Palou at his best as Thermal Club leaves a lot to be desired

By : Evan Dalton


 Image : Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo


Three time NTT Indycar Series Champion Alex Palou has won his second race of the season as he beats Arrow Mclaren’s Patricio O’Ward to the victory at the Thermal Club. 


The Spaniard charged down O’Ward late in the race to achieve back-to-back victories, and become the first driver to sweep the first two rounds of the season since his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon did so in 2020. 


It was a positive race for Arrow McLaren, as Danish driver Christian Lungaard came home behind his teammate O’Ward in third. 


The race started superbly for Mclaren, with O’Ward generating a commanding lead over his teammate early on. Neither were challenged by Palou until the halfway mark, when savvy strategy calls from Chip Ganassi Racing gave their driver an advantage in the final stint by allowing him to use the quicker alternate Firestone tyre, while O’Ward was on the slower primary compound. 


Palou was able to dispatch Lundgaard after the final pitstop and this resulted in the gap to first closing rapidly, with Palou gaining almost 11 seconds in just five laps. He overtook the Mexican, and never looked back, repeating the success he had in last season’s Thermal Club Million Dollar Challenge. 


Andretti Global’s Colton Herta and Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist both impressed, finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. It was also a successful afternoon for Team Penske’s veteran Will Power, as he recovered to sixth after a dire qualifying on Saturday. 


The same could not be said for his teammate Scott McLaughlin however, as his chances at a strong result ended before the race got started. He was hit on the rolling start by Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Devlin DeFrancesco. Despite having 65 laps to calm down, neither of them did, and a verbal altercation in the pitlane between the pair followed the race. 


It was the first official Indycar points race for The Thermal Club, after last year’s ‘all star’ type event. The Thermal Club is an exclusive luxury resort for auto fans, who have use of the circuit at the purchase of one of the 70 villas located around the circuit. It is not a location designed for the run of the mill Indycar fan. 


While racing at a unique venue to fill the lengthy gap between races in St. Petersburg, Florida and Long Beach, California, is appreciated, the racing action left a lot to be desired. Tyre saving was the priority of the entire field from the second the green flag dropped, and while tyre saving is a key skill you need as a driver, it never really leads to good racing in Indycar. 


The negative fan response to this year’s event at the Thermal Club certainly wasn’t helped by technical issues. A power outage at the circuit halted FOX Sports’ coverage of the event, and pictures across the world, and on the big screens at the venue, went for approximately fifteen minutes. 


What makes this worse for organisers is, not much action was actually missed during this. Usually missing fifteen minutes of an Indycar event would cause you to lose track of the entire race. 


Indycar at The Thermal Club is something fans will mostly likely see in the coming years, as a return to the former March event at Texas Motor Speedway looks unlikely. It is no secret that some changes have to be made however, as the spectacle at present is nothing more than Sunday entertainment for the residents. 


Palou won’t be one of those complaining though, he now holds a 39 point advantage over O’Ward in the championship standings. 


The NTT Indycar Series heads to the famous streets of Long Beach California on April 13th next, an event won last year by Scott Dixon. 

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