A McLaren 1-2 at Mid-Ohio IndyCar Race

Pato O’Ward has won the IndyCar race at Mid Ohio making this his first road-coarse win in 2 years, with Christian Lundgaard in second place. 

(Image credit to @arrowmclaren on Instagram)

Christian Lundgaard started the race on pole with teammate Pato O’Ward in second place, and Will Power driving for Andretti Global in third. At the green flag Lundgaard managed to hang onto first place keeping O’Ward at bay. Several places were gained by drivers further down the field, such as Rinus Veekay and Alex Palou; the championship leader who both gained 2 places on the start. 

Running in 6th place Alex Palou was racing Kyle Kirkwood who on Lap 4 made his first attempt against the championship leader but was kept behind. With several drivers opting to start on the red soft tires, and others starting on the black tires, early race running suggested this would be a black tire race as the softs seemed to be giving out early in the first stint. 

Lap 12 saw Will Power pitting for black tires, with Alex Palou choosing to extend his stint. On Lap 15 Alex Palou pitted and despite coming out ahead of Kyle Kirkwood, he later conceded the position as Kirkwood's tires were up to temperature. 

On Lap 42 Pato O’Ward took the battle to his teammate for the lead of the race. A mistake from Lundgaard forced him wide allowing O’Ward to take the position and the lead of the race. This was the race defining moment for the two drivers. Christian Lundgaard pitted to soft tires ahead of Pato O’Ward to gain an advantage and on Lap 49 after O’Ward pitted for soft tires he came out ahead of Lundgaard. 

Pato O’Ward overtook Dennis Hauger who was a lapped car and trapped the likes of Lundgaard, Veekay and Kirkwood who all elected to pit on Lap 63, while O’Ward continued due to the car continuing to have pace. The race leader came into the pits on Lap 65 where he pitted for hard tires, with the team deciding there would be no need for a full tank of gas to get O’Ward to the checkered flag, O’Ward had a quick stop which gave him a 4 second lead on Lundgaard. 

At the checkered flag Pato O’Ward is in first place, with his teammate Christian Lundgaard taking second, and Kyle Kirkwood completing the podium places. Alex Palou finished in 5th place allowing him to maintain his championship lead over Kyle Kirkwood. The race at Mid-Ohio had no retirements and is the first in six races to not include a caution period. 

Article Written by Israa Ihab