2023 GMR Grand Prix

Race Notes

• The 2023 GMR Grand Prix was 85 laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course totaling 207.3 miles. The pit road speed limit was 50 mph and the race started the third time past the flag stand. Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard gridded drivers' right.
• All cars but those of Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, Jack Harvey, Pato O'Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson, Marcus Armstrong, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rinus VeeKay, Sting Ray Robb, Agustin Canapino and Helio Castroneves started on red-sidewalled Firestone alternate tires. Each car was required to use one set of new alternate tires and one set of primary tires during the race.
• At 3:35 p.m. EDT, 10 minutes before the scheduled green-flag time, the ambient temperature in Speedway, Indiana was 82 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. The track temperature was 121 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 3:39 p.m., Olympic swimmer and Carmel, Indiana native Drew Kibler gave the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines." All engines fired and all cars rolled on the grid.
• Prior to the green flag, the No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Benjamin Pedersen was on pit road with radio issues.
• Lundgaard led the field into Turn 1 on Lap 1 while the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Graham Rahal was off the pace with a flat right-rear tire.
• Alex Palou passed Lundgaard for the race lead in Turn 14 and led the opening lap.
• On Lap 2, the race's only full-course caution period began when the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda of David Malukas and the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda of Sting Ray Robb came together and stopped on course in Turn 7. The caution lasted for three laps and while the incident was under review by the race stewards, no action was taken.
• At the conclusion of Lap 5, the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Palou led the field on the restart and remained out front on alternate tires until his first pit stop on Lap 18.
• After a succesion of leaders including Lundgaard, Rossi, Ericsson, Rahal and Dixon, Palou regained the lead on Lap 48.
• After losing the lead during the next round of stops, Palou again acquired the race lead on Lap 65 and held it until the end of the race.
• Palou took the white flag with a 13.6228-second advantage over O'Ward.
• Palou went on to win the GMR Grand Prix with a margin of victory of 16.8006 seconds. He became the fifth different race winner in five 2023 races. Palou secured his fifth NTT IndyCar Series victory after three wins in 2021 and one in 2022, all on road courses. His last victory was at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2023.
• Championship points after the GMR Grand Prix:
  1. Palou 174
  2. O'Ward 168 (-6)
  3. Ericsson 155 (-19)
  4. Grosjean 134 (-40)
  5. McLaughlin 133 (-41)
  6. Newgarden 131 (-43)
  7. Dixon 127 (-47)
  8. Power 122 (-52)
  9. Lundgaard 111 (-63)
  10. Kirkwood 108 (-66)
      

Session Notes

• Warm-up for the 2023 GMR Grand Prix began on time at 11:15 a.m. EDT and ran its full 30-minute duration without red flags..
• At the end of the session, Marcus Ericsson was fastest with a 1:10.3872 in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
  

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time with the clock starting when the first car hits the alternate start-finish line. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 27. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six cars advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• Qualifying for the 2023 GMR Grand Prix began at 4:05 p.m. EDT.
• Five minutes prior to the start time, the ambient temperature was 75 degrees with overcast skies. The track temperature was 96 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• All rounds of qualifying ran without red flags.
• Two penalties were issued during qualifying:
  • In Group 1, the No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Benjamin Pedersen was judged to have caused a local yellow that affected another competitor. The car was stripped of its fastest lap to that point.
  • In Round 2, the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda of Kyle Kirkwood was issued a drive-through penalty for improper pit entry or exit.
• The following drivers advanced to the Firestone Fast Six: Alex Palou, Christian Lundgaard, Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Jack Harvey and Kyle Kirkwood.
• At the conclusion of Round 3, Lundgaard had the fastest lap and secured his first career NTT P1 Award.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 for the 2023 GMR Grand Prix began on time at 1 p.m. EDT and ran its full 45-minute duration without red flags, leaving 15 extra minutes due to the one-hour window.
• The No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Helio Castroneves emitted smoke and slowed due to an engine issue, but was able to pull safely off track to avoid causing a red flag.
• At the end of the session, Alex Palou was fastest with a 1:09.9383 in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 1 for the 2023 GMR Grand Prix began on time at 9:30 a.m. EDT and ran its full 75-minute duration without any red flags.
• Several race cars experienced issues during their install laps and later in the session, including Colton Herta whose No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda emitted flames from the engine compartment due to an oil leak.
• At the end of the session, Pato O'Ward was fastest with a 1:09.4981 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.