Pato O’Ward returns to the podium after two DNFs in the last two races.
Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward was able to salvage a podium at the Road America GP. The Mexican driver didn’t see the chequered flag at the last two races, making contact with Marcus Ericsson while fighting for the lead of the Indy 500 and ending his race on the wall in Detroit while trying not to get lapped by Alex Palou, race leader, after a wheel nut came off at his stop.The Mexican had to have a good result if he was to keep his championship hopes more alive, as Alex Palou came into Elkhart Lake with a 51 points advantage to second place in the standings, Marcus Ericsson, with O’Ward in 4th.His weekend started well, the Arrow McLarens were proving to be fast in the practice sessions. He lost the pole to Colton Herta on Saturday due to a mistake on the Carousel and Canada corner but could get his car on the front row.The No. 5 McLaren had a bad start, falling down to 3rd before the first turn and, in the breaking zone, Kyle Kirkwood behind lost his braking reference and shoved O’Ward wide. He came back to the track in 6th but, on the back straight, he blocked Santino Ferrucci, earning him a penalty of dropping two positions.The race restarted with O’Ward in 7th, but the penalty made him give up two places. So, on lap 5, he found himself in 9th place, having to recover.O’Ward’s car had great pace, so he could overtake on the track up to 3rd position. At the last round of pitstops, Team Penske was faster and Josef Newgarden got his position. He got back to the podium after Colton Herta’s pace dropped significantly on the last stint because of fuel saving. Nonetheless, he had to defend his position from a fast-charging Scott Dixon.It was his first trip to the podium since the GMR GP. It’s the 6th podium for Arrow McLaren this season.“It was a hard-fought race for us,” said O’Ward. “We were sort of like a ping-pong ball in the beginning, getting hit in Turn 1 and again in Turn 2. We got shuffled back, had to give up a couple positions, and then I think we were sitting ninth. Then we just fought our way forward, there was really no other thing to do. “I’m happy with the result. It was a solid job by the team in the pits. Considering where we ended in the last couple races, I think this was a really good job.“But yeah, I think we all need to be better if we want to catch the 10 car. That’s just the reality of it. I think same as Josef, we had a massive opportunity to capitalize and I think to win this race, because I feel like I definitely had the pace. We kind of threw that away in our last pit stop.
“We’re just going to keep on fighting. We win together, we lose together. That’s how it’s always going to be.
“I’m excited for the nine races to come. It’s still a long championship, lots can happen. We just need to keep improving.”
