Palou wins at Road America to boost IndyCar season lead
Palou boosted his season points lead by taking his first victory since last month's Indianapolis 500, enduring after 55 laps over the 4.014-mile, 14-turn road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
"It was a crazy race," Palou said. "Losing a ton of positions and then making them, it was a tough race for everybody."
Palou became the first IndyCar driver since A.J. Foyt in 1975 to win six of the first nine races in a campaign. Rosenqvist was second, two seconds back, and American Santino Ferrucci was third, running out of fuel one turn after the checkered flag.
Four caution flags in the first 23 laps prompted teams to adopt differing fuel strategies, and by lap 28 it was New Zealand's Scott Dixon leading.
American Josef Newgarden was second before crashing on turn 14, leaving Dixon ahead with Palou and Rossi just behind after a lap-31 restart.
The race came down to those three trying to conserve fuel over the final laps to reach the end while Rosenqvist, on full fuel in fourth, tried to overtake them.
Rossi went to the pits with four laps remaining and Dixon pitted for fuel a lap later, leaving Palou to outlast Rosenqvist with his fuel tank nearly dry.
"Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy and Honda for giving us the fuel mileage we needed to make it at the end," Palou said. "Couldn't be happier."
Palou, seeking his fourth season title in five years, leads the points chase with 386 with American Kyle Kirkwood, a three-time winner this season, 93 points adrift in second.
Palou matched the IndyCar record of three wins at Road America, also held by Mario and Michael Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi.
Rosenqvist settled for second on the track where his only IndyCar triumph came in 2020.
© 2025 AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
US Ryder Cup captain Bradley edges Fleetwood to win PGA Travelers
Bradley, trailing Fleetwood by one at the 18th tee, dropped his approach to six feet while Fleetwood was short of his green, left himself a par putt from just inside seven feet then missed it to the right. Bradley then sank his tension-packed birdie putt for the title, shooting a two-under-par 68 to finish 72 holes on 15-under 265 and defeat Fleetwood and American Russell Henley by one stroke at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. "Of all the shots and all the putts I've hit, I think I'm going to remember that one the most," Bradley said of his winning putt. "Absolutely incredible." World number 21 Bradley, the 2023 Travelers winner, marked the one-year anniversary of being told he was this year's Ryder Cup captain with a victory that prompted more questions about him playing against Europe in September at Bethpage Black. "Go U.S.A," was his only reply. The 39-year-old from nearby Vermont treats the lone PGA event in New England as his home tournament. "I feel an obligation to play for the people of New England and the Northeast and represent them and this is the best way I can do it," Bradley said. Bradley, who sank a 64-foot birdie putt at the ninth hole, won his eighth career PGA title, including a win in his major debut at the 2011 PGA Championship. For Fleetwood, the Paris Olympic runner-up ranked 17th in the world, it was another crushing failure after seven DP World Tour wins but none on the PGA Tour, settling for a 42nd career top-10 PGA finish. "I'm upset now, I'm angry," Fleetwood said. "When it calms down, look at the things I did well, look at the things I can learn from. "I did plenty of things well enough this week to win, I didn't do that, it now I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere and maybe I will do, but there's just no point making it a negative for the future really, just take the positives and move on." Fleetwood made a bogey at the par-three 16th after missing the green and again at 18 to suffer heartbreak after leading most of the day. "Keegan made birdie, so fair play to him, but still feel like from where I was, I should at least be in a playoff," Fleetwood said. "So, yeah, it's a crappy way to finish." Australian Jason Day and American Harris English, who had four birdies in the last six holes, shared fourth on 267 while top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and second-ranked Rory McIlroy each shot 65 to share sixth on 268. At 17, Fleetwood blasted out of a fairway bunker over water to 24 feet while Bradley was 41 feet from the hole and both two-putted for par to send the drama to the final hole. At 18, Fleetwood changed clubs late and used a wedge from the fairway to land the ball short of the green, nearly 50 feet from the hole, while Bradley's nine-iron dropped just inside six feet. 'Positive vibes' Two-time Masters champion Scheffler, who won his third major at last month's PGA Championship, went bogey-free in the last round. "Overall not a bad week," Scheffler said. "I fought back nicely today and posted a decent score. You got to limit your mistakes and this week I just wasn't able to do that." McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, was pleased heading into July's British Open. "Good, positive vibes going into a couple-week break and get ready for Scotland and The Open Championship," McIlroy said. "Saw some positive signs in the game overall, which was really good to see." © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Minjee Lee wins Women's PGA Championship for third major title
The 29-year-old from Perth added the title to her 2021 Evian Championship and the US Women's Open title she won in 2022, finishing with a four-under-par total of 284. American Auston Kim and Thailand's Chanettee Wannasaen tied for second on on one-under 287. "A lot of patience out there today," said Lee, who started the day with a four-shot lead after a brilliant, bogey-free round on Saturday but had three bogeys in her first six holes. "I just felt like some shots were going my way and some shots weren't," Lee said. "I just said stick to my game plan. It was a battle against myself pretty much, especially with how tough the conditions were this whole week -- not just today, just amplified today because it's a major Sunday." Lee made her first birdie of the day at the par-five ninth, where she missed the green but chipped to two feet. She gave a stroke back at the 10th, but after rolling in a tense nine-foot putt for par at 13 she drilled a nine-footer for birdie at the 14th to boost her lead back to three strokes. She added a birdie at 15, holing a five-and-a-half-foot putt, remaining in control from there despite a last bogey at 16. Through it all, Lee said, she was keeping an eye on her nearest rivals while trying to maintain her focus on another hot, wind-whipped day at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, north of Dallas. "Pretty much I saw every single leaderboard and I knew exactly where I was pretty much all of today," she said. "I just tried to check the scores and then I just come back to each shot and try and execute it the best that I could. "I really played within myself today." Kim, a 24-year-old American ranked 98th in the world and seeking a first LPGA victory, applied as much pressure as she could. After a birdie at the par-five first she strung together three birdies in a row at the seventh, eighth and ninth -- landing her tee shot at the par-three eighth a foot from the pin. Hard course "I just wanted to charge and get as close as I could to the top," said Kim, who posted her best finish in a major. Prior to this tournament, she'd missed more major cuts (five) than she had made (four). "I knew that the course is hard. I just played my percentages and tried to capitalize on good shots today." Chanattee seized her share of second with a 68 highlighted by an eagle at 15, where she found the green with her tee shot and rolled in a 14-foot putt. World number two Jeeno Thitikul, who led after each of the first two rounds and started the day in solo second four behind Lee, was never able to get much going. She closed with a three-over-par 75 that left her tied for fourth on one-over 289 with Japan's Chisato Iwai, who carded a one-under 71. The grueling conditions all week took a toll on some of the game's top names. World number three Lydia Ko, who started her week with a four-over 75, carded a one-under 71 on Sunday to finish in a group sharing 12th on 293. World number one Nelly Korda fired a final-round 76 for a share of 19th on 294 and world number four Yin Ruoning was in a group on 295 after a closing 76. © 2025 AFP
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Palou wins at Road America to boost IndyCar season lead
Palou boosted his season points lead by taking his first victory since last month's Indianapolis 500, enduring after 55 laps over the 4.014-mile, 14-turn road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. "It was a crazy race," Palou said. "Losing a ton of positions and then making them, it was a tough race for everybody." Palou became the first IndyCar driver since A.J. Foyt in 1975 to win six of the first nine races in a campaign. Rosenqvist was second, two seconds back, and American Santino Ferrucci was third, running out of fuel one turn after the checkered flag. Four caution flags in the first 23 laps prompted teams to adopt differing fuel strategies, and by lap 28 it was New Zealand's Scott Dixon leading. American Josef Newgarden was second before crashing on turn 14, leaving Dixon ahead with Palou and Rossi just behind after a lap-31 restart. The race came down to those three trying to conserve fuel over the final laps to reach the end while Rosenqvist, on full fuel in fourth, tried to overtake them. Rossi went to the pits with four laps remaining and Dixon pitted for fuel a lap later, leaving Palou to outlast Rosenqvist with his fuel tank nearly dry. "Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy and Honda for giving us the fuel mileage we needed to make it at the end," Palou said. "Couldn't be happier." Palou, seeking his fourth season title in five years, leads the points chase with 386 with American Kyle Kirkwood, a three-time winner this season, 93 points adrift in second. Palou matched the IndyCar record of three wins at Road America, also held by Mario and Michael Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi. Rosenqvist settled for second on the track where his only IndyCar triumph came in 2020. © 2025 AFP
