[Auto] Alex Palou makes history again with the 'pole' in the Indianapolis 500

[Draeno]

 

That there is life beyond Formula 1 is evidence that countless drivers from multiple disciplines underline every time they are asked. One of the greatest exponents of this exhibition is Alex Palou, who two years ago already forced Spanish motorsports to create an annex in its history book by winning the American Indy championship, and who is now redoubling his bet. The Chip Ganassi team rider this Sunday became the first Spaniard to win the 'pole position' of the Indianapolis 500, which will celebrate its 107th edition in a week. a tris of bathing in milk - that must be done by the winner according to tradition -, made it even more difficult by registering a new record. In this case, the average of his four laps thrown around the two and a half mile (four kilometer) oval was 234.2 miles per hour, equivalent to 376.9 kilometers per hour. Palou beat the Dutchman Rinus VeeKay, from Ed Carpenter's team, by only 40 thousandths.

At 26 years old, Palou has been writing his story on secondary roads. Despite coinciding in karting with well-known stars such as Charles Leclerx, Carlos Sainz or Max Verstappen, the boy from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor (Barcelona) went racing to Japan, before hitting the target with the arrow he was given in the United States , where he got sick of eating fried chicken – the whim that he indulges in after achieving each victory – and where he won the crown in his second season (2021) in the Indy championship. Last year, Palou was in the news due to the conflict between Chip Ganassi, for retaining him, and McLaren, for incorporating him. Finally, the matter was resolved with a three-way agreement that allows the driver to run in Indy with the Indianapolis structure, while participating in the Formula 1 test days of the Woking formation (Great Britain).

On the occasion of his gimping, Palou spoke to EL PAÍS, moved by the importance given to his feat in Spain, which led illustrious names such as Pau Gasol to congratulate him on it. At that time he was very clear that his place was in Indy. “In F1 there are only 20 lucky drivers who can be there, and of those, only six are in a position to win every weekend. It's not even those 20. What I like as a driver is having the chance to show that I can win”, he commented then. "The Indy, on the other hand, is a championship of 30, where the car is the same for everyone," emphasized Palou.

 

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