All three New Zealand drivers lost ground in the IndyCar series championship at the latest race at Laguna Seca.
Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon finished sixth at the Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday (Monday NZ Time), while Scott McLaughlin and Marcus Armstrong finished 21st and 22nd, respectively, two laps down.
LATEST HEADLINES:
Dixon, the winner at the famed road course in California last year, entered the race 11 points behind Will Power in the drivers standings but left Monterey 32 points behind Chip Ganassi teammate Alex Palou, who won the race.
Starting 10th on the grid, Dixon avoided being taken out by Power in a dive-bomb passing manoeuvre on lap 58, going on to record his sixth top-10 of the season.
McLaughlin, who started seventh, dropped from fifth to eighth in the championship, 97 points behind Palou, after a disappointing ending.
The former Supercars champion was still running seventh on lap 80 when he attempted to make a pass on Penske teammate Power on the inside, making contact and spinning out to the back of the pack. He was assessed a drive-through penalty to fall even further back.
Armstrong, who started 11th, brought out the race's third caution when he made contact with Christian Lundegaard and spun out on lap 75. The second-year driver later earned a drive-through penalty for not following IndyCar instructions on lap 92, dropping him one spot to 15th in the standings.
The next race, the ninth of 17 on the 2024 schedule, is the Mid-Ohio Indy 200 in Lexington, Ohio on July 7 (July 8 NZT).
Commenti