Monaco, September 12 – There could have been no better way for Monaco Increase Management driver Alex Palou to start the weekend at the Portland International Raceway Grand Prix. The 24-year old Spaniard of Chip Ganassi Racing took his first pole position ahead of what will be his 28th start in IndyCar racing. Palou’s best time of 58.7701 seconds earned him one extra point, which brought down his gap in the series lead fight to 9. Even more important is the fact that this result was achieved on a short (1.9 miles) and rather twisty road course, which makes overtaking rather difficult, at least on paper.
Actually, this should go to the record as Alex’s second pole, as he had qualified ahead of everyone else for the Genesys 300 last May, but the event was cancelled due to poor weather. The MIM driver had begun the Portland weekend already in a very positive mood, despite having lost point to external circumstances in the last two events. “I am super happy for my first pole position – said Palou – and we have a very good car for the race. We all know that the last two race weekends we had, it was out of control. So, we came here already fully motivated and we are laser-focused on these last three races we have to get the championship home!”.