Spanish driver Álex Palou celebrated his third place on the grid for the Elkhart Lake GP and said he was surprised by the performance of pole-position Alexander Rossi
Current winner of the Elkhart Lake GP, the Spaniard Álex Palou will start in third place in the race that will be held this Sunday (12) at the Road America circuit. The Ganassi driver tried a different strategy in the Fast Six, using the black tires, which take longer to wear out but are slower, instead of the red ones, which are faster but less durable.
Starting behind only Alexander Rossi, pole for the first time in three years, and Josef Newgarden, Palou finds himself in an even more comfortable situation than in 2021, when he started fifth and ended up triumphing thanks to a mechanical problem with Newgarden in the closing laps.
"Ah, for sure, it's [a place on the grid] better than last year! It's good, we were close, congratulations to [Alexander] Rossi and the team in the #27 car. We were in the fight, we made the right strategy with the black tires, but they managed to extract more pace," explained the Spaniard.
"The car is good, we kept improving every time we went to the track and hopefully we can find something tomorrow in the warm-up. It's a sensational starting position compared to last week in Detroit," recalled Álex, who was sixth in this week's race at Belle Isle Park circuit after starting 18th.
The reigning IndyCar Series champion was shocked to discover that his best lap was half a second off the pole-position time. When he learned the difference, Palou figured he had made the wrong choice of strategy, but was surprised to learn that Rossi was actually on black tires in the Fast Six as well.
"When I heard that I was five tenths behind, I figured they were on the red ones, but no, they were on the black ones. So yes, I was surprised that the car in first was on the blacks, but that's it, they made it work. We are working and we will find more rhythm," concluded the Spaniard.
In the last two years, the Indy champion won at Road America. Still without a pole in 2022, Palou will be looking for his first win of the year at the Elkhart Lake GP. The start of the race is scheduled for 1:45 pm EST, with complete coverage by GRANDE PRÊMIO.