IndyCar | Race | Sonsio GP | Palou wins in style after Rahal fight - Motorsport

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It was race day for the IndyCar Sonsio GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and qualifying delivered a tightly contested battle with surprise performances and standout laps across the field. Álex Palou once again proved unstoppable, taking pole position with a commanding margin, view the full race report and results below.

Behind him, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) delivered a statement performance, with Graham Rahal and rookie Louis Foster locking out second and third on the grid — a historic first for the team with all three cars in the Fast Six. Devlin DeFrancesco and Scott McLaughlin completed the top five, as heavy-hitters like Pato O’Ward, Josef Newgarden, and Will Power fell short of challenging for pole. With such a competitive grid, the stage was set for a thrilling race in Indianapolis.

An aborted start to the IndyCar Sonsio GP

The formation lap was underway, but the first issues arose as Kyffin Simpson stalled before the race even started. Unfortunately, Simpson was unable to start the race. In addition, Josef Newgarden’s radio was not working, and he had to go back to the pits to get it sorted, ending his P6 start.

The race was finally underway, and it was a brilliant start to the IndyCar Sonsio GP race for Graham Rahal, quickly overtaking Palou entering T1. DeFrancesco also had a strong start after overtaking both Foster and McLaughlin, slotting into straight into P3.

There was an incident Connor Daly and Callum Ilott had a collision. Daly came into contact with Ilott’s rear, leading to both spinning. Colton Herta’s race was not looking too good after a brief power failure. He entered the pits and received a new front wing, tyres and fuel, he was back on track.

Lap 10 saw Marcus Ericsson run off track, making it back into the pits after his car made a funky noise, ending his race. It was not a good day for Andretti.

RLL remains strong in the IndyCar Sonsio GP Race

With the first drivers starting to come in, the pit lane became busy. Notably, Rinus Veekay was the first driver in, opting for the red sidewall tyres. Kyle Kirkwood and Santino Ferrucci both pit.

Coming in strong, Scott McLaughlin was now up to fourth place, ahead of Foster. The Brit’s teammate DeFrancesco remained strong, driving towards Palou’s tail, aiming to take P2.

Palou pits, followed by Will Power, Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Rasmussen and Newgarden. After a brief stint in P2, DeFrancesco was called into the pits.

The RLL driver’s pit exit looked slow and Palou remained ahead. Teammate Rahal was next to stop. Just before the pit sequence in Lap 15 started, Rahal had a 2.5s lead over Palou

The start of the pit sequence

After 15 of 85 laps, VeeKay pitted first from 17th position, revealing significant tire degradation for the Dutch driver. Tire management clearly posed a challenge for competitors. Rahal led the field, followed by Palou, DeFrancesco, Foster, McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Power, Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi, and Christian Lundgaard completing the top ten.

Ferrucci and Kirkwood then made their pit stops, dropping to 21st and 22nd ahead of VeeKay in 23rd. On track, McLaughlin and O’Ward overtook Foster while DeFrancesco closed the gap to Palou.

Lundgaard, Sting Ray Robb, and Connor Daly entered pit lane next. Lundgaard emerged 17th, Robb 22nd, and Daly 23rd. Foster, Rossi, Dixon, Abel, and Herta also pitted. Foster led the group of drivers who had already stopped, with Lundgaard, Rossi, Dixon, Abel, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Ferrucci, Robb, Daly, Herta, and Ilott trailing behind.

Palou, Power, Rosenqvist, Newgarden, and Rasmussen pitted at the end of lap 18, allowing DeFrancesco to push at maximum pace. Palou suffered a slow pit stop. On the following lap, DeFrancesco, O’Ward, and Robert Shwartzman made their stops.

Only Rahal, McLaughlin, Nolan Siegel, and David Malukas remained to pit. RLL took a major gamble by fitting DeFrancesco with two consecutive sets of soft tires but notably avoided this strategy for Rahal. The remaining drivers pitted on lap 21, except Armstrong.

Meanwhile, Foster and Lundgaard battled intensely, with Lundgaard nearly losing positions to both Foster and Rossi due to their fight.

Armstrong finally pitted, completing the first round of stops at the quarter-race mark. Rahal now led, followed by Palou, McLaughlin, DeFrancesco, O’Ward, Power, Foster, Lundgaard, Rossi, and Scott Dixon. Among these leaders, Rahal, Palou, Power, and Foster competed on hard tires, while McLaughlin, DeFrancesco, Lundgaard, Rossi, and Dixon ran on softs.

Contact for Rosenqvist and VeeKay

Armstrong rejoined the race in 14th position. Two spots ahead, Rinus VeeKay emerged as the field’s most impressive mover, advancing to 12th after starting near the back rows. Rosenqvist attempted an inside pass on VeeKay but struck VeeKay’s rear right tyre, causing Rosenqvist to plummet to 20th. Kirkwood also impressed, gaining ten positions. Both VeeKay and Kirkwood benefited from early pit stops, allowing them to set faster times on fresher tyres while competitors struggled in traffic on worn rubber. Lundgaard and Dixon similarly gained positions through this undercut strategy.

The top four drivers raced within three seconds of each other, with the leaders running on slower tyres, creating an intriguing battle book ended by RLL cars. Rosenqvist began his recovery drive, overtaking Robb for 19th. Meanwhile, Foster expressed frustration with his RLL car after dropping four positions.

Abel pitted on lap 30, maintaining his back-of-pack position but significantly impacting the race by holding up Rahal, who hadn’t claimed victory in eight years. This delay exposed Rahal to pressure from Palou, McLaughlin, and DeFrancesco. Rahal’s team informed him that Abel’s Dale Coyne team wouldn’t facilitate an easy pass. Simultaneously, Rosenqvist passed Newgarden for 18th and closed on Malukas in 17th while running softs.

Herta on the rise

VeeKay initiated the second round of pit stops on lap 38, coming in from 12th after his remarkable charge through the field. The front-runners maintained their positions with no movement among the top ten. Lundgaard, Kirkwood, Siegel, and Ferrucci pitted next. Herta, Daly, and Robb followed suit. During this sequence, Dixon seized eighth from Rossi on lap 39, continuing his methodical advance. McLaughlin, Foster, and Rossi pitted the following lap. Officials penalised Lundgaard for crossing the pit exit line after locking his brakes.

Excitement built when Rahal and Palou pitted together, along with Dixon, Rosenqvist, Rasmussen, and Malukas. Rahal maintained his lead. McLaughlin attempted to close the gap but encountered Herta, who rightfully defended his position while working to unlap himself.

Devlin DeFrancesco stalls in the pits

DeFrancesco, O’Ward, Power, and Newgarden then pitted. RLL’s DeFrancesco stalled, losing precious time. Herta manoeuvred past Palou, needing only to pass Rahal to return to the lead lap. Newgarden overtook Malukas while Rossi passed VeeKay on laps 44 and 45. During this period, Herta successfully fought back onto the lead lap, leaving Rahal and Palou to battle for the lead after Armstrong pitted.

The running order now showed Rahal leading Palou, McLaughlin, O’Ward, Power, Kirkwood (benefiting again from the undercut), Dixon, Foster, Armstrong, Rossi, VeeKay, DeFrancesco, Rasmussen, Rosenqvist, Siegel, Ferrucci, Newgarden, Malukas, Daly, Lundgaard, Robb, Shwartzman, Abel, Herta, and Ilott. On lap 49, Armstrong overtook Foster for eighth position. Regarding tyre strategy, Rahal, Kirkwood, Armstrong, Rossi, Ferrucci, Herta, Abel, and Ilott raced on soft compounds, while everyone else competed on the harder black tyres.

Palou takes back the lead

Palou finally launched his attack on lap 58, successfully overtaking in the track’s middle section after trailing the RLL driver legitimately for 57 laps. Rahal’s difficulties began mounting, and with a hard tyre stint looming for the race conclusion, he faced an increasingly challenging finish.

Lundgaard and Herta made their final pit stops on lap 60. VeeKay and Siegel followed on lap 61. McLaughlin had closed dramatically on Rahal, prompting Rahal to pit with 22 laps remaining. Kirkwood, Rossi, Ferrucci and Robb followed him in. Rahal suffered a poor stop, eliminating his chance at securing his second podium at the IMS Speedway in four years.

Rahal out of IndyCar Sonsio GP podium contention

McLaughlin and O’Ward pitted the following lap, definitively dropping Rahal out of podium contention. Lap 63 proved the busiest for pit lane activity, as Rosenqvist, DeFrancesco, Rasmussen, Malukas and Daly pitted alongside the Penske and McLaren drivers. O’Ward leapt from fourth to a net second position.

Armstrong, Dixon and Foster pitted on lap 64, leaving several drivers still requiring stops. Palou, Power, Newgarden and Shwartzman pitted the subsequent lap. Everything continued perfectly for Palou, who switched to new red tyres and emerged comfortably ahead of O’Ward. Power climbed to third following his stop.

Rasmussen, Ilott and Armstrong completed the final scheduled stops while Herta entered the pits to retire. The running order now showed Palou leading O’Ward, Power, McLaughlin, Rahal, Dixon, Kirkwood, Armstrong, VeeKay and Foster.

Rosenqvist ran wide at turn one. Lundgaard and Malukas battled for 16th, with Malukas prevailing with a decisive move at turn one. Palou recorded the second-fastest lap of the race, bettered only by Herta’s earlier effort.

Malukas went off track, triggering the first caution flag since the season’s opening lap and eliminating Palou’s substantial lead.

Safety Car and Restart

The final stages of the IndyCar Sonsio GP Race began, and the order remained unchanged for the top ten, followed by Rossi, Siegel, DeFrancesco, Newgarden, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Lundgaard, Daly, Robb, Rasmussen and Shwartzman.

Palou executed a perfect restart, maintaining his advantage. Dixon overtook Rahal for fifth, while Ferrucci plummeted from 16th to 21st. Siegel moved ahead of Rossi for 11th, DeFrancesco dropped from 13th to 15th, and Robb fell to 20th.

Palou remained untouchable, lapping eight-tenths quicker than O’Ward, while Power closed on the Mexican driver for second. Lundgaard became the next to overtake DeFrancesco, claiming 15th.

Rossi slipped from 11th to 14th as both Newgarden and Rosenqvist passed him. Daly overtook DeFrancesco, Shwartzman passed Rasmussen, and Ferrucci moved ahead of Robb. With ten laps remaining, Palou had built a 2.5-second advantage over O’Ward.

Daly also passed Lundgaard on lap 77. Rahal, Kirkwood, Rossi, Lundgaard and DeFrancesco, all on hard tyres, were vulnerable with seven laps remaining.

Siegel, like Rossi earlier, lost two positions to Newgarden and Rosenqvist on lap 81. Armstrong continued his charge, passing Kirkwood and closing on Rahal with four laps left.

Newgarden attempted to defend against Rosenqvist but instead dropped from 11th to 12th after a significant lock-up. Rosenqvist and Foster contested 10th position, with the Swede ultimately passing the English rookie with two laps remaining.

Alex Palou delivered another dominant performance during the IndyCar Sonsio GP Race, winning by 5.5 seconds from O’Ward. Palou’s victory makes him the first driver since Dan Wheldon in 2005 to win four of the first five races. His season start represents the most impressive since A.J. Foyt in 1964, when he claimed the first seven races of the season.