Alex palo He was little surprised that few drivers adopted the strategy that won him the Indianapolis IndyCar Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was one of fifteen drivers who started this Saturday’s event on the soft tires and one of four who completed their last three stops on the hard compound.
others were Joseph Newgarden, who finished seventh, Romain Grosjean, 11˚ in the result, and Santino Ferrucci, who suffered a mechanical breakdown.
But the fact that Palu had the advantage in track conditions and finished with the new harder tyres, on a track where the difference between the performance of the compounds was not huge under green flag conditions, allowed him to finish 15 seconds ahead. I got help. rival.
Different action plans were executed throughout the peloton, something that took Pallo a bit by surprise, although he knew from the beginning that starting on offense was more important for his strategy to work.
“It was clear to us. The reds we used in the warmup were a little more involved than some people, but it’s still not like they were amazing,” he shared after the race.
«We knew we didn’t want to use the red paint we used. So we start on the new soft, we try to take advantage, we try to get a big gap, like two, three, four, seconds, then we work on our speed in the black.
“Once I saw the starting grid with the tires (of each competitor), we thought: ‘Okay, we’re in a good place. You still have to do it. If you get stuck behind Red Lundgaard, you You’re finished, your career is over. Your tires will be more damaged, you won’t get the benefit of taking 4s, so you’ll be stuck in traffic with the same strategy as them.
“We knew we had the right strategy for the 10 car, but we still had to do it on track.”
Unlike the competition in Alabama, in which he tried to take first place Romain Grosjean Without success, Palu moved up from third on the opening lap, making it easier for him to manage the tires despite attacks from Lundgaard, who made an opposite action plan and lost performance against the McLarens in the long final stint.
Thus, the former series champion managed to take advantage of being one of the fastest cars throughout the weekend and running 100%, something he had not done in the first four rounds.
It is the second time in a row that he has won by a margin of over 15 seconds, a feeling not to be taken lightly.
“The car feels like you want it to feel. Even though we had a lot of car traffic at the end of the last stint, yeah, we didn’t have a lot, so we were able to go at our own pace,” he explained.
“I think once you have your day and feel comfortable with the car, it’s possible to do that. Obviously, those days don’t happen often here in IndyCar. It’s very tight. Three, four pit stops It’s hard to do.”
“I’m glad I did it today. The win is the same whether you do it from 30 seconds or 10th. Obviously I feel better for myself, for the confidence. A win is a win.”
The win is also special for Pallo in light of his ups and downs at the speedway racetrack, both running for second place in the 2021 500 miles and leaving the race in August of that year due to a failing engine, and twelve months earlier. Version Inspection.
Heading into the Memorial Day Classic, the No. 10 holder is the overall leader, ahead of O’Ward by six points.
“It was the first race in which everything went well, the strategy, the tyres, the pace of the car, obviously I,” express.
“Super proud. It’s a special place. You can feel the car is just the fans that we have from the first practice. Obviously, there’s something in this place. Even though it’s not big, it’s still special.” “
“Very proud of the first win of the season, also first win with The American Legion and first win at IMS. Couldn’t be better”.
