Simon Pagenaud has romped to a controversial victory at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach, following a pit exit infraction after his final pit-stop.
The Frenchman crossed the yellow line on the exit of the pit-lane, which enabled him to rejoin the action ahead of Scott Dixon and ultimately assume the lead of the race as the other pit-stops ensued.
This is Pagenaud’s first victory for Penske and his fifth career victory overall, and has enabled the Frenchman to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship to 14 points over Dixon.
Initially the incident was placed under review by the race stewards, with the championship leader eventually struck with only a warning, much to the dismay of the Chip Ganassi team and Dixon.
During the last few laps Dixon fought relentlessly to overtake Pagenaud for the lead of the race, eventually crossing the line only +0.3032 seconds behind the Frenchman after an enthralling final lap.
Helio Castroneves came home a distant third for Penske, despite dominating the early stages of the race after starting from pole position.
The Brazilian veteran, who won at Long Beach way back in 2001, lost track position to Dixon and Pagenaud after the second round of pit-stops.
Juan Pablo Montoya ended the race fourth, only just ahead of 2013 Long Beach race winner Takuma Sato.
The A.J. Foyt Enterprises racer saved his push to passes for the final stint of the race, which enabled him to rise steadily through the order.
Tony Kanaan and Will Power finished sixth and seventh, with the latter enduring a tough weekend in the #12 Penske machine.
The 2014 champion only just managed to finish ahead of James Hinchcliffe, with multiple Long Beach race winner Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden rounding out the top ten.
Amazingly the race ran completely incident-free, with no full course cautions whatsoever throughout the 80 laps.
Conor Daly ended the race as the highest rookie in 13th, with fellow rookies Max Chilton and Alexander Rossi finishing the race 14th and 20th respectively.
The IndyCar circus will now head to the Barber Motorsports Park for the Grand Prix of Alabama next weekend.
1. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 80, Running
2. (2) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 80, Running
3. (1) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 80, Running
4. (5) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 80, Running
5. (8) Takuma Sato, Honda, 80, Running
6. (4) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 80, Running
7. (6) Will Power, Chevrolet, 80, Running
8. (7) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 80, Running
9. (14) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 80, Running
10. (9) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 80, Running
11. (15) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 80, Running
12. (10) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 80, Running
13. (13) Conor Daly, Honda, 80, Running
14. (19) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 80, Running
15. (17) Graham Rahal, Honda, 80, Running
16. (18) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 80, Running
17. (12) Luca Filippi, Honda, 80, Running
18. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 80, Running
19. (21) Marco Andretti, Honda, 79, Running
20. (16) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 79, Running
21. (20) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 77, Running
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 100.592
Time of Race: 1:33:54.4835
Margin of victory: 0.3032 of a second
Cautions: 0
Lead changes: 6 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Castroneves 1 – 26
Dixon 27 – 28
Kimball 29 – 30
Castroneves 31 – 51
Pagenaud 52 – 54
Kimball 55
Pagenaud 56 – 80
Verizon IndyCar Series point standings: Pagenaud 134, Dixon 120, Montoya 106, Castroneves 92, Kanaan 82, Hunter-Reay 68, Power 62, Rahal 59, Kimball 58, Aleshin 57.
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