By R. Alexander Núñez
The fight for the championship IndyCar added a new chapter in the Long Seaside street circuit, where the spanish Alex Palou once again set the pace of the season by taking the victory. Chip Ganassi’s driver not only celebrated his first victory at this Californian track, he also achieved his second consecutive success and regained the lead in the original classification.
The Mexican Duck O’Ward, who had started the competition from second position, finished in fifth place after a career marked by strategies and key moments in the bins. The test left important changes in the table and confirmed the consistency of the Spanish driver so far this year.
Palou started from third position on the grid, surpassed only by Felix Rosenqvist and O’Ward himself in the classification. Just after the first laps, the Catalan managed to overtake the Mexican and began to close the distance with the leader, who had an advantage close to two seconds on lap 20.
Bin strategy and decisive moment of the race
The development of the competition took a decisive turn after a yellow flag with 32 laps remaining. This situation forced all the pilots to enter the bins again, in a sequence that ended up being key to defining the result.
Rosenqvist, who until then was leading, lost time by having to give way to several lagging cars before rejoining, which caused him to lose position to Palou. The Spaniard, on the other hand, made an error-free stop that allowed him to come out ahead and take the final modify of the race.
“It was that stop in the ‘bins’, under all the pressure, that these guys managed to make and executed perfectly. From there, it was just a matter of managing the situation,” declared Palou after crossing the finish line in first place.
With the track free, the reigning champion increased the pace and held firm until he saw the checkered flag. Behind, the fight for the intermediate positions left O’Ward in fifth place, while Kirkwood, who arrived as the championship leader, finished fourth.
The result has a direct impact on the classification. Palou, champion in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, has three victories in five races and leads with 205 points, with a 17 lead over Kirkwood. O’Ward, for his part, is in fourth position, 69 units behind first place.
Keep reading:
· Criticism against F1 continues: Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso join the questions
· Pilot Juha Miettinen died in a tragic accident at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring
· Ford GT Mk IV breaks the Nürburgring with brutal weather
