IndyCar Series: Two in a row for Simon Pagenaud

Simon Pagenaud wins Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the fourth round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. It was Pagenaud’s second victory in a row after he celebrated at Long Beach a week ago.

Pagenaud has two more second places from St. Petersburg and Phoenix, so after such an impressive score in four races, he was a dominant leader in the series standings. With 188 collected points, he holds a 48-points advantage over Scott Dixon.

Pole position and 84 of 90 laps in the lead

Pagenaud clinched his sixth IndyCar career win in a late-race fight against Graham Rahal. Pagenaud started the race from pole position and led most of the race (84 of 90 laps), but Rahal interrupted his lead on Lap 82. Three laps later, while trying to pass Jack Hawksworth, Rahal ran into the rear of Hawksworth’s car, causing significant damage to his car’s front wing. Pagenaud took the opportunity on the next lap and returned to the top. After that, he ran to the victory, with a comfortable advantage of 13.747 seconds, while Rahal struggled with aerodynamic issues but remained in the second place.

With two victories and two second places Pagenaud is leading in the series standings

Montoya progressed from 21st to 5th

Josef Newgarden finished third, the same place he started the race. Will Power, a two-time Barber race winner, was fourth. Juan Pablo Montoya progressed from 21st on the start to fifth at the end, ahead of James Hinchcliffe. Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball were next on the finish line.

Defending champion Scott Dixon was turned around on Lap 3 by Sebastien Bourdais and fell to 20th position, but climbed to 10th. The race had only one lap of caution when the start was aborted after contact among the cars of Carlos Munoz, Mikhail Aleshin and Jack Hawksworth.

And now, two races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The next two races of the 2016 IndyCar Series season will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The first would be the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis road course on May 14, followed by the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on the legendary 2.5-mile oval May 29.

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama full results

Photo: indycar.com