Enzo Fittipaldi pulled off an opportunistic pass to claim the Indy NXT win in the Detroit Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Brazilian-American, driving the #67 HMD Motorsports entry with a damaged front nose and wing, vaulted from third to first on Lap 29 of 42 (45 scheduled; moved to a timed race) and took the checkered flag under caution around the 1.645-mile, nine-turn street circuit. It marks his second win of the season.
The winning move came as Myles Rowe (Abel Motorsports) attempted a late diving pass on Tymek Kucharczyk (HMD Motorsports), which sent both wide in Turn 3 and allowed Fittipaldi to squeeze through for the opportunistic pass.
“I pushed as hard as I could,” Fittipaldi said. “I was losing a lot of time through (Turns) 6 and 7. Yeah, it was quite difficult down the straight; I could feel the air coming through my legs. I said, ‘Man, this is not good. We’re definitely dragging a lot on the straight.’ It was hard to keep that lead and keep up with the guys.
“And I found pace. I was really, really fast. Happy to get the win. We started seventh and we won the race. I love to race. I’m a racer, and I absolutely love this race. Amazing. The boys did a great job. Everyone at HMD, absolutely amazing. Super happy.”
Rowe ended up second, with Kucharczyk taking third. Max Garcia (Abel Motorsports) charged from 13th to finish fourth, ahead of Seb Murray (Andretti Global) in fifth.
Fittpaldi leaves Detroit with the championship lead with 266 points, ahead of Nikita Johnson (-7), Kucharczyk (-8), Max Taylor (-38), and Lochie Hughes (-90).
The Race
Leading the field to the alternate start from pole, AJ Foyt Racing’s Alessandro de Tullio ended up being plowed from behind as Hughes (Andretti Global), who started fifth, locked up entering the corner. Fellow front row mate Taylor (Andretti Global) went to the runoff to avoid the incident.
The crash brought out the caution, which Kucharczyk, who started third, went through and took over the race lead, ahead of JM Correa (Cusick Morgan Motorsports), and Fittipaldi.
Following an extended caution, Kucharczyk led the field to the restart on Lap 9.
Meanwhile, Hughes was given a 30s stop-and-hold penalty by Race Control for his part of the opening lap contact on de Tullio. Correa was also handed a drive-thru penalty for avoidable contact on the opening lap, with replays not showing any contact taking place. Additionally, the run of penalties continued as Taylor was also handed a drive-thru penalty for jumping the restart.
Meanwhile, at the front it was Kucharczyk putting a gap on the field, with a 3.2579s advantage over Fittipaldi by Lap 13. Kucharczyk’s lead went down to 1.5s by Lap 20, but it was Rowe that began to find a rhythm and flew by Fittipaldi in Turn 3 and closed on the rear wing of the leader.
On Lap 22, Rowe was within 0.4s behind Kucharczyk. A caution for debris came out on Lap 26, bringing the field back together.
Kucharczyk led the field to the restart on Lap 29, with the field getting through Turn 1 unscathed. However, Rowe made a late push to the inside for the lead in Turn 3, but both went wide and it allowed Fittipaldi sweep through and take over the lead.
However, another caution came out on Lap 31 after Niels Koolen (Chip Ganassi Racing) was stuffed into the tire barrier in Turn 8.
The race was moved to a timed race moments later, with the restart coming with just over 10m to go (Lap 34). Fittipaldi led the field through Turn 1 and gapped Rowe enough to prevent a charge in Turn 3.
Fittipaldi, with a dangling front wing, continued to lead, holding a 0.7s gap over Rowe and 1.3s over Kucharczyk with 7m to go.
Taylor, who restarted 22nd, was up to eighth with five minutes to go in the race in a stellar damage control drive. Correa also moved back into the top 10, taking the final spot.
However, it was all gone for Taylor, whose brilliant comeback ended into the tire barrier in Turn 1. A caution followed with 3m to go as Taylor exited the car.
The race ended under caution, handing the win to Fittipaldi, followed by Rowe and Kucharczyk.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
