After a great battle against Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta won the Long Beach Grand Prix. Fourth after seeing Pato O’Ward see his hopes go up in smoke in the first round, Alex Palou wins the IndyCar championship.
After Laguna Seca, Long Beach for Colton Herta! The American rider concluded the 2021 IndyCar Championship season with a second straight victory in California after an eventful race. Fourteenth on the starting grid, the son of former driver Bryan Herta made a good comeback in the peloton to get his sixth victory in the North American single-seater championship. At the end of the race, the American was able to resist his compatriot Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou’s last rival for the title of champion on the occasion of this 16th and last round of the season. The Andretti driver won with a margin of half a second on the finish line. 2020 champion Scott Dixon finished the season in third place ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou. The Spaniard, at 24, achieves the best performance of his career. More consistent, the native of Sant Antoni de Vilamajor won his first championship.
.@AlexPalou, you’re an NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion.
Soak it in.#INDYCAR // @CGRTeams pic.twitter.com/KiLa1r2KkA
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) September 26, 2021
Pagenaud and Bourdais end well, not Grosjean
An IndyCar title that came closer at the end of the first round. Indeed, in the last corner, Pato O’Ward was hit by Ed Jones. The Arrow McLaren SP driver had to spin off at the back of the pack before resigning himself to quitting due to a transmission failure. If his team was able to recover the car and repair it, Pato O’Ward only made a few laps before stopping definitively. On the French side, this last round of the 2021 season was bittersweet. For what will remain his last race with the Penske team before joining Meyer Shank Racing, Simon Pagenaud saw his tactical bet to start on hard tires relatively working for a fifth place at the finish. Sébastien Bourdais, meanwhile, crossed the line with an eighth position. Romain Grosjean, meanwhile, did not see the checkered flag. Despite some good battles at the start of the race, the future driver Andretti Autosport saw his race end on contact with the wall which damaged his car. The Genevan takes 24th place after ten laps and misses the title of rookie of the year, which goes to Scott McLaughlin, the first Penske driver to win it.
INDYCAR / GRAND PRIX DE LONG BEACH
Final classification – 85 laps (269.195km) – Sunday September 26, 2021
1- Colton Herta (USA/Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda)
2- Josef Newgarden (USA / Team Penske Chevrolet) at 0”5883
3- Scott Dixon (NZL / Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) at 1”0752
4- Alex Palou (ESP / Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) at 2”4120
5- Simon Pagenaud (FRA / Team Penske Chevrolet) at 3”1237
6- Alexander Rossi (USA / Andretti Autosport Honda) at 4”6739
7- Jack Harvey (GBR/Meyer Shank Racing Honda) à 6’’3467
8- Sébastien Bourdais (FRA / AJFoyt Enterprises Chevrolet) at 8”0275
9- Takuma Sato (JAP/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) 10”5939
10- Will Power (AUS / Team Penske Chevrolet) at 11”4297
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24– Romain Grosjean (FRA / Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda) at 10 laps
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Final classification of the drivers’ championship
1- Alex Palou (ESP/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) 549 points
2- Josef Newgarden (USA/Team Penske Chevrolet) 511
3- Pato O’Ward (MEX/Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) 487
4- Scott Dixon (NZL / Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) 481
5- Colton Herta (USA/Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda) 455
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8- Simon Pagenaud (FRA/Team Penske Chevrolet 383
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14- Romain Grosjean (FRA/Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda) 272
15- Sébastien Bourdais (FRA / AJFoyt Enterprises Chevrolet) 258
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