Many NTT IndyCar Series drivers would be elated with a top-10 finish after starting last on a road course race. For Christian Lundgaard, there was no joy in finishing ninth in Sunday’s (Aug. 9) OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.
“Not really,” Lundgaard told Frontstretch when asked if he was happy with his result. “I mean, it’s not where we should be.”
Lundgaard started last in the 25-car field after a hybrid issue during the first round of qualifying on Saturday slowed the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. At the start of the 110-lap race around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course, the Danish racer passed six cars on the first lap of the race, four of them in the first turn alone.
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Christian Lundgaard passes SIX cars before Turn 7! pic.twitter.com/i9UWA1lGGg
Lundgaard passed Caio Collet, Sting Ray Robb, Mick Schumacher and Santino Ferrucci in the first chicane before passing Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel who had contact at the exit of turn 6 that sent Siegel momentarily off into the grass.
“It was send it and hope for the best,” Lundgaard said of his first lap mentality.
By starting on Firestone’s red sidewall alternate compound tires, Lundgaard had the grip he needed at the start of the race to gain an additional two positions on both the second and third laps. Lundgaard moved up to 14th on the race’s sixth lap before Graham Rahal‘s contact with the tire barrier before turn 12 brought out the race’s only full course yellow.
Lundgaard overtook Dennis Hauger on lap 10 to move up to 13th place before the first sequence of green flag pit stops shuffled the running order. By the time the first sequence of pit stops was over, Lundgaard leapfrogged Scott Dixon, Louis Foster, Romain Grosjean and Christian Rasmussen to cycle out in ninth place.
Josef Newgarden‘s pit strategy put the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet past Lundgaard, but Lundgaard had a tremendous fight with Kyffin Simpson for ninth place as the race progressed.
Lundgaard was briefly ninth after the race’s second green flag pit stop sequence, but the Cayman Islands native got past Lundgaard as the pair sped toward turn 4.
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Christian Lundgaard and Kyffin Simpson are mixing it up for P9. pic.twitter.com/0z1taqdp97
As the race progressed toward another Alex Palou victory, Lundgaard never gave up on pursuing Simpson, eventually getting around the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for ninth place on lap 108.
“He was fast, it wasn’t easy,” Lundgaard said of his battle with Simpson. “And I think he was on used alternates on that last stint and we were on a new set and I think just from a deg perspective, we were a little better at the end and he was using his push to pass and I was just saving mine. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get by.”
Lundgaard finished 25.7500 seconds behind Palou at the end of the race and is now fourth in points, 135 behind the championship leader.
Simpson, for his part, was more positive.
“It was a nice little battle,” he told Frontstretch. “We did get a little argy bargy, of course, but that’s how IndyCar is. It’s competitive, rough racing, and that’s what we all love.”
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.