Round 3: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Barber Motorsports Park, April 5-7.

[bjohnsonsmith]

They've gone to the first ad break but haven't actually cut away from the race action, just no commentary.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A big moment for Power, as he does a 360 but manages to stay on the track but he's down to 22nd, after having to make a stop.

[bjohnsonsmith]

That's got to be Colton Herta's race run, as he pits then is pushed behind the pitwall with an engine/fuel issue.

[fieldodreams79]

Back stretch and Charlotte's Web! Going both ways!!

[bjohnsonsmith]

First FCY as Rahal's car grinds to a halt on the track and Chilton goes into the tyre wall, as he it cut off by TK, as they approached pitlane.

Race Control left the pits open.

[gert]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

First FCY as Rahal's car grinds to a halt on the track and Chilton goes into the tyre wall, as he it cut off by TK, as they approached pitlane.

Race Control left the pits open.

That was a good call.

However, this yellow is taking AGES again. What are they waiting for? Nothing is happening at all.

That guy Leist is an idiot.

[PointDSM]

Originally Posted by gert

That was a good call.

However, this yellow is taking AGES again. What are they waiting for? Nothing is happening at all.

That guy Leist is an idiot.

The field wasn't bunching up due to too many trying to save fuel under caution.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Blimey, Sato nearly lost it and broke a bit of his car.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Sato, he drove a very solid race.

[fieldodreams79]

Takumasan!!

[NaBUru38]

Congratulations to Sato, he dominated despite the delay at the first stop.


Dixon was fast but not fast enough.


Bourdais made a risky 2-stop strategy and it worked.



Newgarden charged through the field and finished 4th.

[broadrun96]

All in a good race with a terrible schedule, felt like too much downtime with 4 races on the schedule, and ridiculously bad customer service. Track looks nice, would be better with the grass actually green not dormant and seating not on a hella slope. But found a good spot to see multiple sections of the track and short fall down the hill to see them take the kink. IndyCar app had a half lap delay, sometimes more, on the radio and low volumes so it was tough to follow at times, and no trackside radio apparently. First time to Barber so learning experience and first IndyCar in person, may not go back there but might have to trek to Mid-Ohio to see them next summer.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Result

All in all, not a bad race and it certainly picked up after the FCY.

A worthy win for Sato, unfortunately team mate Graham Rahal went out on lap on 55, with electrical problems.

Dixon was the bridesmaid, yet again for the 6th time and it was his 8th podium finish at Barber.

Newgarden salvaged some pride for Penske, with a respectable 4th place, as did Rossi for Andretti Autosport with 5th. Newgarden was the only Chevy in the top 6. Team mate Simon Pagenaud finished with a much needed 9th place. Power's woes continue to plague him.

Hinchcliffe and rookie team mate Ericsson finished with a creditable 6th and 7th, for SPM. Fellow countryman and rookie Felix Rosenqvist, was 10th.

Unfortunately Colton wasn't able to capitalise on his rookie, debut win at COTA, when he went out with a fuel feed issue on lap 51.

1 Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 90. 1h55m46.8076s
2 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 90. 2.3874s
3 Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 90. 2.7933s
4 Josef Newgarden, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 90. 7.9721s
5 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 90. 8.8518s
6 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 90. 9.4356s
7 Marcus Ericsson, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 90. 13.7580s
8 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 90. 15.2506s
9 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 90. 22.7848s
10 Felix Rosenqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 90. 26.2450s
11 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 90. 31.8178s
12 Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 90. 33.9035s
13 Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing. Dallara/Honda. 90. 34.9655s
14 Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 90. 39.3119s
15 Santino Ferrucci, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 90. 40.0094s
16 Patricio O'Ward, Carlin. Dallara/Chevrolet. 90. 40.6728s
17 Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 90. 42.5718s
18 Tony Kanaan, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Chevrolet. 89. 1 Lap
19 Ed Jones, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 89. 1 Lap
20 Matheus Leist, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Chevrolet. 89. 1 Lap
21 Ben Hanley, DragonSpeed. Dallara/Chevrolet. 88. 2 Laps
22 Max Chilton, Carlin. Dallara/Chevrolet. 88. 2 Laps
23 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 55. Electrical
24 Colton Herta, Harding Racing. Dallara/Honda. 51. 39 Laps. Fuel feed.

[mstets]

Great win for Taku and RLL. The off course excursion with about 5 laps to go had me wondering if he could stay in front to the flag. Feeling bad for Herta and Graham as they took big hits in points due to mechanical gremlins. I'm sure the crews feel bad as well. Rahal's problem had shown up earlier in the weekend but was apparently misdiagnosed. Kudos to Newgarden for the 4th place finish from 16th on the grid. I generally have an ABP (anyone but Penske) bias, but Josef is well deserving of the points lead.

[BudLightJaguar]

Glad to hear Sato winning. I missed this race totally as we were on our way to California. I'll try to get some nice photos from Long Beach GP.

[mstets]

Hoping for a similar looking grid at LBGP.