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Arrow McLAREN Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix: Race Report

"We’ll dig deep and come into the month of May a stronger team."

Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team logo

It was a difficult race day for the Arrow McLaren team down at Barber Motorsports Park, but the team pushed through to the very end. 

An opening-lap incident between Pato O'Ward and Pietro Fittipaldi resulted in a drive-through penalty for the No. 5 car. 

The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team was also served a mechanical penalty for a detached left rear tire occuring in Turn 2 of Lap 46. 

The team will head home to Indianapolis, where all eyes will be focused on the Month of May. 

Learn more about what the drivers and Team Principal Gavin Ward said postrace at Barber.

Location Barber Motorsports Park
Race Date Sunday, April 28
Round 3 out of 17
Total Laps 90 laps
Total Race Distance 207 miles / 333.1 km
Length 2.3 miles / 3.7 km
Number of Turns 17
No. 6

Théo Pourchaire, Driver, No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, said:

Starting Position 24th  
Finishing Position 22nd  
Championship Position 24th 27 points

"We tried a very aggressive strategy with the fuel saving. It was probably going to pay off, but unfortunately, there was an incident with about five laps to go. I thought I was pretty good while fuel saving to keep the same pace as Ericsson and Palou. Things were going well, but it was not the best day for the team. It's part of the game. I know the team will bounce back and it's just about putting a good weekend together and staying focused on the task at-hand."

Pato O'Ward
Starting Position 4th  
Finishing Position 23rd  
Championship Position 6th 71 points

"At the start of the race, I got really tight with Lundgaard and tried to avoid hitting him. I didn't really have much room and then hit the curb, spun and went all the way to the back. Then, apparently, I have some sort of magnet to my teammates the past couple of weeks. It absolutely sucks and at this point we need to re-focus and make sure it never happens again."

Alexander Rossi
Starting Position 16th  
Finishing Position 25th  
Championship Position 11th 53 points

"It was a struggle throughout the weekend to get some balance in the car. We switched to a three-stop strategy and I think that was looking pretty good. It was a top-10 day based on where the cars finished but had an issue in pit lane and the tire came off. We can't dwell on it because this team has been the best in pit lane all year. These things happen. They're still the best in pit lane, and we just have to move forward going into the most important month of the year."

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren, said:

"Lots to learn from today. Abysmal results for all three Arrow McLaren cars. We’ll dig deep and come into the month of May a stronger team."