“Flying blind”: The radio issue that denied Scott Dixon victory in IndyCar opener

Chip Ganassi Racing scored a 1-2 in last weekend’s IndyCar season opener at St Petersburg, Alex Palou leading home Scott Dixon by 2.8s, but the positions of its drivers could have easily been reversed had it not been for a technical issue.

Both polesitter Palou and sixth-place starter Dixon took advantage of an early caution, triggered by Team Penske’s Will Power crashing into the back of McLaren’s Nolan Siegel at Turn 3, to ditch their alternative tyres and switch to Firestone’s primary compound.

The strategy put Dixon ahead of Palou on track and even when the duo simultaneously pitted on lap 39 of 100, it was the Kiwi who remained in front.

However, the final pitstop sequence changed the complexion of the race, as Dixon was unable to pit as intended on lap 72 due to a radio problem. Chip Ganassi Racing had asked him to box at the end of the lap, but he never received the message from the team.

It was only after his car’s dashboard warned him about low fuel on lap 73 that he stopped, but by that time his team-mate Palou had already completed his own stop (on the previous lap).

With the advantage of new tyres, plus a series of quick laps either side of the pitstop, Palou was able to undercut Dixon and emerge as the new net race leader.

Worse still, the six-time champion also dropped behind Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who then began to challenge Palou for the race win.

According to Dixon, the team radio worked perfectly for the first 10 or so laps, before it started developing problems.

“That was frustrating,” said Dixon. “We had no radio. So I was just flying blind out there. I think they were trying to call me in because on that last lap before we pitted, there was just so much traffic and we lost two or three seconds and that’s where the #10 car got us.

“Definitely frustrating. I think we had the speed. We had a great car. The pit stops were fantastic. Just would have been nice to have a radio so I could have known what was going on out there.

“Frustrated, man. I thought we really had that one and we came up short.”

Newgarden’s victory charge ultimately faded and he fell into the clutches of Dixon, who repassed him on the final lap to secure second.

However, the 44-year-old was left to rue his chances, having felt the radio problem denied him victory at St Pete.

The lack of communication with his team also meant that he received no information from spotters spread around the track.

“You’re out there by yourself of course, but when there’s no radio to talk to, even fuel mileage,” he said.

“You’re not sure if you’re making the mileage to get to the next window [or] what’s happening even with our spotters or anything like that.

“It’s definitely tough to run a full strategy and a full race like that to make sure you’re running off just a fuel light to see that you’re going to get into the pits. Ultimately, it cost us the race.”