Kirkwood achieves his first victory in Long Beach and Palou is already third in the championship

The new driver at the helm of the IndyCar is the Swede Marcus Ericsson

In two weeks the fourth round of the championship will be held in Alabama

The American Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Autosport) took his first career IndyCar win on Sunday with his victory in Long Beach while the Spaniard Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi), who finished fifth in this test, is now third in the fight for the championship.

Kirkwood, who beat his teammate, the Frenchman, in a tight duel Romain Grosjean, was also the fastest in qualifying and knew how to defend the first position in a very demanding race.

“When I crossed the finish line it was a relaxation, I felt that I needed this victory. I can’t thank the team enough, the strategy, the saves… and with Romain (Grosjean) behind me”, commented the young driver at the finish line to the American broadcast.

Palou achieved a creditable fifth place in Long Beach which allows him to rise to third place overall with 91 points, four behind the second classified, the Mexican Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren), who was seventeenth this Sunday and thus lost the championship lead.

The new driver at the helm of the IndyCar is the Swede Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi), who takes 19 points from Palou.

This victory for Kirkwood (third winner in three grands prix this year) allows him to climb fourteen positions in the table to be fifth and on him there are only 21 points that separate the first four classified.

Kirkwood protected his pole position in a very competitive start in which the American Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) overtook four cars, among them that of Palou.

The rivalry led to situations of maximum tension in the first pass through the pitsthe role of the mechanics was fundamental in the strategy and Newgarden risked to the limit trying to overtake a Kirkwood who miraculously saved his position by joining the track.

Newgarden led for 27 laps taking advantage of how chaotic the race was during its middle stretch.

This lack of control had as one of the main protagonists O’Ward first in side-by-side clash with Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi) which ended with the New Zealander crashing his car with the protections and abandoning the race.

This action seemed likely to end in a sanction for the McLaren, but it was not like that and Dixon was very upset.

“It’s a frustrating day. If this is how they want us to drive, I suppose they will have to take off their gloves and start fighting.”

O’Ward, after finishing his degree, wanted to answer forcefully: “I was in and he was out. SI feel that it was my mistake, I’m sorry, I don’t see it that way. I’m not going to apologize for that. This is racing. If you come from outside, you are more vulnerable to these things happening.”

Another miscalculation by O’Ward when the race reached its first third put his car in the middle of the track during a corner, affecting, among other things, a Palou who had to brake hard and lost many positions. Both drove for much of the race below the Top 10.

The driver from San Antonio Vilamajor was able to lead the test for two laps by delaying his tire change and benefiting from the fact that the others went through the pits. After him, with 30 more steps to go, he was in sixth position.

Palou completed an excellent race finish, placing fifth and putting a lot of distance with respect to his pursuer, Alexander Rossi (Arrow McLaren). In addition, he came to be less than a second behind the Californian Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport).

“We’re Top 5 in the championship, that’s good. It was a great race in St. Pete and Texas, I’m happy with where we are. We will fight in these races until the Indy 500 and see where we get there.”Palou said.

30 laps to go, Kirkwood regained the lead in the second pit stop and Grosjean slipped into second place, relegating a Newgarden who continued to lose positions until finishing ninth.

The final stretch left an exciting duel between two teammates like Kirkwood and Grosjean and finally the American prevailed.

It remains to be remembered that the Argentine Agustín Canapino (Juncos Hollinger) led the race for three laps benefiting from not stopping in the pits. Shortly after, due to a blow to the wall, he was forced to retire for the first time in this debut season.

In two weeks the fourth round of the championship will be held in Alabamathe first traditional circuit of the 2023 IndyCar after having run so far in two urban and one oval.