Takuma Sato winner in Alabama, Bourdais 3rd

Team RLL and Honda can celebrate a weekend full of mastery in Alabama, at Barber Motorsports Park, with victory under the checkered flag of the Japanese takuma sato.

The 500 Indy 2017 winner finished the event as a logical winner, after having dominated qualifying yesterday, and having shown himself almost flawlessly throughout the race. Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda) and Sébastien Bourdais (Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan – Honda) get on the podium.

The Japanese engine manufacturer signs, in addition to its hat-trick, an almost idyllic result since eight single-seaters powered by the Japanese twin-turbo V6 finished in the top 10 with a Takuma Sato which set the tempo throughout the race, without ever really being worried .

Nor the neutralization which occurred after the stop on the track of Graham Rahal (Team RLL) and the almost simultaneous incident between Tony Kanaan (AJ Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet) and Max Chilton (Carlin – Chevrolet), the latter ending in the wall at the pit entry, nor a passage through the grass which could have been detrimental five laps from the finish, prevented the former driver F1 to move towards a fourth victory in the discipline.

Drama entering pit road!

Max Chilton has nowhere to go as Tony Kanaan goes to enter pit road right in front of him. #HIGPA #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/oq25Y2FfFV

— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) April 7th

OK, so he missed one teeny, tiny beat But still, @TakumaSatoRacer wrapped up career win No. 4: https://t.co/e8Pjb14lKC#INDYCAR // #HIGPA pic.twitter.com/t9OTDjqheW

— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) April 7, 2019

The only driver to have chosen a strategy shifted to two stops, and despite the use of his Push to Pass, Sébastien Bourdais was unable to attempt an attack at the end of the race on Scott Dixon for second place, but nevertheless won his first podium of the year.

The top 5 is completed by Josef Newgarden (Team Penske – Chevrolet) and Alexander Red (Andretti Autosport – Honda), Newgarden having taken the advantage over Rossi in the last ten laps, at the cost of a muscular maneuver.

Note the good overall result for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports – Honda, with 6th and 7th place for James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson, who took his first top 10 in IndyCar. Behind Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport), simon pagenaud (Team Penske) finished the event in 9th place just ahead of Felix Rosenqvist (Chip Ganassi Racing).

Josef Newgarden remains at the top of the championship ahead of Dixon and Sato. Sébastien Bourdais emerges in 6th place, Simon Pagenaud in 12th.

Race ranking

Discover the full report of the Alabama Grand Prix, in issue 2211 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version, and this Wednesday on newsstands.