Bommarito Automotive Group Race One Arrow McLaren SP Race Report

|Photographer: Taylor Robbins|Event: Bommarito Automotive Group 500|Circuit: World Wide Technology Raceway|Location: Madison, Illinois|Series: NTT IndyCar Series|Country: United States|Session: FP1|Team: Arrow McLaren SP|Car: Dallara DW12 UAK18|Car: Chevrolet|Number: 5|Driver: Patricio O’Ward|
Pato O’Ward – No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Qualified: 2nd, 182.076 mphStarted: 2nd
Finished: 3rd
“I think we got some really solid points for the championship. We led quite a bit of the race and in the end, I thought we had a clean, fast pit stop. My in and out laps were very strong but [Scott] Dixon got us by a little bit. He’s a tough guy to beat. We had a very strong run, but I had nothing for Takuma [Sato] and Scott. I had to maintain where I was and salvage the podium from there. Tomorrow, we just have to work on the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet a little bit and hopefully we can challenge for the win at the end.”
Oliver Askew – No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Qualified: 15th, 180.053 mph
Started: 15thFinished: 14th

“A really rough start today. Everyone seemed to check up in front of me in the midfield and made some contact with the front wing. Luckily the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet crew were able to replace the wing and keep me on the lead lap. Our race was compromised from the start, but we salvaged what we could. I’m looking forward to tomorrow with a better starting position.” 

Taylor Kiel
Managing Director, Arrow McLaren SP

“It was a good day. We are still looking, as a group, at how to get both Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolets up front. Oliver had a crazy start back there, and we know when you start back there anything can happen. It’s unfortunate that Oliver got caught up. Pato drove an excellent race. He’s been on fire lately and so have the boys in the pits. It’s tough we weren’t a couple positions higher, but we will take the podium. It’s a good points day and we will move on to tomorrow.”
Gil de Ferran
Sporting Director, McLaren Racing

“Obviously it was a shame that Oliver got caught in the confusion at the start. It really compromised his race. On Pato’s side, he did an outstanding job behind the wheel. So did the team on both strategy and on the pit stops. It wasn’t quite enough but that’s the way it goes when you are racing against formidable competition. We have to pay respect to that. We need to see if we can improve a little bit for tomorrow. Overall, a really positive day for Arrow McLaren SP and many congratulations to everyone, including Pato. A very well-judged drive.”