Pato O’Ward of Mexico became the NTT IndyCar Series’ first multiple winner of the season on Sunday by winning the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2 at Belle Isle Park.
O’Ward passed Josef Newgarden, who started in pole position, and led the last three laps on the street. He won by a margin of 6.7595 seconds over Newgarden, who led the other 67 laps. Alex Palou from Spain finished third in the 164.5 mile race.
With his second victory, O’Ward, who drives the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, moved to the top of the standings, one point ahead of Palou.
Throughout the day, O’Ward’s mind was with an injured Arrow McLaren teammate. Felix Rosenqvist from Sweden crashed into a wall on Saturday night at Belle Isle Park during the weekend’s first competition and was in hospital.
“I talked to Felix this morning and the important thing is that he’s okay, but I told him ‘I’m going to win it for you,’ O’Ward told reporters. ‘I’m a man of my word. I wanted to get it done for him. “
O’Ward, 22, started the race in 16th position.
Colton Herta and Graham Rahal rounded out the top five, with Will Power of Australia coming in sixth.
O’Ward’s first season victory came on May 2 at Texas Motor Speedway, which was his first career victory. Seven different drivers won the first seven races in the 2021 series before Sunday.
Romain Grosjean from France experienced a brake fire and tried to put it out himself. The fire led to a warning flag late in the race. Grosjean escaped a fiery crash in a Formula 1 race in Bahrain in November last year.
The IndyCar Series returns June 20 at the Rev Group Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
– Field level media
Source: sn.dk