The driver who seemed to be on the verge of making IndyCar history looked like Alex Palou: author of the pole position at Mid-Ohio for a minimal advantage on Pato O’Ward (0.0024), the Spaniard had dominated much of the ninth round of the season, at least until the decisive episode during the last pit stop. After changing tires and refueling, the Chip Ganassi driver made a mistake in engaging first gear, which allowed his Mexican rival to overtake him and maintain the lead until the checkered flag. In this way, the Arrow McLaren driver thus wrote an important chapter in the history of the top American open-wheel series, winning the first race behind the wheel of cars powered by hybrid engines.
Race report
An event that has been eagerly awaited since the day this technical revolution was made official until this weekend, when Palou actually seemed to be the number one candidate for success, not only after the best time recorded in qualifying, but also after three quarters of the race. In fact, following the start delayed by three laps due to a technical problem with the car Scott Dixonthe Spaniard has firmly maintained the lead always ahead of O’Ward and Malukaswith the podium area seeing its first change only on lap 28 due to another problem with the Lithuanian driver’s single-seater, with third place inherited by McLaughlin. No changes in the top 3 even during the subsequent pit stops, at least until the decisive episode which occurred during the 56th lap. After O’Ward’s pit stop, Palou returned to the pit lane for his final stint, but upon restarting the Spaniard encountered some difficulty in engaging first gear. A brief loss of time, but decisive in losing the position to the Mexican. In the final laps, despite running two risks in losing control of the car, the two-time IndyCar champion tried everything to recover ground on his rival in order to complete the overtaking, also aided by the lapped drivers. However, the Iberian driver was unable to achieve his goal, with O’Ward thus returning to the top step of the podium, officially for the second time this season after the victory achieved in St. Petersburg following Newgarden’s disqualification. For the Mexican, it is also the sixth victory of his career, but above all a great revenge after the enormous disappointment in this year’s Indianapolis 500, lost a few meters from the finish line due to a failure. Scott McLaughlin finished on the podium, while Palou can still console himself by maintaining the lead in the general classification.
Mid-Ohio 2024: Finishing List
POS. | PILOT | TEAM | LAPS/GAP |
1 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | 80 laps |
2 | Alex Palou | Ganassi Chips | +0.4993 |
3 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske | +16.1558 |
4 | Colton Hertha | Andretti Global | +24.8725 |
5 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | +31.6809 |
6 | Alexander Rossi | Arrow McLaren | +32.2443 |
7 | Christian Lundgaard | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | +32.5714 |
8 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | +35.2218 |
9 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter | +40.3182 |
10 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt | +46.9084 |
11 | Will Power | Penske | +48.6546 |
12 | David Malukas | Meyer Shank | +49.3609 |
13 | Toby Sowery | Dale Coyne | +49.8866 |
14 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank | +51.8162 |
15 | Linus Lundqvist | Ganassi Chips | +53.4794 |
16 | Sting Ray Robb | A.J. Foyt | +54.7413 |
17 | Marcus Armstrong | Ganassi Chips | +55.8399 |
18 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | +58.8681 |
19 | Rinus Veekay | Ed Carpenter | +1:00.4550 |
20 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | +1:05.8591 |
21 | Kyffin Simpson | Ganassi Chips | +1:07.0413 |
22 | Augustine Canapino | Juncos Hollinger | +1 lap |
23 | Romain Grosjean | Juncos Hollinger | +1 lap |
24 | Peter Fittipaldi | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | +1 lap |
25 | Josef Newgarden | Penske | +1 lap |
26 | Jack Harvey | Dale Coyne | +1 lap |
27 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi Chips | Withdrawn |
Upcoming events
IndyCar will return to the track next week, from 12th to 14th Julywith good two races scheduled. Both, on Saturday and Sunday, will take place on the oval of Iowa Speedwayfor the first of two events of the season that includes a double-header.
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