Rinus VeeKay used some bold moves to win the IndyCar Indianapolis Grand Prix on Saturday, capturing his first win in the US open-wheel series ahead of pole-sitter Romain Grosjean.
The 20-year-old from the Netherlands became the third first-time winner in the series this season and the fourth driver under the age of 25 to win in five races in 2021 after Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou.
He started in seventh and powered his way up with speed and determination, making a big move on lap 42 when he split the Chip Ganassi Racing cars of Palou and Jimmy Johnson to overtake them both.
He passed Grosjean — who held a comfortable early lead — with 37 laps remaining and won by 4.951sec.
VeeKay, who gave Ed Carpenter Racing a first victory since 2016, surrendered the lead briefly through a pit stop cycle, but led the final 20 laps of the 85-lap race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — where the Indianapolis 500 will be run on the famed oval course in two weeks.
“We had an awesome start to the weekend, best start I’ve ever had,” VeeKay said. “I knew we had the car, and we were so fast. Just the perfect day. It’s amazing.”
Palou was third, with Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal rounding out the top-five.
The signs were good for VeeKay when he was fastest in the morning warm-up. He had some success before on the Indianapolis road course with a pole position and third-placed finish last October.
He crashed heavily on the Indy oval in Indianapolis 500 testing to start 2021, breaking a finger. But he still finished in the top 10 of three of the next four races.
For Grosjean, a first IndyCar podium marked a stunning return from his horrifying fiery crash in Bahrain last November that ended his Formula One career.
“That’s really a good day,” said the 35-year-old Frenchman, who received massive cheers from the limited crowd as he was interviewed post race.
“Bahrain, it was horrible, but for my life it’s been a great experience — the people are behind me.”
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
