The 2021 GMR Grand Prix was an IndyCar motor race held on May 15, 2021, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.[1] It was the 5th round of the 2021 IndyCar Series.

United States 2021 GMR Grand Prix
Race details
5th round of the 2021 IndyCar season
DateMay 15, 2021
Official nameGMR Grand Prix
LocationIndianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.439 mi / 3.925 km
Distance85 laps
207.315 mi / 333.641 km
Pole position
DriverFrance Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing)
Time01:09.4396
Fastest lap
DriverNetherlands Rinus Veekay (Ed Carpenter Racing)
Time01:10:8767 (on lap 14 of 85)
Podium
FirstNetherlands Rinus Veekay (Ed Carpenter Racing)
SecondFrance Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing)
ThirdSpain Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The 85-lap race was won by Ed Carpenter Racing's Rinus Veekay, clinching his first win of his Indycar career. IndyCar rookie Romain Grosjean won pole and finished second, his best ever finish in Indycar. Alex Palou finished 3rd for Chip Ganassi Racing.[2]

Background

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The event was held over three days on May 13–15, 2021 at the road course of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. This was the first time the venue featured in the 2021 season, later that year, Indycar would return for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August, and the eighth edition of this race, having debuted in May 2014

The race was the 5th race of the 16-race calendar, held two weeks after the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway and two week prior to the 105th Indianapolis 500.

Entrants

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Key Meaning
 R  Rookie
 W  Past winner
No. Driver Team Engine
2   Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet
3   Scott McLaughlin  R  Team Penske Chevrolet
4   Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
5   Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
7   Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
8   Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9   Scott Dixon  W  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
10   Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11   Charlie Kimball A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
12   Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet
14   Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
15   Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
18   Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
20   Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
21   Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
22   Simon Pagenaud  W  Team Penske Chevrolet
26   Colton Herta Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
27   Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda
29   James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda
30   Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
48   Jimmie Johnson  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
51   Romain Grosjean  R  Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda
60   Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
86   Juan Pablo Montoya Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet

Practice

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Practice 1

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Practice 1 took place at 9:30 AM ET on May 14, 2021.[1]

Top Practice Speeds
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Lap Time
1 27   Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 01:09.8784
2 60   Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 01:09.9646
3 21   Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:10.0624
Source:[3]

Practice 2

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Practice 2 took place at 1:00 PM ET on May 14, 2021.[1]

Top Practice Speeds
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Lap Time
1 2   Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 01:09.3323
2 21   Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:09.4020
3 12   Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 01:09.4747
Source:[4]

Qualifying

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Qualifying took place at 4:30 PM ET on May 14, 2021.[1]

Qualifying classification

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Pos No. Driver Team Engine Time Final
grid
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Group 1 Group 2
1 51   Romain Grosjean  R  Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda N/A 01:09.8556 01:09.5476 01:09.4396 1
2 2   Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet N/A 01:09.6101 01:09.7837 01:09.5665 2
3 60   Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 01:09.7589 N/A 01:09.5189 01:09.6528 3
4 10   Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda N/A 01:09.6589 01:09.4743 01:09.7118 4
5 3   Scott McLaughlin  R  Team Penske Chevrolet N/A 01:09.7537 01:09.7727 01:09.7140 5
6 20   Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet N/A 01:09.7646 01:09.5627 01:09.8662 6
7 21   Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:09.4890 N/A 01:09.8185 N/A 7
8 26   Colton Herta Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda 01:09.5867 N/A 01:09.8222 N/A 8
9 18   Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 01:09.7152 N/A 01:09.8548 N/A 9
10 22   Simon Pagenaud  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 01:09.8061 N/A 01:09.8722 N/A 10
11 15   Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:09.7918 N/A 01:09.9060 N/A 11
12 12   Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet N/A 01:09.8963 No Time N/A 12
13 7   Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 01:09.8243 N/A N/A N/A 13
14 27   Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda N/A 01:09.9012 N/A N/A 14
15 8   Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:09.8382 N/A N/A N/A 15
16 9   Scott Dixon  W  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda N/A 01:09.9512 N/A N/A 16
17 30   Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:09.8665 N/A N/A N/A 17
18 5   Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet N/A 01:10.0726 N/A N/A 18
19 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 01:09.8759 N/A N/A N/A 19
20 14   Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet N/A 01:10.1830 N/A N/A 20
21 11   Charlie Kimball A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 01:10.6810 N/A N/A N/A 21
22 29   James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda N/A 01:10.6174 N/A N/A 22
23 48   Jimmie Johnson  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:11.0455 N/A N/A N/A 23
24 4   Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet N/A 01:10.9312 N/A N/A 24
25 86   Juan Pablo Montoya Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet N/A 01:11.1370 N/A N/A 25
Source:[5][6][7][8]
Notes
  • Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

Warmup

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Warmup took place at 10:45 AM ET on May 15, 2021.[1]

Top Warmup Speeds
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Lap Time
1 21   Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:10.5598
2 10   Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:10.5924
3 9   Scott Dixon  W  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:10.6617
Source:[9]

Race

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The race started at 2:30 PM ET on May 15, 2021.[1]

Race classification

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Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit
Stops
Grid Laps
Led
Pts.
1 21   Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 85 1:47:08.5773 3 7 33 51
2 51   Romain Grosjean  R  Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 85 +4.9510 3 1 44 44
3 10   Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 85 +15.0726 3 4 1 36
4 2   Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 85 +18.4472 3 2 32
5 15   Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 85 +26.9813 4 11 30
6 22   Simon Pagenaud  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 85 +27.8704 3 10 28
7 27   Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 85 +33.2703 3 14 26
8 8   Scott McLaughlin  R  Team Penske Chevrolet 85 +36.1862 3 5 24
9 9   Scott Dixon  W  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 85 +36.8362 4 16 3 23
10 8   Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 85 +37.1971 3 15 20
11 12   Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 85 +39.8020 3 12 19
12 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 85 +40.3892 3 19 4 19
13 26   Colton Herta Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda 85 +43.1147 3 8 17
14 18   Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 85 +43.8110 3 9 16
15 5   Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 85 +44.5448 4 18 15
16 30   Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 85 +44.9971 3 17 14
17 7   Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 85 +45.4208 3 13 13
18 29   James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 85 +1:05.1989 3 22 12
19 14   Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 84 +1 Lap 3 20 11
20 4   Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 84 +1 Lap 3 24 10
21 86   Juan Pablo Montoya Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 84 +1 Lap 3 25 9
22 11   Charlie Kimball A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 84 +1 Lap 3 21 8
23 60   Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 84 +1 Lap 4 3 7
24 48   Jimmie Johnson  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 84 +1 Lap 3 23 6
25 20   Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 50 Contact 3 6 5
Fastest lap:   Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) – 01:10.8767 (lap 14)
Source:[10]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "GMR Grand Prix". IndyCar.com. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  2. ^ "Indycar Event Summary" (PDF). indycar.com. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  3. ^ "Results of Session - Practice 1" (PDF). indycar.com. May 14, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  4. ^ "Results of Session - Practice 2" (PDF). indycar.com. May 14, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  5. ^ "Results of Session Qualifications - Segment 1 / Group 1" (PDF). indycar.com. May 14, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  6. ^ "Results of Session Qualifications - Segment 1 / Group 2" (PDF). indycar.com. May 14, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. ^ "Results of Session Qualifications - Segment 2 / Top 12" (PDF). indycar.com. May 14, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  8. ^ "Results of Session Qualifications - Segment 3 / Firestone Fast 6" (PDF). indycar.com. May 14, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  9. ^ "Results of Session Warm-Up" (PDF). indycar.com. May 15, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Official Final Results - Race" (PDF). indycar.com. May 15, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  11. ^ "Indianapolis 500 Spotters Guide". indycar.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
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Previous race:
2021 XPEL 375
IndyCar Series
2021 season
Next race:
2021 Indianapolis 500
Previous race:
2020 Harvest Grand Prix
Grand Prix of Indianapolis Next race:
2021 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix