Palou RUES missed opportunity at Portland

Alex Palou has rued a missed opportunity at the Grand Prix of Portland last weekend as the title battle heats up.

The Spaniard currently leads the IndyCar championship with 54 points separating him from his closest competitor Will Power in P2.

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However, during the race last Sunday Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing opted for three sets of the harder primary tires for the race after using an extra set of alternate tires during qualifying.

The decision was based on the thinking that the harder tires would be better for the race, a plan that did not materialize.

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Palou’s championship rival Power achieved the race victory, as Palou was left contemplating the missed opportunity.

“It was tough. It was a hard race. I think we didn’t really pick the right choices on tires,” Palou said.

“But it comes from yesterday’s qualifying. We didn’t really think that the used alternates were going to last. Used both of them in qualifying.

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“That’s what I actually pushed for yesterday in qualifying. That’s why I did two stints on used reds. Yeah, I got a lot of fear after Detroit when I started on used reds. I just destroyed those tires in six laps.

“Yeah, a shame that we couldn’t really battle much. At the beginning I thought we had a lot of pace when the #12 [Power] and the #14 [Ferrucci] were on primaries. I was really comfortable.

“But as soon as Will went on reds, I just couldn’t really follow him. I had a chance on the back straight when he had a little bit of traffic, but couldn’t really make it.

“So yeah, happy, but obviously a little bit frustrating that we couldn’t really get there. It was tough. I think he had a seventh gear today. Couldn’t really catch him.”

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