Armstrong career-best fifth as Kiwi trio fill top six
Marcus Armstrong scored his best IndyCar result with fifth in the Indianapolis Grand Prix yesterday, with fellow Kiwis Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin also featuring in the top six.
None of the New Zealand trio finished on the podium — Dixon was fourth and McLaughlin sixth. But all three scored a bonus point for leading during the 85-lap race: Armstrong led for three laps, McLaughlin two and Dixon one.
Alex Palou led for a race-high 39 laps as he won his first Indianapolis Grand Prix, fuelling ambitions of a second IndyCar title run.
He’s hoping another dominant victory on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course produces a similar result — perhaps even a more monumental win in two weeks.
The Spaniard beat his top two challengers off pit row on his final stop yesterday and outmaneuvered three-time race winner Will Power on the race’s only restart to beat Power to the yard of bricks by 6.6106 seconds. Christian Lundgaard finished third, more than eight seconds behind Palou.
“It’s tough but it’s one of those races that you’re not really limited on the tyres, so you can just go hard,” Palou said. “We had a lot more advantage last year than this year but I would still say the fact we can go 100 per cent, pushing every single lap, maybe that’s why we see bigger differences.”
For Palou, it was another milestone moment in his fifth IndyCar season.
The 27-year-old captured his 10th career win, first official win this season and first since becoming a father in December. Naturally, he also wished his wife, Esther, a happy Mother’s Day.
Palou did win March’s exhibition all-star race, giving Chip Ganassi Racing three wins in the last four IndyCar events, and he became the first back-to-back Indy GP winner since Power in 2017 and 2018.
The victory also puts Palou atop the season standings on 152 points, 12 ahead of Power, with the season’s biggest race — the Indianapolis 500 — up next.
Dixon is a contender to win a seventh IndyCar crown, sitting third on 127 points after four of the 17 races. McLaughlin is sixth on 88 points, with Armstrong 11th on 76.