Scott McLaughlin has stormed home to this mornings IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland, holding off championship leader Will Power to claim race honours for the third time this season. Fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon rounded out the podium places, an impressive drive seeing him storm through the field after starting in 16th.
The day, however, belonged to pole-sitter McLaughlin who led for 104 of the races 110 laps. Power threw everything he could at his teammate over the final 20 laps of the event but was unable to match the pace of the New Zealand former Supercar ace.
“I think the car felt really good in that first stint but as the race went on,” said McLaughlin in a post-race interview.
“It got a little bit worse so I just had to concentrate on where I wanted the strengths in the car and work with those and just make the best of the weaknesses.
“But all weekend we’ve been fast and it’s been right there where we needed it. We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend, that was win and get max points. It keeps us in the fight.”
Results from the race see ‘The Championship Seven’ reduced to ‘The Championship Five’ after defending champion Alex Palou and McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward were eliminated from contention.
Starting on the third row, Palou battled a tricky car to fall back through the field and only manage 12th place. O’Ward suffered damage to his car on a restart after making contact with Power at turn 1, and was later penalised for impeding Dixon. He did, however, work back through the field to finish fourth.
Championship second place-sitter Josef Newgarden only managed eighth in the Grand Prix, suffering from a six-place grid penalty which saw him start in the same place he finished.
Marcus Ericsson also remains in the hunt for the title despite finishing 11th today.
With second, Power extends his championship lead to 20 points over both Newgarden and Dixon as the series heads into its final race next weekend at Laguna Seca. Thirty-nine points seperate Ericsson from top spot, with McLaughlin needing to overturn a 41 point deficit in California should he overtake Power.
Whilst an outside chance, McLaughlin is thrilled to still be in the hunt heading into the final weekend. So great has his form been in 2022, in fact, some pundits are already labelling him as top contender for the 2023 title.
“We’re a long shot and I don’t care… We’re a shot and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
