Long Beach 2024: Dixon's strategic magic | FP

Dixon surpasses himself

Few would have bet on victory by Scott Dixon in the second round of the season on the historic city circuit of Long Beach, especially taking into consideration the starting position of the New Zealand driver: eighth. Instead, thanks above all to a strategy different from that adopted by the leading riders in the first half of the race, together with a defense at the end that was nothing short of impeccable, Chip Ganassi's representative won his 57th career success (the second in Long Beach) in front of Colton Herta and Alex Palouwith Josef Newgarden at the foot of the podium with great disappointment.

The strategy and the winning defense

A race that started with Newgarden from third position on the grid behind poleman Felix Rosenqvist and Will Power, the latter 'slower' than the Swede in qualifying by just three thousandths. At the start, however, the Team Penske driver immediately took the lead with a nice overtaking on the outside, all while Rosenqvist then progressively lost ground until he slipped to 6th place, thus allowing Newgarden to gain a position ahead of Herta. The decisive moment of the race, on the strategy front, occurred at 15th lap: on a circuit historically known for its numerous cautions, over the course of 85 total laps peace car it actually entered on only one occasion due to Christian Rasmussen's impact against the barriers. In this circumstance, Dixon's first pit stop took place to switch to soft tyres, anticipating other drivers such as Newgarden and Herta who returned ten laps later. With these different strategies, the ranking was upset until lap 51, when Dixon made the second pit stop using used soft tyres. Seven laps later Newgarden also enters the pit lane, copying the same strategy as Dixon. Unlike the New Zealander, however, the American can push to the finish line thanks to the fresher tires available and the later stop, while Dixon must at the same time do fuel saving. In the space of a few laps Newgarden, as expected, caught up all the time behind his rival, and the decisive overtaking move to jump to the top of the standings now seems imminent. At this juncture, however, Dixon's experience emerges and he manages the remaining seconds as best he can push-to-pass to defend himself from his pursuer. TO 9 laps to goFurthermore, Newgarden lost any chance of victory after being rear-ended by Herta in a lapping phase at the hairpin, with the Andretti team driver moving into second position ahead of Palou and Newgarden himself, 4th until the finish line. Herta in turn tries to get closer to Dixon in the final rounds, who successfully repeats the same defense strategies to win the Long Beach round. Finally, it is worth highlighting the good performance of the reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire, who made his debut in IndyCar and came in 11th place. After this success, the great wait is all for the next weekend in Alabama on the Barber Motorsport Park road circuit.

Long Beach 2024: first come first serve