Indycar: Álex Palou conquers America | sports

The coolness with which Álex Palou managed the pressure throughout the IndyCar championship reached its peak at the most decisive moment, on Sunday in Long Beach, on a circuit with more walls than Monaco, and on the last grand prize of the course. At the age of 24 and in his second season in the competition, the runner from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor (Barcelona) caught all the favorites to become the first Spaniard to conquer America. Absolute solvency that exhibited by Palou, who barely took a false step along the course and who arrived at the Californian route with the wind in his favor and in the best predisposition to be crowned. Things got even worse for the team driver Chip Ganassi after the abandonment of Mexican Pato O’Ward (lap 20, after being rammed by Ed Jones), one of the two rivals who could snatch the title from him. The other, Josef Newgarden, was forced to win and wait for the collapse of the Catalan. Newgarden did not win (finished second) and Palou crossed the line in fourth to break into the history of motor racing with a cushion of 38 points of advantage, more than he had before the start (35). “Do you like donuts?” He said over the radio as he screwed up his car up to five times, with his fist raised, in search of the embrace of Ramon, his father, who followed the test from the wall.

The feat is enormous if you take into account the journey of the boy, one of the young talents that flood Europe and who are left without support, drowned by the huge amounts that any Formula 2 or Formula 3 team asks for. Palou swerved and He went racing to Japan, where he made a name for himself in disciplines with less glitter but just as tight, and from there he started the support that led him to the Indy in 2020. The market gave him the opportunity to stop at Chip Ganassi, a of the most powerful structures, in the vacancy left by Felix Rosenqvist. Three wins (Alabama, Elkhart Lake and Portland), the last stratospheric, after starting from the pole and falling to the last square, a true declaration of intent.

”What Álex has done is tremendous. Because, in addition, he has done it alone, breaking stone, thanks to his ability to work ”, Oriol Servià, one of the Spanish pioneers to disembark in American motorsport, tells EL PAÍS. Palou himself acknowledges that Pals’ was a key element for him; who asked him for advice and followed it, even though the native of Girona prefers to downplay himself. “Everything comes to him at the right time, after having accumulated some experience in ovals, which are important, and he is also in the best team. But things are going well for him because they had to go well for him, ”adds Servià, who at various events has been in charge of driving the Pace Car —safety car—. At Ganassi, Palou has met Scott Dixon and Jammie Johnson, an Indy legend, the first (six titles), and Nascar, the second (seven), of whom he drenched himself with the best of both.

Servià traveled this weekend from his residence in Los Angeles to Long Beach, where on Thursday he received a plaque in his name for his career. When asked about Palou’s next step, he is clear: “The Indy is a much healthier championship than the F-1. There is politics, as everywhere, but much less. Álex has his head in place and, unless he gets an offer from one of the best teams in the F-1, I think he will continue here for several years, ”he added.

You can follow EL PAÍS DEPORTES in Facebook and Twitter, or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.

–