Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou survived mayhem in Motor City to win the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
The reigning and four-time IndyCar Series champion, who started on pole, held his composure despite numerous late restarts and fended off Kyle Kirkwood to win by 3.0584s at the 1.645-mile, nine-turn street circuit. It marks the fourth win of the season for Palou, and 23rd of his career (20th all-time alongside Tommy Milton).
Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) took third, behind Kirkwood (Andretti Global) and Palou, as part of a Honda sweep in Chevy’s home race.
Arrow McLaren’s duo of Pato O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist finished sixth in his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, ahead of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster in seventh. Marcus Ericsson (Andretti Global), Kyffin Simpson (Chip Ganassi Racing), and Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) rounded out the rest of the top 10.
The Race
During the warmup laps, Alexander Rossi slapped the wall in Turn 7 but continued on and held onto his 14th-place start.
After starting on pole, Palou led the field to the alternate start line on the long straight into Turn 3. Everyone made it through the tight opening lap cleanly, with McLaughlin jumping Power for second.
Newgarden, battling through a left leg injury from his crash in the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, dropped from 21st to 25th (last) after seven laps and was 2s behind Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb in 24th.
By Lap 10, Palou opened up a 2s lead over on McLaughlin, but it was negated by a full course caution after ECR’s Christian Rasmussen pounded the Turn 2 wall. Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay and Robb pitted just before the caution. David Malukas, who already started 25th after his qualifying crash, came into the pits multiple times under caution to top off on fuel.
The restart on Lap 15 saw a clean getaway, but a trade for position the following lap as Power got back by McLaughlin for second. And Power drove up and passed Palou for the lead by out-braking into Turn 3 on lap 18.
On Lap 23, Foster went elbows out and hip-checked Marcus Armstrong in Turn 3, with contact leading to the latter also hitting the outside wall on exit but continuing on. Foster took over ninth, while Armstrong fell to 11th.
Power’s lead was 0.7246s over Palou on Lap 25.
Foster, on a set of the harder primaries and gaining ground on rivals ahead with softer alternates, was on the gearbox of Marcus Ericsson on Lap 28. Foster got by on Lap 30 to take over eighth as Ericsson dove to pit lane.
The fight for the top spot was back on as Palou attempted an outside pass on Lap 32 in Turn 3 on Power, which opened the door for McLaughlin to sweep under Palou and attempt an outside pass on Power in Turn 4. Despite the pressure, Power prevailed. The attempt by Palou, though, dropped him to fourth as Christian Lundgaard got by.
Palou and Kyle Kirkwood, running fifth, dove to pit lane on Lap 35. The fight continued between Power and McLaughlin, with the latter finally getting by as the former slid off Turn 3. Lundgaard squeezed by to take second as Power fell to third. McLaughlin and Power came to pit lane at the end of the lap, with Lundgaard taking over the lead.
Lundgaard and Arrow McLaren teammate Pato O’Ward pitted on Lap 38, along with Foster and Graham Rahal.
Moments later, however, on Lap 40, Rahal was spun in Turn 3 by Simpson, bringing out the second caution of the race. Rahal was able to continue on, but fell to 23rd. Simpson was handed a drive-thru penalty for avoidable contact.
Palou cycled back to the lead, with Kirkwood, McLaughlin, Lundgaard, and Power the running order of the top five.
A restart on Lap 45 saw Palou get away cleanly, with Kirkwood, the only driver in the top eight on a set of harder primaries, attempting to hold onto second as the temperature came up in his tires.
At the halfway point, Lap 50, Palou held a 3.3127s lead over Kirkwood.
Palou’s lead was 2.9s on Lap 60, with McLaughlin holding third at 6.6s behind. Power and Lundgaard remained fourth and fifth, respectively.
Malukas dove to pit lane on Lap 64, with Palou pitting the following lap to cover. The caution came out two laps later after Santino Ferrucci hit the gearbox of VeeKay and spun him around in Turn 5. Ferrucci was handed a drive-thru penalty as a result of the contact.
Kirkwood, McLaughlin, and the rest of the frontrunners dove to pit lane on Lap 70, which allowed Palou to cycle up to the lead, with Rossi, who pitted prior to the caution, up to second. Kirkwood came back out in seventh, with McLaughlin eighth.
The top five running order with 29 laps to go was Palou, Rossi, Schumacher, Malukas, and Rahal. However, Rossi was handed a drive-thru penalty for entering a closed pit during his earlier pit stop.
A restart on Lap 73 saw Palou get away cleanly, but the caution returned as Malukas and Schumacher, fighting over third, came together – as the former missed the apex – in Turn 5. Both continued on, but dropped down as the field came by.
The chaos among the frontrunners allowed Kirkwood, on a set of fresh alternates, to rise up to third, but behind Rossi, who had yet to serve his drive-thru penalty.
Palou led the field to the restart on Lap 77. Rossi served his penalty the following lap, allowing Kirkwood only space between him and Palou. Power moved up to third, with McLaughlin fourth and Rahal fifth.
With 22 laps to go, Kirkwood caught the rear wing of Palou, negating the near-2s gap. Another full course caution returned, however, with 21 laps to go after Ferrucci was stopped on track in Turn 4. Moments later, Power came to pit lane and parked his #26 Andretti Global Honda, which had caught air after being put between the wall and McLaughlin during their battle prior to the caution, potentially damaging the suspension.
Once more, Palou led Kirkwood to the green flag with 17 laps to go. McLaughlin also suffered damage as a result of the contact with Power and brought it to pit lane early, too. Palou’s gap widened to 2s with 10 laps to go, but another caution came out as Rossi punted Romain Grosjean in Turn 3. Rossi was handed a stop-and-hold penalty by Race Control.
A restart with seven laps to go left Palou again setting off and trying to gap Kirkwood.
Kirkwood began to apply the pressure on Palou, while Rahal’s podium was under threat by O’Ward.
Unfazed by the restarts and the pressure, Palou sailed off to over 1.8s over Kirkwood to capture the win. Rahal held serve over O’Ward to grab third. Lundgaard took fifth, with Rosenqvist in sixth and Foster in seventh.
RACE
All Stats
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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
