Monaco, September 20th – Another solid performance from MIM driver Alex Palou and CGR team resulted in a second place finish on the Iconic Laguna Seca Raceway last Sunday. With just one race to go, next weekend at Long Beach, Alex has extended his lead in the overall points standings to 35 points over Pato O’Ward so that, even in the case his rival scores maximum points, Palou only needs to come in 11th or better to clinch the title in his second IndyCar season.
The Grand Prix of Monterey once again proved to be a race of attrition, in which both tyre management and traffic played a significant role. Starting from P4 on the grid, the Spaniard held the position and later was able to advance further. For most of the race he ran second behind Colton Herta, coming in as close as 0.5 second to him but having to avoid any unnecessary risk in the fight for the championship. In the end, Romain Grosjean on fresher and softer tyres was catching up on him and Herta, but Alex kept a cold head and brought home a precious second place for him, his team and his management. This is also his eighth podium finish this season.
“Today – said Alex – I was quite surprised at how good our pace was in comparison to qualifying and even to Colton’s. Towards the end it got a bit tense with Romain cathching up behind us, but thanks to Chip Ganassi Racing we had a good strategy to bring home the result. I could see Colton ahead of me at striking distance, but I know he was also managing his tyres and fuel and I did not want to take too many risks. With a win, we could perhaps have secured the title ahead of the last race, but thirty-five point are a good margin and I’m looking forward to Long Beach!”.