Alex Palou closed on Josef Newgarden as the pair drove up the hill at Road America to get the green flag for the final two laps of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series race.
With barely over eight miles to go, Palou followed Newgarden closely, shifting into fourth gear on the restart.
Then fifth gear. Then sixth gear.
Then there was a problem, but not for Palou. Newgarden’s gearbox had trouble, and the Tennessee native no longer had sixth gear.
Palou took the lead going to turn 1. After Newgarden downshifted, he discovered that the gearbox would not upshift any longer. Emergency mode became the call for the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet as the two-time IndyCar champion coasted around to a 21st place finish.
Race engineer Julian Robertson was on the timing stand of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda trying to get his second win in a row at Road America. One year after remotely helping Chris Simmons engineer Felix Rosenqvist to a win after a COVID exposure scare, Robertson’s car was in front, but the excitement couldn’t be there yet.
A technical fault could befall them, giving the win to Colton Herta. However, Palou won, giving Robertson his third win as an engineer at Road America, his first coming with Bruno Junqueira in 2001.
As IndyCar visits Road America, each engineer has to deal with one of the most unique circuits in North America. This is the longest track IndyCar races on at 4.014 miles. The long straights flow through the forest, giving drivers a splendid view as they go uphill and downhill as the circuit flows.
When Robertson looks at the 14-turn track, there is one section of track that gets a lot of attention: The Carousel.
Numbered turns 9 and 10, The Carousel is a very fast, mostly flat right hander that can help drivers make up a lot of time on each other. No other fast corner in IndyCar is as long duration as The Carousel.
“The Carousel is probably the biggest thing that’s difficult to get right,” Robertson said.
Road America also has…
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