Sports Writing (USA), Apr. 30. The New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) won this Sunday in Alabama (USA) a beautiful duel against the Frenchman Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport) in a race of the 2023 IndyCar season very marked by strategy.
It is the first victory of the year for McLaughlin, after the three he achieved in 2022, the last of which was in Portland. He is the fourth different driver to win in the four tests held in 2023 and no one has managed to repeat the success so far.
It helped the Swede, Marcus Ericsson, to finish tenth to maintain the overall lead with 130 points, but he saw four drivers approach him with fifteen units or less.
In this way, the Mexican Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) is only three points away, and Palou nine. The ‘Top 5’ are completed by the best in Birmingham, McLaughlin and Grosjean.
Palou was not completely satisfied after finishing his participation in Alabama: “Happy to be in the top five again, but it could have been a little better, especially for having started on the first row of the exit.”
For his part, O’Ward is still winless this year despite proving to be one of the most competitive drivers: “We had a great car, I’m very happy with the job done this week. We chose the wrong strategy. We want to win races, still We have not achieved it in 2023, I have been very close in all of them, but I prefer that I have done many top 5, it’s fine”.
It was a race clearly marked by strategy. The drivers were divided between those who chose to go through the pits three times and those who only did so twice.
The first ones benefited, including the winner McLaughlin and his compatriot Will Power (Team Penske), who completed the podium.
The only yellow flag shown by the organization, just after completing the first third of the race, was decisive in making the three-stop strategy a good one.
By then all the candidates had already completed a first visit to the pits. The main beneficiary was McLaughlin, rising to second position behind Grosjean.
Grosjean’s second stop came on lap 61 and allowed McLaughlin to lead the race.
The Frenchman shot with pride and executed a brave overtaking, sticking to his rival’s car, taking a length ahead. This episode brought back memories of the season opener at St. Pete, which ended with both drivers retiring.
With 21 laps to go, Grosjean was leading with no extra force on his ‘Push to pass’ and McLaughlin less than half a second behind him. The New Zealander used that extra momentum to take the lead with 19 laps to go.
Grosjean was getting off the hook, to the point of seeing how Power approached him and threatened second position. The defending champion lapped many laps less than a second behind the Frenchman, but never managed to complete his goal.
Power was the author of the biggest comeback of the day, starting from position number 12 and climbing to third position on the podium.
All attention then turned to the battle between O’Ward and Palou for fourth place, with the two drivers locked in a fistfight with Dane Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman) lurking from behind. Finally, the Mexican finished fourth, with Palou, fifth.
The duel between the Mexican and the Spanish had a very succulent prize, leaving Alabama much closer to the leadership of Ericsson, who was far away in the race. At the end, already in the ‘paddock’, both riders embraced each other showing the great relationship and respect that exists between them. EFE
ngd/am/cav
