Àlex Palou will fulfill his dream of competing in the United States when he takes the start, behind the wheel of a Honda-powered car of the team 'Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh', in the first test of the competition, Genesis 300, which will take place in a Texas Motor Speedway without spectators, and it will do so without any experience in oval routes and with little preparation due to the pandemic.

Palou, born 23 years ago in the Barcelona municipality of Sant Antoni de Vilamajor and who in 2919 was the third Japanese championship 'Super Formula', could only complete three days of testing and has tried to become familiar with piloting oval races in virtual races since a simulator.

"It was all a bit crazy, but I am super happy to be here. The only option left for me to return to the United States was to go to Mexico, where I had to spend 14 days, but thanks to IndyCar, the team and the Spanish federation I made an exception for elite athletes, which did not initially include motor sport. In the end they managed to include me to have permission to enter the United States and I did it last Saturday. At least we know that we are going to do the first race, "said Palou to the Motorsport.com website.

The start of the quarantine surprised Palou in Costa Rica . Then he was able to get to Mexico. "I was in a hotel in Mexico, there they did not impose quarantine for traveling from Europe to Mexico, although they are quite bad. I spent 10 days training, keeping myself safe, because before I went I bought all the gels and masks I found," he tells that Web.

Referring to his debut on an oval circuit, Palou is aware of the difficulty: "He is going to be screwed, there is no other way to explain it, because it was difficult before, being 'rookie' (newcomer) and the only one on the entire grid that he has never raced in an oval. But it is even more so if they have taken away all the tests you had to do, if you have to debut in the most difficult oval three months after all this. It is an all day event, at night ... It is as if they had chosen it on purpose. "

Everything in one day

Palou's experience with Indycar cars is limited to six hours at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin , one day of testing at the Texas Oval and one of private testing in Sebring . "Considering that, I have only done half a day in an oval and one day with the Indycar is going to be screwed, but you have to take it as a test of experience, to learn what it is to be with 25 other cars in an oval, what is do five 'pitstops' in one race instead of one, "he adds.

The Indycar, which was due to start on March 15 in Saint Petersburg (Florida, USA), starts in Texas, where 'aeroscreen', the protective screen for the cockpit, will be released. There will be special exceptional measures, without an audience in the stands and with all the sports activity concentrated in one day: free practice (21.00-22.30 CET), qualifying session (00.00-01.00 CET on Sunday) and race (03.10-04.50 CET on Sunday).

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