Pato O'Ward celebrated a good result at the Iowa oval on Saturday and hopes for an even better performance in the second race on Sunday
After three straight races without even finishing in the top ten, Pato O'Ward was back on the podium this Saturday (23) at the Iowa 1 GP. The Mexican started in fourth place and saw his pace grow throughout the race. Pato even caught up with Josef Newgarden, who took his fourth win of the season, but regretted that he didn't have the performance to make a move.
"I was pushing Josef there at the end, but we didn't have enough. I have to say that the car was very good. We didn't start so well, but we kept improving the car with each stint and at the end we were able to take advantage of that, passing Will [Power], Alex [Palou] and then trying to catch up to car #2. So we'll see what we can do for tomorrow, but the car was very good," O'Ward said after the race.
"Second is very good for where we are in the championship and for the weekend. Tomorrow we start eighth, but that won't be a problem, because the important thing is to have a good car in the race here. It's good to be here and I'm excited for tomorrow," said the Mexican.
One area O'Ward knows he can improve for the second race on the oval is the restarts. After losing some positions after the yellow flags, the McLaren driver is now hoping for an even better performance in the second race this Sunday (24).
"I knew they were up to something during the restarts, but then I found a way to do it without losing any ground. In the first one we lost some positions, I think Marcus [Ericsson] overtook us. We'll be better tomorrow," Pato concluded.
With the result, O'Ward took over the sixth position in the Indy standings, with 316 points. The start of the Iowa GP 2 is scheduled for 4pm EST, with full coverage by GRANDE PRÊMIO.