Prix Classification (USA Unless Stated)
1st. Álex Palou (ESP)
2nd. Colton Herta
3rd. Will Power (AUS)
4th. Scott Dixon (NZ)
5th. Romain Grosjean (FRA)
6th. Marcus Ericsson (SWE)
7th. Alexander Rossi
8th. Takuma Sato (JPN)
9th. Patricio O'Ward (MEX)
10th. Max Chilton (GBR)
11th. Graham Rahal
12th. Oliver Askew
13th. Ryan Hunter-Reay
14th. Scott McLaughlin (NZ)
15th. James Hinchcliffe (CAN)
16th. Sébastian Bourdais (SUI)
17th. Jack Harvey (GBR)
18th. Simon Pagenaud (FRA)
19th. Cody Ware
20th. Conor Daly
21st. Josef Newgarden
22nd. Jimmie Johnson
DNF: Ed Jones (UAE)
DNF: Kevin Magnussen (DEN)
DNF: Dalton Kellett (CAN)
