2023 GMR Grand Prix

“What a great day to be in America” - Christian Lundgaard after grabbing his first career pole

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Enjoyed this race. Yeah, it was a "strategy race" but plenty of overtaking, some good driving, no devastating accidents or anything like that. Lundgaard just didn't have the pace at the end of it to hang with the elite but had a nice run regardless at his strongest track. Palou is a guy where it's always "Oh yeah, he's really good." Not a dominator but this is a tough series to dominate.
 
This one has definitely become a great way to kick off the Month of May. Great back-and-forth lead battle between Lundgaard and Palou in the first half and similarly competitive from 2nd to about 10th in the second half. Some guys managed to make some big gains from their starting spot.

I think Jack Harvey finally drove himself out of a ride today after bottling that 4th place qualifying effort.
 
Hard to get a grip on this one for me, everyone has tire issues except Palou who wins by huge 15 seconds. Going for a IMS double for sure.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I think Jack Harvey finally drove himself out of a ride today after bottling that 4th place qualifying effort.
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I was willing to give him some time because concussions seem to take about a year to recover from. Remember Rosenquist was useless for right at about a year, and then had that great run at Indy, which was about 13 months after his accident. Now though, it's been two years for Harvey so Rahal can't hang on forever like this. Rahal probably won't keep him, and he's not going to find a drive (or sponsorship) with these kinds of results. Jack probably needs to look at IMSA. I'm a fan of the guy so it hurts to say this.

Palou has to be going in as the fav. He almost won in 2021 and may have won last year if not for the penalty. Now he's going in as the winner of the last race, and the points leader. Picking him almost seems like a no brainer, but most of us have a poor record predicting results. It's all going to be down to who is in position with the best car with 15-20 to go.
 
Palou is fascinating because we really don't fully grasp where he's going in 2024 with McLaren but clearly he is not staying with Ganassi while also being potentially in line to win his second Indycar championship in three years. He's an outstanding talent at every type of circuit.

As for Harvey, I enjoyed playing devil's advocate as the angry Ferrucci fans piled on him for not performing in the Rahal car. Now we've got Ferrucci basically not really performing (much of that is Foyt's fault more than Santino) and Jack Harvey Being Jack Harvey. Harvey may not even be an ideal candidate for sports car racing because of his mistake prone driving and inability to keep tires under him. He burns through his rubber regardless of whether he's at Iowa or the IMS road course and that's a bad situation.
 
I kind of zoned out on the race and lost interest because all they did was talk non stop about tires.

Nothing more exciting than tires. Damm! They are round and they roll! Amazing!

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Doc Austin said:
I was willing to give him some time because concussions seem to take about a year to recover from. Remember Rosenquist was useless for right at about a year, and then had that great run at Indy, which was about 13 months after his accident. Now though, it's been two years for Harvey so Rahal can't hang on forever like this. Rahal probably won't keep him, and he's not going to find a drive (or sponsorship) with these kinds of results. Jack probably needs to look at IMSA. I'm a fan of the guy so it hurts to say this.
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I honestly forgot about the concussion but that may well have something to do with it. You’re right that RLL can’t wait forever for him to get back in form though. RLL have big backers and they need results. So far they’ve mostly just been carried by Lundgaard. They’ve tested Jüri Vips and Linus Lundqvist recently, and recent reports are that they may be testing Toby Sowery soon too, so I think the sense of urgency is only mounting.

It’s quite a bit disappointing as both MSR and Harvey seemed better with each other. When they parted it was reported Jack left on his own volition and I’m curious why. If he maintains backing I’m hoping he can at least stay in the series with a Foyt or DCR type. He’d be a better addition at the back of the field than someone like Pedersen or Robb.
 
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