It’s time for the first IndyCar race of the Month of May at Barber, full report and results below. Will reigning champion Alex Palou manage to take his third win of the season starting from pole or will instead latest winner in Alabama Scott McLaughlin snatch his third win in a row at the location?
Early stages
The top two remained the same, with Herta moving up. Abel completed a great move on Shwartzman at the back of the grid, whereas Lundgaard and Siegel’s fought for a spot but didn’t manage to make it stick.
Alex Rossi managed to move up six places sduring the first 5 laps of the IndyCar Race in Barber
Ericsson is the first driver to pit on Lap 10, changing tyres after having run wide off track.The Andretti driver is still recovering following the severe impact he suffered from yesterday.
By the same time, Palou has developed a 10 seconds lead over McLaughlin in P2.
Newgarden then was next to stop on Lap 14, opting for softs, whereas Dixon stopped on the following lap to try and improve his starting low position.
Rookie Forster has forums his way back up to P9, but on Lap 18 the majority of the drivers ended up stopping to follow the first strategy applying, including Power.
Palou is still strongly in the lead by Lap 19 on his starting soft tyres. The Ganassi driver doesn’t appear to be too fazed by tyre usage, whereas Herta stops on Lap 21 opting for a short red stint.
Rossi removes his starting softs but remains on the same compound as he pits on the following lap. Palou opts for a different strategy as he goes on the harder compound, with a couple of front wing turns as well.
Kirkwood and O’Ward both suffered from prolonged pits. After the first set of pit stops on Lap 30 the top 10 was: Palou, Herta, McLaughlin, Power, Lundgaard, O’Ward, Veekay, Armstrong, Rossi, Siegel. The pit cycle has left the Andretti driver in P2, but he is already 5 seconds behind the Spaniard, whereas Veekay for Cyone has dropped 2 positions.
Pit lane frenzy
Ferrucci pits on Lap 29. Simpson and his Ganassi suffered as well from a slow pit. Lundgaard and siegel fend again for P7, as the yoyunger driver manages to get a hold of the better stop.
McLaughlin pits again on Lap 42, and is then overtaken with a strong move by Lundgaard, who’s having a brilliant drive.
Herta had another pit issue on Lap 45 as he stalled while exiting, losing four on track positions. O’Ward overtakes Power, whereas Veekay had a tough out lap on colder tyres compared to the other drivers surrounding him but managed to stay within the top 10.
Palou stops as well, leaving on Lap 48 of the IndyCar Race in Barber the following top 5: Armstrong, Rosenqvist, Palou, Daly, Lundgaard, who is now the de facto P2 runner.
After the settling of the lap cycle, with Rosenqvist stalling while exting the pits as well, the top ten was: Palou, Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Veekay, Power, O’Ward, Rossi, Herta, Ferrucci, Armstrong
Siegel and Newgarden fight for P12, with the duo almost coming into contact.
We have officially reached the mark of 300 laps of consecutive green flag action, with the last one pccurring at the beginning of St. Pete. The last time this happened was in 1986.
Foster ran wide off track and into the grass on Lap 58, but he is able to resume his race at the back of the field.
Palou’s lead is never in question
Palou is slowed down by lapped driver DeFrancesco, but ultimately on Lap 63 the championship leader is able to pass him.
O’Ward pits on Lap 64 for the final time, with Rosenqvist, Ericsson and others immediately following, as well as Palou and Lundgaard.
The McLaren driver exits in the traffic of Foster, but is able to clear him in little time.
Veekay suffers from a stuck wheel on his final pit on Lap 66, definitely not allowing him to keep fighting for a top 5 finish like he had been doing beforehand. He exits ahead of Power, with the two drivers battling for P7 but ultimately the Dutchman succeeded in keeping the position.
ECR driver Rossi is among the last to pit, as he reentering in P8 from the lead. Veekay overtakes Rasmussen for P4.
Ferrucci tries a bold move on Newgarden but is unsuccessful. With 18 laps to go this is the top 10 for the Indycar Race at Barber: Palou, Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Veekay, Rasmussen, Power, O’Ward, Herta, Rossi, Siegel.
A calm finale
Duels are on in these final race stages as Siegel attempts to move up to P9 in front of Rossi while his teammate Rasmussen pits, allowing for Newgarden to move up to P10.
In spite of their pit stop issues, Herta and Veekay are both showing great pace and potential, golding on to strong top ten finishes. Even more so for the Dale Coyne driver, who is strongly holding on to his P4 ahead of two times champion Power.
Palou has a 13 seconds lead over Lundgaard, who has lapped all drivers until Armstrong in P16.
Positions remains locked and in the same order in the final stages of the IndyCar Race in Barber. McLaughlin in third, ten seconds away from Veekay, catches traffic from lapped drivers, with the gap between the Penske driver and the Dale Coyne driver reducing.
Ultimately, Palou takes his third seasonal win in the fourth race of the year ahead of another incredibly strong drive from Lundgaard and Penske’s McLaughlin. Veekay and Power complete the top 5, with O’Ward, Herta, Rossi, Siegel and Newgarden.
The Spanish driver heads into the Indianapolis frenzy with 60 points of advanatge over second placed Lundaagrd in the championship standings.
Full IndyCar Barber race results
