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Alex Palou Goes Back-to-Back on Indianapolis Road Course to Win Sonsio Grand Prix

Alex Palou drove his No. 10 Honda to his 10th NTT IndyCar Series win by claiming victory in Saturday’s (May 11) Sonsio Grand Prix. Palou’s victory moves him into the series’ points lead for the first time this year.

Will Power finished second ahead of Christian Lundgaard, who controlled much of the race’s first half.

“It was an amazing win,” Palou said after the race. “It’s great to be back-to-back from last year and we’re going to continue this May.

“[Momentum] helps. It always helps. A win helps a lot, especially if it’s a pole and a win and the way we won it, so going to celebrate for sure. But we’ll switch this afternoon the focus to the big one.”

Despite starting on pole, Palou lost the lead to Lundgaard at the drop of the green flag and spent the race’s first stint running in second place ahead of Power. It was on lap 40 that Palou pitted, one lap later than Lundgaard and two laps later than Power, setting Palou up for a strong overcut which allowed him to barely squeeze by Lundgaard for control of the race.

The only firm challenge to Palou’s lead came on a lap 68 restart, where Power made a run on Palou at the entry to turn 1. This move was critical for Power’s race as the Australian was on used tires as opposed to Palou’s fresh set. The caution in question was brought out by a spinning Luca Ghitto.

Palou defended aggressively and maintained his lead, forcing Power to turn his focus to third-placed Lundgaard for the rest of the race.

Although Power was admittedly frustrated to finish second, he still cited the day as being “solid” in the bigger picture.

Behind the top three, Marcus Armstrong took a career-best finish of fifth place behind teammate Scott Dixon.

Colton Herta had the longest day of any driver in the field. Early contact with teammate Marcus Ericsson forced the driver of the No. 26 off the track, setting him back further after a fuelling error in qualifying left him unable to finish his hotlap.

Herta spoke with Frontstretch after the race, in which he rebounded to a seventh-place result.

Santino Ferrucci was the only retirement of the day, though the American was in the spotlight by the end of the race’s second lap. After having a run-in with Romain Grosjean during the morning warm-up session, the two found each other on track on lap 2, and immediately got their elbows out.

Ferrucci later retired on lap 55 due to a budding brake failure, but remarked after the race that Grosjean had raced him cleanly later in the day.

See also
Justin Allgaier Dominates at Darlington for 1st Win of 2024

After having to change his engine following a failure during the morning warm-up, Pato O’Ward finished 13th, but encountered continued engine issues throughout the race. The Mexican driver started fifth, but spent the bulk of the race running between 10th and 13th, suffering power delivery issues along the way.

2024 IndyCar Sonsio Grand Prix Results

Next up in the month of May is qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, which will cover the weekend of May 18-19, beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday.

Alex is the IndyCar Content Director at Frontstretch, having initially joined as an entry-level contributor in 2021. He also serves as Managing Director of The Asia Cable, a publication focused on the international affairs and politics of the Asia-Pacific region which he co-founded in 2023. With previous experience in China, Japan and Poland, Alex is particularly passionate about the international realm of motorsport and the politics that make the wheels turn - literally - behind the scenes.

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