Álex Palou was fighting for the lead until he was touched by the Dutchman Rinus VeeKay in the pits. Even so, he rallied from the bottom of the pack to fourth.
Álex Palou has set out to win the 2023 Indianapolis 500, as he has done in the last two editions, but this time the Spaniard started from pole position, after breaking the lap record in the qualifying session. Car 10 has given it his all, but an unfortunate incident in the pits with another driver, Rinus VeeKay, prevented him from claiming the Indy 500 crown.
The collision between them occurred on lap 92, when Álex stopped in the pits while driving in fifth position. It was still an initial moment of the test, and the Spaniard had left distance with the first four. He was approaching the race calmly, aware that this appointment is won in the last few laps. But-almost all-his hopes remained in the pits.
VeeKay, who had started second, spun while making his pit stop and took Palou, breaking his front wing. Although the mechanics were able to work on his car, the Catalan lost the leading group, but not all the options to get back on top.
ALEX PALOU AND RINUS VEEKAY HAVE COME TOGETHER ON PIT LANE!📺: @nbc and @peacock pic.twitter.com/KUsmQvHgug
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 28, 2023
Alex made a great comeback from 19th place to the ‘top 10’, becoming the fastest on the track at various times, also staying away from the various incidents that took place.
In one of them, between Rosenqvist and Kirkwood, we feared the worst, and not only because Kirkwood’s car ended up overturned, fortunately without any personal injury to him, but because one of Rosenqvist’s tires went flying straight into the stands. As if it were a miracle, the piece ended up in the parking lot, without causing any injuries.
Or accident between or Rosenqvist that involved or Kirkwood. All well, the tire that voou hit the car in the parking lot. A miracle 🙏 #INDYCARnaSPORTTVpic.twitter.com/zbRGpcss2i
— Let’s Falar de FUm 🏁🎙🔊 (@VamosFalardeFum) May 28, 2023
The race reached the last ten laps full of emotion and uncertainty, with Patricio O’Ward in the lead, but with nothing assured, as was shown moments later. With seven laps to go, Patricio collided with Ericsson and crashed into the wall, which left him out of the test.
When action resumed, there was another incident behind, leaving Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden in the top two positions with one lap to go, with Palou in fifth. The race would go down to the last lap, and it was here that Newgarden gave it his all to win his first Indianapolis 500, and he did it ahead of Ericsson, while Palou finished fourth.
Newgarden, a two-time Indycar champion, wins for the first time this legendary race in which he had participated 11 times to date, and he did so starting from seventeenth position. Álex, who will now continue his fight for his second Indycar title (he is the championship leader), will continue to fight for his time to come in the 500 Miles.
