Grand Prix of Long Beach diary: Sunday didn't go as expected

Editor’s note: Alexander Rossi, a member of Andretti Autosport, gives us an insight into competing at the IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Well (Sunday’s) race certainly didn’t go as any of us wanted or expected. After a very promising warmup where we were firmly in the top 10, it’s disappointing to come away with a race result of P20. Despite having moments of very good pace and moving through the field, it all became irrelevant in the second pit stop when the car stalled on the way into the box. While this is clearly not good, the problem was exaggerated when the car wouldn’t restart which cost us almost a minute of lost time. This dropped us to the back and one lap down which was always going to be impossible to recover from.

Despite this we kept pushing forward and showed that there was quite a bit of pace in the car, which is the only good thing I’m able to take from (the race).

While the weekend was an overall disappointment, I want to express again how much of a pleasure it was to race here on this amazing track and to see the tuout of fans across the entire track. You guys are what makes this sport what it is and we as drivers are incredibly grateful for your support.

I’m off to barber now and can’t wait to get in the car again on Friday.

Until next time.

–AR