ELKHART LAKE, Wis.—Three of the top five drivers in NTT IndyCar Series points going into Sunday’s (June 12) Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America ran into trouble, immensely jumbling up the championship battle.
Will Power was the points leader, Pato O’Ward was third ahead of Alex Palou in fourth. After 55 laps at Road America, Power finished the best of the trio in 19th position.
O’Ward was 26th ahead of Palou in 27th and last while Josef Newgarden won, having come into the race fifth in points. It wasn’t exactly an expected result for the trio, so let’s look at what happened to each driver.
Palou was running in third place on the fourth lap of the race when Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson attempted a pass on the inside in turn 5.
The pair collided, breaking a part of the left front suspension on Palou’s car. The No. 10 Honda required a trip back to the paddock to repair the broken toe link. The defending race winner at Road America went back into the race with a repaired car, but retired after completing 36 laps when it was clear that Palou would not gain any more positions.
His frustration with Ericsson, who finished second, was clear as he spoke outside the medical center for a precautionary check.
“I think everybody saw that, so yeah. I just think he was trying to win the race on the third lap, and yeah, the car broke. That’s it, game over.
“It was just bad luck, but yeah, we can play this game as well, so, we’ll see.”
After the race, Ericsson shared his view after an apology.
“First of all, I’m really sorry, you never want to have contact with a teammate so I feel super sorry that Alex had to retire there,” Ericsson told Kevin Lee after the race was over. “From my point of view, the door was open and I’m already side-by-side as you can see in the video, or even further than side-by-side, and I made the corner fine so from my point of view it was a nice racing move.”
Shortly after Palou had his issue, Power…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…