By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
Alex Palou is the two-time NTT Indy Car defending Champion and has won three of the first four races in 2025. His worst finish is a runner up and he made his own racing luck by using a late push to win the pole of the Sonsio Grand Prix. While Palou is the storyline, Christian Lundgaard has been a sensation with three Top-Five finishes and a Top Ten. Lundgaard would be in the points lead most seasons, but Palou has been sensational. Who has been a surprise and not of the good kind? Josef Newgarden is 11th in points this season and has only one Top-Five in four races.
So, let’s drop the green flag…
Top Nine in NTT Points going into the Sonsio
Early Laps
All drivers will have to use four sets of tires during the race, two hard and two soft, and Graham Rahal uses his soft tires to overtake Palou early. Colton Herta becomes one of three drivers to go down at least a lap. Newgarden sinks to 21st, 15 seconds behind the leader. Anyone driving the hard tires is losing spots to the soft tire drivers. The only requirement is you have to run four sets of tires, not how many laps you run on each set. Kyffen Simpson has lost 17 spots since the green flag was dropped. Rinus Veekay is +7. After 20 laps, it’s Rahal, Palou, Devlin DeFrancesco, and the rookie Louis Foster 1-4.
Pit stops start on lap 15 with Veekay changing into soft tires. Marcus Ericsson has mechanical problems and exits the race. Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward go around Foster on Lap 17, and Foster is now 6th. The leaders except Rahal pit by Lap 20. Rahal pits on lap 21 after using plenty of Push to Pass to give him a cushion in the pits. It works out as he stays a scant second ahead of AP. A third of the way through the Sonsio, it’s Rahal, Palou, and Scott McLaughlin.
Middle third of the Sonsio
Only 1.3 seconds separates Rahal, Palou, and McLaughlin to start the middle third of the race. Rahal catches the rookie Jerry Abel and wants him to move over, but Abel is on the lead lap and refuses. Rahal has Palou on his bumper and uses P2P pretty hard and changes nothing. Rahal and Palou pit together and leave the pits in the same 1-2 running order. McLaughlin and Herta run right behind 3-4. But tell Marcus Armstrong. He needs to pit, but for now, he is the Sonsio’s third leader of the race. That lasts until lap 46 and Rahal is again back on top. Will Power has now joined the Top Five by Lap 49. With driver needing to make their final tire change of the race, most will finish on the soft tires. Rahal will finish on the harder surface, and this will be a disadvantage.
Final Laps
Palou overtakes Rahal, who has mechanical issues starting to mount on Lap 58 for the lead. Palou quickly builds a lead after pouncing on a sputtering Rahal. Palou leads McLaughlin by over 8 seconds. By lap 65, all of the leaders except Palou make their final pit stop. Palou quickly joins them for his final stop. The final pit stops shuffle the Top four with Palou leading, O’Ward, Power and McLaughlin in the Top Four.
Final Leaderboard
With 16 laps to go, David Malukas, goes into the infield and brings about a caution and the NTT streak of 408 cautionless laps going back to the season opener is over. With ten to go, its Palou, O’Ward, and Power 1-2-3.
The final laps tick off and no one can catch Palou. He wins for the fourth time this season.
Checkered Flag
Alex Palou wins for the 4th time in five races and the driver of the DHL 10 is off to a historic season. Palou wins by nearly 5.5 seconds over O’Ward.
Podium 2-3
Second- Pato O’Ward: PATO O’WARD: We fought hard today. Started eighth,
and I was pretty happy with the balance of my car. Just
missed it there in qualifying with the issues that we had in a straight line, but Ian fixed it. It was good to have good
pace.
Third- Will Power- It was just a solid day. Didn’t pass anyone
on track. It was the same as Barber. Didn’t pass a single
car. Just spent the whole day sort of like in a good pit stop
strategy and speed and sort of overcut there at the end.
Got us a couple of positions
Tale of the Tape
Roy J. Akers covers NTT Indycar for www.skyviewsports.net
