This was reminiscent of Alex Zanardi’s “The Pass”: Kyle Kirkwood takes down Alex Palou with an insane maneuver at the IndyCar race in Arlington – this is how he experienced it
This maneuver will be seen in every annual review and may well go down in the history books of IndyCar racing. The way Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Honda) snatched the lead away from Alex Palou (Ganassi Honda) at the street circuit premiere in Arlington was great cinema.
The maneuver in turn 14 inevitably reminded observers of Alex Zanardi’s legendary ride through the “Corkscrew” at Laguna Seca in 1996 in the duel against Bryan Herta in 1996. Kirkwood also chose a path that Palou did not have on his radar. Ironically, Herta is now Kirkwood’s race strategist, which is roughly equivalent to race engineer in Europe.
“It was an all-or-nothing maneuver,” explained a visibly euphoric Kirkwood after his sixth career victory. While Palou was superior in the technically demanding, twisty middle sector of the track, Andretti Global had taken full risks with the flat wing set-up. “We were extremely ‘trimmed’ on the straights, so we had fewer wings on the car than he did,” said Kirkwood.
The key to success was the element of surprise. Kirkwood knew that he would only have one chance against a strategy fox like Palou: “Palou is a smart driver. If I had waited a lap, he would have defended immediately next time. I had to launch this surprise attack to take him by surprise.”
Trust in his opponent also played a role here. In a series where things are often tough, Kirkwood praises the champion’s fairness: “You can make a maneuver like that against Alex because you know he’s not going to deliberately push you into the wall. We are both very aware of our surroundings and drive extremely cleanly against each other.”
Palou pays tribute: “Never felt safe”
Alex Palou, who was actually busy keeping Will Power, who was on a two-stop strategy, at bay, was caught cold by the force of Kirkwood’s attack.
“I defended into turn 10 because we knew they were faster on the straights,” admitted the two-time champion openly. “Then he came out of turn 12 with so much excess, I pressed the overtake button and the hybrid boost, but he was already there. It was an absolutely clean maneuver.”
The Spaniard believes that the decision to use more downforce was perhaps the wrong one in hindsight, even though he was faster in the corners. “I was better in the corners, but I couldn’t use this advantage in the same way that they used their advantage on the straights. I never felt safe at any point in this race. Never.”
With this success, Kirkwood cemented his reputation as an absolute street circuit specialist – he has now celebrated five of his six victories on temporary circuits. For the fans in Texas, it was the crowning glory of a weekend that, despite the storm warning and bump chaos, delivered everything it promised in sporting terms.