Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Kyle Kirkwood powered to victory at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, stopping Spaniard Alex Palou from a third straight win in the Indy Car Series. Andretti driver Kirkwood finished 2.6859 seconds ahead of Palou, the top driver for Chip Ganassi, for his second win from the pole at Long Beach in the last three years.
“What a great day. We controlled the race. Even from practice we felt we were in control. Really good qualifying. Amazing race. Amazing strategy,” said Kirkwood, who led for 46 of the 90 laps of the street race. “It was just execution all across the board. That’s what won us that race here today. Because if Palou was in front, he would have beaten us for sure. This was a track position race here today, without any cautions,” he added.
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Palou had won the opening two races of the season and — starting third on the grid — he got past Colton Herta in the opening pit sequence and then got close to Kirkwood on the 65th lap of the race. Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard in a Chevy finished third, overtaking Felix Rosenqvist with five laps remaining. Rosenqvist finished fourth. Will Power, a two-time Long Beach champion, finished fifth.
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