In August 2020, the Spanish public focused their eyes on the United States for two weeks.It was the 500 miles of Indianapolis and the expectation was maximum from the perspective that Fernando Alonso could complete the triple crown.But, when the stage was already prepared, a secondary actor broke into the scene to take all the spotlights.He appeared out of nowhere with one of the most humble cars on the grill and gave wings to the imagination with a seventh place in the classification session.From that day, all people on both sides of the Atlantic were aware that there was a pilot named Alex Palou who aspired to everything.

Palou se marchó de aquella carrera con un accidente, pero también con un apretón de manos con Chip Ganassi. Tuvo la osadía de buscarle en el paddock y decirle abiertamente que quería correr para él. Chip quedó prendado de ese descaro y cuando vio la velocidad de Alex en los entrenamientos tuvo claro que aquel joven tenía potencial, de modo que apuntó su nombre y comenzó las negociaciones para ficharlo. The rest is history. Rebobinamos a 2021 y ahora ese debutante irreverente se ha convertido en el primer campeón español de la IndyCar, la categoría reina de monoplazas en Norteamérica. Y nada hace presagiar que vaya a detenerse aquí, porque aún tiene una deuda pendiente con las 500 Millas.

The Alex's anecdote who dares to tute Chip Ejessi in Indianapolis is just one more chapter in the life of a person who has fought for each meter both on and off the track.And his gift of the opportunity in that Indy500 was something that had already accompanied him since he was a child."In karting it was always seen at the most important moment," recalls his father, Ramon."I did something interesting and there was someone who looked at him.And so far ".Either CRG in his stage at Karting, Campos Racing in the jump to the cars, Team Goh in Japan or chip ejassi in the United States, this is the maximum that has always accompanied him.

Some pilots only combine the verb driving, but in the case of Alex it is not so.Studies never passionate about him as much as the four wheels, but he is curious with the world around him and likes to learn how things work.Since March 2018 he has a cafeteria in the center of Girona with his partner.It is in a privileged location, five minutes walk from the cathedral.Starting it was not easy, because some lessors did not take it seriously.I was 20 years old and seemed too young to carry a business.He has crossed with those people again and now they look at him differently, he explains.

In his day to day in the Indycar, Palou takes donuts to the circuit when he has had an accident and the mechanics have to throw extra hours.When he met Will Power he appeared with the enthusiasm of a fan and Scott Dixon says of him that "sometimes he is too kind".His friend and assistant Roger Yasukawa explains that he is "the easiest pilot to deal with the one I have worked".Adrián Campos said that he had given him "a lot of cane in this regard, because there are some pilots who stop greeting when they are up".His father Ramon says he is standard, "because he was always a model child who never gave us problems.".They compare him with Alex Zanardi for his proximity, but he knows what he wants and does not stop when he has a goal.He has worked the psychological aspect since he resided in the car of Sant Cugat, has a confidence in himself to the pump proof and is loyal to his intimate circle.It is difficult for them to deceive him more than once.

The first steps in the Kartòdrom Catalunya de Lliçà de Vall

Alex's story begins in Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, a Catalan town of just over 5.000 inhabitants located at the Montseny skirt.He knows him well, because as a child he had trained there with his mountain bike.He is a stone shot from Cardedu's karting, where he had his first experience in motor racing, and about twenty minutes from the missing karting of Lliçà de Vall, where he did his first competitions.Next to the latter is the Catalunya Circuit.Palou's particularity, however, is that he was born in a very young working family without automobile tradition, which makes his story even more unlikely.

Alex's only connection with the races was his father's passion for Formula 1."I was a television fan," says Ramon.At the house of the Palou Montalbo, on Sunday afternoon there was Formula 1."I put it on TV as I still put it now, although my daughter doesn't care about much.Alex didn't like at the beginning, although he was looked at it ".Alex always refers to Michael Schumacher as his childhood idol because he was the one who supported at home."I hooked practically when Schumi's time began," adds Ramon."Then Alex started at Karting and it was the transition between Schumacher and Alonso, and at Casa we obviously continued supporting Schumacher,".

But Palou did not make a pilot to imitate the types that came out on television, but because of their stubbornness to get on a kart.Every day he spent in front of Cardedu's karting when he went and returned from school, and with four years he asked his parents to take him there.Perhaps in another family this would have fallen into a broken bag, but for Ramon, that "with seeing and smelling the smoke of an engine already had enough", that the little one wanted to have fun in that world also gave him the opportunity to live hishobby.

"Cardedu is the romantic memory; the anecdote that when we went there to Alex, half a meter was missing to reach the pedals and another half a meter to get to the wheel".That day the Palou discovered that there were no rental karts for such young children.Both took action on the matter.The four -year -old Alex, swelling to food to grow faster and be able to run.And the Ramon of 23, combining efforts with the whole family to give him a second -hand kart for his fifth anniversary, on April 1, 2002.

"If I wanted to run, the only alternative was to buy a cadet kart and adapt it to its size.With my father -in -law we ended up dumbing several times to adapt the pedalie, the seat ... ".That first Kart slept at the facilities of the Kartòdrom Catalunya, in Lliçà de Vall, but went to a better life in an accident."Chafó some other," Ramon recalls.It was in Lliçà where Alex really fonds to this sport.

There was never the claim that he ended up becoming a pilot.Alex liked speed and Ramon the races, and in Lliçà they found the place where they live their hobby."We went to karting to have fun and do a few laps, in the same way that there are children who on Saturday play a football match with the team on duty.It was something that I could share with Alex and that I also passionate about.When we had a free time, we took the car and went there, and since the kart was already there everything was quite fast ".

That karting of Lliçà de Vall had a social championship, which was where Palou made his first foray into a competition.Debuted with five years and won it with six.Ramon, those two years served to learn to ride and disassemble a kart in all possible ways."I didn't have the slightest idea of mechanics," he admits."I learned about the march.As things were happening, I was learning the karting truquillos.And in the end it is like everything: if you strive, you learn it ".

The Palou were happy in that championship, but then something happened that marked a turning point: they threw them out of karting for a rifirrafe with the organization.What seemed at first a problem ended up being a blessing.

"Alex and I didn't care if that was a social championship or world championship.With that we were already satisfied.We had the karting, we made several races ... with that we were already comfortable.But when they threw us out of karting, they forced us to look for our lives.We ended at Sallent's karting, but we were far away and there was no championship.So we brought the blanket to the head and put ourselves in the Catalan championship ".

They started in the Catalan championship with their own structure - "It didn't have much history: it was about taking the material, a van ..." - with another alumnus of the karting of Lliçà.They called Marlon Kart to buy the material and the following year they started running on their team."Shortly after Juan Santos appeared, from Benikarts.The offer he made was that we did not pay anything and the child ran for them.And so we did.We won the Alevín Championship of Spain with them in 2006 ".

It was more or less at that time when Alex Palou agreed on the slopes with Carlos Sainz JR, who began at karting.Today there is respect and cordiality between them, but things were not always easy.The pressure to win was Máxima and Ramon remembers that at that time "there was something more than tension" in the boxes zone.Alex won Carlos in the Champions Cup and from there he went to Mariano Molina's team, Miguel Molina's father, with whom the cadet era ended.

Then it was time to jump to international karting in KF3.The step involved an unasumable economic effort."We spent a lot of time waiting for a proposal and when it arrived it was' this costs 200.000 euros, pales' ".Simply unassumable.Alex was about to hang the helmet."We didn't want to do things halfway.Or we continued as we had to continue, which was doing Junior internationally, or we took it as a hobby ".Luckily, a trusted mechanic put them in touch with Genís Marcó, who threw a lifeguard."He made us a very good treatment.We signed a year with Genís and made international.It went very well".

At that moment is when Ramon's brother -in -law enters the scene, who was still a teenager at that time."I was combining studies with the incorporation to my father -in -law's family business," explains Alex's father.He could take the road and accompany Alex throughout Europe when Ramon couldn't be."My father -in -law let him go to the races when I couldn't go.In karting sometimes you throw a whole week on a track.I took a plane when I left work on Friday afternoon and returned home on Sunday, because on Monday morning I had to go to work ".

With Genís Marcó, Alex won the Spanish Championship in KF3 and made his first races at the continental level.They negotiated again for the next season, but the agreement he proposed did not have just convinced them."We had to make a series of economic sacrifices and at home we always had very clear how far we could go.".But luckily he returned to the fore."We took the plane, we met in Italy with Giancarlo Tinini and told us 'everything is paid'".Said and done: Alex became his official pilot.

The extra travel of traveling the continent had already begun to make a dent at school.Comaging ‘normal’ studies with a calendar that forces you to be away from home about a hundred days a year was basically impossible.With the help of a scholarship, the family made the decision for Alex.

"Nobody likes her son suddenly no longer at home," Ramon recalls."We were always half a week to dinner with him and so he saw his sister, and on Friday I was going to pick it up when he left to work to bring him home.He had to leave home protection early, but the CAR was a salvation.We were having problems with some teachers and we also had a hard time justifying, because the karts were not sufficient reason to compromise their education.In the CAR he had an institute that allowed him to get ready easily when he was not competing ".

Another benefit of being in the High Performance Center was that for the first time he had access to a first -order physical training."Until we got there, it was very difficult to combine.I had tried to let him enter a gym, but the gyms are not made for children of ten or eleven years.In the CAR he had a coach, like all the athletes who are there, and learned what it was to get fit ".

Alex ran a couple of seasons with CRG, where he agreed among others with Max Verstappen.He won the European qualification and was second in the 2012 European Championship.The champion was George Russell."The principles were difficult, because they had not gained for a long time and we ran with an engine that was not going.But engines from another manufacturer took and the stars were aligned ".Alex won the WSK Euro Series in KF3 in 2012 and in 2013 he won the Spanish Championship in KF2."I was on fire.And that is when Adrián Campos appeared with a proposal to run in cars ".

This proposal came to Alex in WhatsApp form during a kind of mathematics, in autumn 2013.The sender was Adrián Campos JR, who told him that they wanted to count on him for the next season.Alex's joy was such that the teacher threw him out of class.They were known in Montmeló that November during the visit of the Euroformula Open and shortly after Alex and his father made the first journey by car to Alzira, south of Valencia, to visit the headquarters of the team.In December I was already doing the first test.

Victoria in Montmeló with the Euroformula Open (2014)

Victoria at Abu Dhabi with the GP3 (2015)

Valencia became his second home.He was still based in the Car de Sant Cugat, but he took the Euromed between Sants and Joaquín Sorolla when he had to prepare a career or work in the simulator.In the capital of Turia he always received Adrián Campos JR, who prepared the guest room of his house.Alex would remember later that he was welcomed as "one more from the family".

Adrián Campos, godfather of champions, said of him that he had "the head of Antonio García and the maturity of Fernando Alonso", and with these statements all the alarms jumped at the talent that was about to come.In the Open Euroformula, the Spanish formula 3, Alex responded to his trust.His official monoplays debut took place in Nürburgring, where he won the victory, the pole position and the quick lap.In that 2014 he won again in Silverstone and in Montmeló, in the latter with the whole family in the stands.Ended third in the championship.Shortly after, Campos announced its entrance to the GP3 series facing 2015 and Palou became the team's commitment.

In that season of GP3, Esteban Ocon was measured among others.The expectations were maximum and his hands were there, but he still lacked experience.He made a top 5 in the first three classifications of the year, but he always had setbacks.In Barcelona, the clutch did not manage well.In Austria, trade engine.In Silverstone, he ended up abandoning a breakdown.The pressure was in crescendo and leaked in some piloting errors, such as a spin during the training return in Italy.

Alex traced the flight and in Abu Dhabi he won a redemptive victory in the last test of the calendar, where he dominated from the pole the Sunday test."I have learned that you can never give up," he said that day."In almost every race I have had a problem, whether mechanical or pilot.If I had given up in Montmeló, in Silverstone or in any other circuit, if I had not wanted to continue working, we would surely have not won the last race of the season ".

2016 had to be the year of its confirmation in the GP3.He shared a grill with Charles Leclerc, who already dragged many looks for his bond with Ferrari.Winning him would have sent a message, but Alex quickly saw that it was impossible mission.That season the category changed car and the Campos team simply did not dominate it with the same mastery as the previous.In the first classification of the year, Palou stayed 2.6 seconds from pole.In the last one, it was still 0.8 seconds.

Ramon keeps a very bitter memory of that 2016, because Alex's career hit a thread again."I don't wish anyone that.It is the only time I have seen Alex get out of a half -race car.It was a disaster.People do not know if your car is fast or not, just see that you stay on the 27th on a grid of 28 cars, that they put you a second by return, that the wheels are finished ten laps before the rest and that you end up looking like afool on track.That is what ends up and that was what happened to us.It was a disaster y estábamos abocados a volver al karting".

After that seemed that there was no future.That 2016 came to try the Ferrari Challenge, which was not a good omen.But at the last minute an opportunity arose.A Japanese Formula 3 team, Threeebond Drago Cors, asked Dallara if a European pilot had available.The requirements were that it was fast and that it would not be expensive.Alex fulfilled the profile.Without other proposals on the table, he said yes and made his bags.Japan began as "a forced adventure" in the absence of alternatives, but ended up being the first step in the path that would finally take him to Indycar.In that 2017 he also ran sporadically in Formula 2 - with fields, as a substitute in two tests - and in World Series - with Teo Martín, in six races -.

The roads of Alex Palou and Adrián Campos separated after that.When Adrián died in January 2021, Alex said that if it hadn't been for him he would still be in karting.That was not an exaggeration."Alex always thought that all this would lead him to have a professional career in Karting," his father points out now."I already had it, because with CRG the proposal was to have a salary.I could have done like others and run there 15 years and then become a mechanic.He thought that could be his future ".The passage through the formulas with Racing Campos was not always a rose road, but it led him to the next level.The last time Alex and Adrián were seen was in December 2020, in a formula 4 test in Cheste, with Palou already confirmed for Chip ejoussi.

With Formula 3 Japanese from Threeebernd Drago Cors (2017)

With the super formula of Nakajima Racing (2019)

With the McLaren GT3 of Team Goh, Super GT (2019)

Alex arrived in Japan with 19 years.The cultural clash and the idiomatic barrier were important, and the time difference with Europe did not make things easier because I barely had time to talk to theirs.Even so, Japanese formula 3 was a success: he won three races and ended third in a championship in which all circuits were new to him.He caught his attention.In December, the Nakajima team gave him a test with a super formula in Suzuka.Alex was the fastest debutante of the day and the best Honda.Nakajima had no vacancies for 2018, but kept that test in memory and a year later he repeated to give him the opportunity to compete in the monoplays elite in 2019.

While this was happening, an Indycar Expiler converted to Team Chief, representative of pilots and spotter tanked Alex to do the Super GT.That expilot was Roger Yasukawa, a nipo-American with 40 Indycar races behind him that at that time he was in charge of the sports direction of the Team Goh team.I didn't know Alex very well, but he looked for references at Paddock and soon saw that it was worth it.At first it was only his team leader, but over time he became the guide that helped him reach the United States.

"We met at the end of 2018," Roger explains."We were preparing to run at the Super GT with a McLaren GT3 and my first task when I assumed that job was to hire Alex as one of our pilots.Then I didn't know him much, but I made my inquiries for Paddock before our first meeting and everyone spoke very well about him.Alex left a very good reputation in Japan when he made formula 3.Everyone knew it was very fast and there was that feeling that it could still be more if they gave it a more powerful car, as in the end it ends up happening.Mr. Goh already knew that he had a great future and that's why he wanted to support him hiring him ".

Roger works today with Monaco Increase Management, the representation company of Salvatore Gandolfo that is responsible for managing Alex's sports career.For practical purposes, Roger is the link with the United States and the person who is closer to him on a day -to -day to help him with his agenda and his commercial commitments and agreements.

He describes him as a "very demanding person in the careers and in what he wants, but also very friendly"."He is the easiest pilot to deal with with the one I have worked.He is honest and direct, and his attitude has been very good from day one and is increasingly strongly strong.It is very easy to deal with him, but in his mind he is very clear about what he wants.And he is still 24 years old, so I think he will be very successful in the future ".

In Team Goh, Alex found the work group that later took him to Indycar.He found Roger, whom he massacred questions and whom he implied to open the doors of the United States.And he found Kazumichi Goh, the owner of the team, a philanthropist of the races that was willing to invest if the situation was worth it and that ended up becoming the patron of his first season in America.

"We started talking about Indycar in 2019," adds Roger "he knew that I came from that world and showed me a lot of interest, so we talked about what were the steps that had to take".The first thing Roger suggested was to travel to an oval to see if it caused him impression."To win in Indycar you have to be good in the oval and there are many European pilots who do not want to run there".Alex traveled to Texas race, where he saw Takuma Sato win, who was precisely the pilot Yasukawa had made Spotter for more than a decade.

The experience did not frighten him, but quite the opposite.Alex was able to greet several team leaders and began to sniff.Back to Japan, he confirmed to Yasukawa that he wanted to try.That was June 8, 2019.In mid -July, Alex received the call from a team owner who in the past had dealt commercially with Kazumichi Goh: Dale Coyne.Coyne offered him the possibility of trying an Indycar in Mid-Ohio the day after the race, on July 29.

"Luckily the MR.Goh had a good relationship with Dale Coyne, because in the past his sponsor had been, "recalls Roger."We were able to do the Mid-Ohio test and there Alex was fantastic.It was very fast, faster than pole, and Coyne was really impressed by what he had been able to do in one day.That took us to the next step, which was trying to sign with the team to do the whole season ".

Among the preparations for the test and the signing of the contract, Alex coincided in three races of the super formula with Patricio O'Ward.He did not know at that time, but he was before the pilot who would end up being his main rival for the title in 2021.O'ward had won the Indy Lightts the previous year and already had experience in Races de la Indycar.Palou took advantage of his presence in Japan to ask him a thousand and one questions about how things worked in that world he wanted to know.

At that time a dilemma was raised: continue in Japan or travel to the United States.In the super formula he had a guaranteed steering wheel for 2020 and knew that he could opt for the title - a title that in that 2019 is running out in the last race, in fact - in fact -.Indycar was a great risk, because it would run in a small team and a single year without any more future guarantee."That is the first time in his entire career that Alex can choose what he wants to do," recalls his father now.After a lifetime linking opportunities, for the first time he has the pan for the mango and can decide.

During those months, Yasukawa and Palou also talked about what this decision could mean in the long term."I told him that, if his goal was Formula 1, maybe he was more interested."But I told him that, if not, and I wanted to bet on Indycar, I had to be clear that the United States would have to take like something to commit to at least a couple of seasons.".

Alex Palou chosen the United States.

Scenes of the first season in Indycar with Dale Coyne With Team Goh (2020)

Making the leap to America was not simple.Dale Coyne had been impressed with his speed, but Alex was obliged to contribute a budget that made that operation viable for all parties.Here he played an instrumental role Kazumichi Goh, who became a project partner.Hence, number 55 was known for 2020 as 'Dale Coyne Racing With Team Goh'.

"In the Alex test he did his job, which was to impress the team leader," says Roger."From there, my work was negotiated with the team and talking to Mr. Goh.It was a long negotiation, but we were lucky to have its financial support.Mr.Goh got involved, but said it would only be one year old.The plan was that he would help us get to Indycar, but that from the second year we already had to look for our own future ".

In his debut in the Indycar he had to row against several factors, the largest of them the Covid-19 pandemic, which delayed the beginning of the season, canceled all the private tests and reformulated the format of the weekends, reducing the hours hoursFree training to save money.All this went against a young man without experience who needed to make kilometers to catch up.But Palou gave quality flashes, first with a podium in Road America and then with a memorable performance in the 500 miles of Indianapolis that served as a presentation card.

In those 500 miles he had from Spotter to Roger, who in the past had played this function for Takuma Sato."Alex was very calm.He does not take unnecessary risks, "he reflects now."As I had also been a pilot, I knew what I was thinking at that time.If I saw that I was doing something wrong, I told the act.Takuma was more than 'all or nothing', but managing Alex was very easy.I never had to worry about stopping or calming him.That has ended up seeing in the results.Alex only needs to give him all the information that can be useful during the race ".

Palou was classified seventh in those Indy500, and if not for an accident in the second curve who knows where he could have finished.This action, combined with the self -confidence of presenting itself to Chip Ejessi and telling him that he wanted to run for him, was what put the seed of what would end up being his signing for one of the greatest structures of the whole sport.

"The person who opened the door of desire was Alex when he appeared to Chip," Yasukawa recalls."Alex asked what he had to do to run for him and Chip told him to continue doing it as until then, that perhaps at some point there would be the opportunity.That was the first dialogue with the team.Then Dario Franchitti got in touch and we talked about the possibility of Alex joining them ".

"The negotiations lasted a couple of months.The team already knew that Rosenqvist was going to McLaren and that the 10th car was going to be free, so they had to find the substitute.I know they had Alex in great consideration, although I imagine that they also probes several more pilots.That's why it was not an easy negotiation ".

"We managed to close the agreement before the season ended at St Petersburg, so that we were already calm because we knew what we were going to do.A week after that we were already in Barber to do the first test with chip ejoussi.Alex opened the team door and launched all that ".

With the signing of this contract, Kazumichi Goh retired from the United States happy because his investment had helped his pupil to reach the top.Alex did not forget his help and looked selflessly the Team Goh logo in his helmet during the 2021 season, although then he was no longer under his umbrella.In those 500 miles of Indianapolis also competed with a Japanese inspiration helmet.

The rest is history.With the tranquility of a multiannual contract and the strength of an established structure, Alex has found the stability he needed to channel everything he had learned.And this has ended up translating into a serenity that surprises everyone who talks to him.

In December 2020, he returned to Spain to spend Christmas with the family.I was absolutely quiet about the perspective of sharing equipment with Scott Dixon and running in the big leagues."When we start winning, people are going to get excited," he said during a production with SoyMotor.com.Said and done: he debuted with desire with victory, stayed 0.49 seconds to win the 500 miles of Indianapolis and was the most regular pilot of the championship.

"He feels at home in situations where others would look under pressure," says his father, Ramon Palou."The question we asked each night while we had dinner or when we finished a race was what was going to happen the following year, if we were going to be able to keep running.And right now we haven't asked ourselves for a long time.That uncertainty, the fear that this is over, was really pressure.It was a pressure that suffocated you.Win or not win is another type of pressure ".

Roger Yasukawa believes that in Chipesei he has given the last twist he needed."He has taken a tremendous leap.This season has had types like Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, guys with a lot of experience, and things have worked much better with the team.Alex has improved in many things.For example, in fuel management and tires.At first it was good at that, but now it's fantastic.It is still the same person, but now he is more mature and things understand much better ".

Roger is convinced that the world has not yet seen the best of Alex."That in his second year in Indycar is at this level only means that he has a long and brilliant future in this category.Its commercial value has uploaded a lot this season and I am sure that in the future it will be even more busy than now ".And a future in Formula 1?It's the eternal question, but Roger sees him unlikely."Any pilot would like to have the opportunity to drive in Formula 1, but if you are not in front it is not fun.I know Alex and I know two things: who does not want to be a payment pilot and that he wants to earn races.I think he will have a great career in Indycar.Right now it is focused on the 500 miles of Indianapolis ".

"That you have fun running is the essence of this," says his father, Ramon."I never thought about where this could take us.In the same way that one day we were on the grill of a social championship, one day we were suddenly in the first row of a World Cup.This has been like this, without further perspective than being able to continue running the next season.Alex has grown and matured in this world and his life is this.It has very clear things ".

Roger Yasukawa and Alex Palou

Alex Palou and Chipsei

Victoria in Road America (2021)

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