Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard overcame a broken front wing on the opening lap to win a chaotic XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.
The Dane, who started 13th, converted the setback and was running second with four laps to go when leader Marcus Armstrong suffered a mechanical issue, which then led to Lundgaard holding off David Malukas in a final lap shootout to win at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course. It’s Lundgaard’s third career victory, and second of the season.
Andretti Global’s Will Power came together with Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing’s Graham Rahal in Turn 12 of the final lap to end the race under caution. Power still finished third.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson ended up fourth. Pole-sitter Alex Palou finished fifth in the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
The Race
Palou, starting a set of softer alternate tires, led the field to the green flag, Armstrong following through to move into second by Malukas. Meanwhile, there was contact in the back as Lundgaard suffered damage to his left-front wing after contact with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and was forced to pit. Dixon continued on, running 10th.
Malukas came under fire for third by Rosenqvist, who was the highest car running on the harder primary compound.
By Lap 5, Palou’s lead was 2.8s over Armstrong, with Malukas 5.2s back. Palou’s lead widened to 3.6s over Armstrong five laps later.
After several laps of stalking, Rosenqvist finally got around Malukas for third on Lap 12. The first stops also began, with Andretti Global’s Power pitting, along with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster.
Early on, the best fight on track was for sixth between rookie Caio Collet and Scott McLaughlin, with the pair trading the spot before the latter pulled ahead.
Palou pitted from the lead on Lap 14, along with Armstrong and Malukas. All three swapped to harder primaries.
Romain Grosjean, who was running 11th, had an issue and was slow exiting the pits due to a loose left-rear, which came off in Turn 5 and brought out a full course caution on Lap 14. Grosjean managed to scrape around on three wheels and return to pit lane. Rosenqvist, who inherited the lead when Palou and Armstrong pitted, was able to pit and retain the lead with a fresh set of softs.
The likes of Dixon and Santino Ferrucci pitted just after the pits were closed while they were on pit lane at the time of the caution, which led to them needing to pit again for service. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Mick Schumacher was also hit with a pit speed violation and forced to restart at the rear of the field.
After an extended caution to sort the running order, Rosenqvist led the field to the restart on Lap 20. Palou was second, followed by Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, with Armstrong fourth. The fifth and sixth spots were occupied by Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel, respectively.
The misery continued for Dixon and Schumacher, who were both hit with a drive-thru penalty for pitting after repositioning.
Meanwhile, Rosenqvist and Palou began to break away from the rest of the field, with the two separated by 0.5s and 2.6s ahead of Ericsson in third.
Palou dove to pit lane from second on Lap 29, electing for a fresh set of primaries. And moments later, Race Control handed him a drive-thru penalty for a pit lane speed violation.
However, Palou was aided after Christian Rasmussen’s #21 ECR Chevrolet ended up stranded on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution on Lap 31.
A run of pit stops happened during the caution and jumbled up the running order once more, this time with Armstrong leading, with Malukas second. Palou stood eighth, with Rosenqvist 11th, just behind Schumacher.
Armstrong led the field to the green flag on Lap 33, with Malukas following through while ECR’s Alexander Rossi sat third, ahead of Power. Rosenqvist attempted to pass Schumacher for 10th through the Carousel, but got in the marbles and dropped wheels into the grass, dropping down to 18th as a result. Ericsson also had an off-track moments earlier, which dropped him down the running order to 16th but with slightly bent steering.
The caution came out moments later for debris, putting another halt on the race.
Schumacher opted to pit from 10th for a fresh set of tires, along with O’Ward and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
Armstrong led the field to the restart on Lap 36.
Power and Palou went wheel-to-wheel in the battle for sixth with 18 laps to go.
It remained all Armstrong at the front, holding a 2s lead over Malukas, with Rossi 3.1s behind in third with 16 laps to go.
Rossi pitted from third with 14 laps to go, along with fifth-place runner Kyffin Simpson and Palou. All three took on a fresh set of primaries. A slow stop by Rossi left him behind Simpson and Palou exiting the pits.
Armstrong and Malukas, along with Graham Rahal, pitted the following lap. Siegel exited the pits and was in Turn 1 as Palou approached, with the two nearly colliding as Palou went well wide of the corner and got around at corner exit.
Lundgaard assumed the lead, but was still in need of his final pit stop. He came in with 10 laps to go and took on a fresh set of softs, handing the lead to Rosenqvist.
Lundgaard came out directly ahead of Malukas, but was passed shortly after with the former out on cold tires. Rosenqvist and Dixon pitted the next lap.
Armstrong cycled up to third, behind Newgarden and O’Ward, who had yet to make their final stop.
Newgarden and O’Ward pitted with seven laps to go, cycling Armstrong back to the lead.
Lundgaard pulled the over-under pass on Malukas in Turn 5 to take second with seven laps left. Lundgaard sat 3.8s back from Armstrong.
Armstrong’s lead started to narrow, with the gap shrinking down to 3s with five laps to go.
A mechanical issue hit Armstrong with four laps to go, which allowed Lundgaard to pass him for the lead. Smoke erupted from the back of Armstrong’s car as he went by the flagstand with three laps to go, bringing out the caution.
The incident set up a one-lap shootout, with Lundgaard leading Malukas to the green flag.
Lundgaard was able to get a clean jump on Malukas. Siegel spun from his top 10 spot in Turn 5. Power dropped wheels moments later, with Rahal getting by. But Power fought back, with he and Rahal coming together and sending the latter into a spin and into the Turn 12 wall.
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
