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Simon Pagenaud has won his first Indianapolis 500 after a close fight with Alexander Rossi in the final laps.
Pagenaud held off the 2016 winner after the swapped positions for a number of laps, overtaking each other at the first corner following a late restart.
Pagenaud made the final overtake stick with one and a half laps to go, getting around Rossi at Turn 3, and staying ahead to take the chequered flag.
It marks the second consecutive win for the Frenchman, as he took victory at the IndyCar Grand Prix two weeks ago for Team Penske.
With double points on offer for the 500 win, Pagenaud leaps to the top of the championship standings. Rossi crossed the line two-tenths of a second behind the Frenchman, while Takuma Sato was third - both he and Rossi were chasing their second 500 win.
Josef Newgarden was fourth and struggled with his car throughout the race. At each pit stop, he made front wing adjustments to improve the balance of his car.
The third Penske car of Will Power was fifth, despite having to take one of the restarts from the back of the field after he hit one of his crew members while serving his pit stop.
The first yellow of the day was thrown out when Colton Herta retired with a gearbox issue on the fifth lap.
Kyle Kaiser was the first to become a victim to the walls, as he spun and suffered terminal damage to his Juncos car, ending the fairytale story after he bumped Fernando Alonso from qualifying.
Marcus Ericsson also caused a yellow after he spun when entering the pits, damaging his front wing.
The final caution, which saw the red flag deployed, was brought out when Sebastian Bourdais and Graham Rahal came together at Turn 3, with Felix Rosenqvist, Zach Veach and Charlie Kimball also getting caught up.
The resulting restart saw the close battle between Pagenaud and Rossi, with Pagenaud coming out on top and giving Roger Penske his 18th Indy 500 win.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 2:50.39.2797 | - |
| 2. | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 2:50.39.4883 | +0.2086 |
| 3. | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 2:50.39.6210 | +0.3413 |
| 4. | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 2:50.40.1776 | +0.8979 |
| 5. | Will Power | Team Penske | 2:50.40.8970 | +1.6173 |
| 6. | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | 2:50.41.2587 | +1.9790 |
| 7. | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | 2:50.42.0852 | +2.8055 |
| 8. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 2:50.43.2995 | +4.0198 |
| 9. | Tony Kanaan | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 2:50.44.0505 | +4.7708 |
| 10. | Conor Daly | Andretti Autosport | 2:50.44.6256 | +5.3459 |
| 11. | James Hinchcliffe | Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 2:50.44.7618 | +5.4821 |
| 12 | James Davison | Dale Coyne Racing with Byrd and Belardi | 2:50.45.5047 | +6.2250 |
| 13. | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | 2:50.46.8297 | +7.5500 |
| 14. | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | 2:50.47.8363 | +8.5566 |
| 15. | Matheus Leist | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 2:50.49.6950 | +10.4153 |
| 16. | Pippa Mann | Clauson-Marshall Racing | 2:50.52.2600 | +12.9803 |
| 17 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 2:50.54.0392 | +14.7595 |
| 18. | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | 2:50.49.0031 | +1 Lap |
| 19. | Sage Karam | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 2:50.51.5697 | +1 Lap |
| 20. | J.R. Hildebrand | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 2:50.51.9110 | +1 Lap |
| 21. | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing with Arrow SPM | 2:50.55.1235 | +1 Lap |
| 22. | Oriol Servia | Team Stange Racing with Arrow Schmidt Peterson | 2:50.55.5954 | +1 Lap |
| 23. | Marcus Ericsson | Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 2:50.56.0464 | +2 Laps |
| 24. | Jordan King | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 2:50.56.2725 | +2 Laps |
| 25. | Charlie Kimball | Carlin | 2:51.01.0337 | +4 Laps |
| 26. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco & Curb-Agajani | 2:51.05.2004 | +5 Laps |
| 27. | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 2:21.00.8224 | +24 Laps |
| 28 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | 2:21.02.8734 | +24 Laps |
| 29. | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 2:21.03.1752 | +24 Laps |
| 30. | Sébastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | 2:21.30.4575 | +24 Laps |
| 31. | Kyle Kaiser | Juncos Racing | 54:33.5858 | +129 Laps |
| 32. | Ben Hanley | DragonSpeed | 45:30.1160 | +146 Laps |
| 33. | Colton Herta | Harding Steinbrenner Racing | 00:05.2074 | +197 Laps |
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Posts: 1,804
What a finish to that race. Really enjoyed it