NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou, in the No.10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda says that the car was on point in Detroit on Sunday.
The Spainard startrd the race from pole position and took his first career victory on a street course om the streets of Detroit.
The Spaniard has extended his lead in the championship to 50 points.
Speaking following the race, Palou said:
“The No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants car was on point today. “Super proud of the job we did. It was tricky there at the end, man, with those (worn) tires couldn’t really get to temperature (on restarts).”
It was a somewhat frustrating day for six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda as he felt that the team had a car to finish on the podium or win the race.
The Iceman who finished the race in fourth place said:
A bit of a frustrating day, because we should’ve finished first or second. The car was really fast; the Honda fuel mileage was super easy to get and the driveability was great. I think we had a lot more pace than the two cars finishing just ahead of us. I should’ve used more OT (overtake) after the last pit stop to get past Will [Power].”
Dixon went on to say:
The car had such great pace and the fuel mileage was easy to get. Congrats to Alex, he drove superb the whole race. It was pretty wild out there, I had a lot of fun, just frustrated since the car deserved a lot more than that.”
It was a great Detroit debut for Marcus Armstrong in the No.11 American Legion Honda as he started the race from inside the Firestone Fast 12 and finished the race in eighth place.
Armstrong said:
“It was a good race. We stayed out of trouble. We didn’t do anything too crazy. We had a lot of pace. I thought we were quicker than the cars ahead. I think we did make a couple of good on-track moves which was great. Ultimately, the car was amazing and I think we’re capable of a lot more which is a good sign for the future. Great job to the team all around.”
Marcus Ericsson in the No.8 Huski Iced Spritz Honda maintained second in the championship with a ninth place finish.
That was a tough day for us. We did a really good start and it looked super good and then suddenly from nowhere the green tires just completely stopped working, it was super strange. We did a good recovery mission after that. The team did a really good with strategy and pit stops, we got some got overtakes to get us back in the top 10. Overall, a decent points day but disappointing. Congrats to Alex and the team on the win.”
Next up for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America in mid June.