2021 Spyder Grand Prix of Denver

*Editor's Note: You can watch the race in full via our YouTube channel.*

The **2021 Spyder Grand Prix of Denver** was a 187.5 mile (301.72 kilometer) motor race held on 7 November 2021 as the 19th race of the 2021 AT&T Champ Car World Series season. The race was held at Denver Motorsports Park, a brand new racing facility built by APT Promotions in Aurora, Colorado, which featured a fast superspeedway oval and a combination infield road course, the latter of which being used for the Champ Car event. Practice for the race took place on Friday, 5 November, and qualifying took place on Saturday, 6 November.

Hazel Lacasse entered the race as the Indycar World Driver's Championship leader, while newcomer Artyom Kozlov replaced Sakura Ishibashi in the second Panasonic Team Impulse Alpine, becoming the first active non-binary driver to participate in an Indycar World Championship event. The race would be won by Siri Lundqvist, who claimed her second race win of the season, ahead of Kozlov, who added onto their historic weekend to become the first non-binary driver, active or otherwise, to claim an Indycar World Championship podium, while Nicole Liechti claimed her sixth podium of the season, and her last for the Black Rose Racing squad.

## Race Background

The 2021 Spyder Grand Prix of Denver was added to the calendar as a replacement for the cancelled DHL Grand Prix of Valkenburg, keeping the 2021 season at 20 races. The track itself was completed in early September, and was scheduled to join the Champ Car calendar in 2022. The 2021 event was added on separately from the original event contract, which will see the track host a Champ Car event until at least the end of 2025.

The race took place two weeks after the Firestone Grand Prix of Indianapolis, which was marred by the crash that injured Sakura Ishibashi. A preliminary investigation showed the crash was caused by a complete electrical failure within the car, which was blamed for seizing all of the controls in the vehicle. An exact cause for why the electrical failure occurred had not been assessed by the time of the event, but the crash, and the injuries Ishibashi received from it, would prevent her from competing in the rest of the 2021 season. In response, Panasonic Team Impulse drafted in their Nissan Atlantic Championship driver, Artyom Kozlov, to fill the car for the rest of the season. Team principal, Asumi Matsuo, stated to media that Kozlov was selected over Champ Car veteran B.K. Glover because Glover was already guaranteed to be in a full time car for the team in 2022, and that the two races would give the team a better chance to see where Kozlov stood in development.

The event proved to be a hit in its first year, with over 118,000 spectators attending the race on Sunday, making it one of the highest attended races of the 2021 season. Firestone provided all teams with the red walled, alternate tire compound due to the track's brand new asphalt surface. The soft tire compound proved to be a correct choice in terms of strategy and helping provide close racing throughout the race.

## Entry List

27 cars were present for the event, coming from 12 teams. 7 entries were powered by Alpine-Renault, 6 entries were powered by Chevrolet, 8 entries were powered by Honda, and 6 entries were powered by Mercedes-Benz.

## Practice

Both free practice sessions were held on Friday, the 5th of November. Free Practice 1 took place from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. local time, while Free Practice 2 took place from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time.

## Qualifying

Qualifying took place on Saturday, 6 November. Q1 ran from 1:00 to 1:20 p.m., while Q2 ran from 1:25 to 1:40 p.m., and Q3 ran from 1:45 to 1:55 p.m. with all times in local time.

## Starting Grid

### Grid Alterations

* Gerard Perth was moved to the rear of the field for causing an avoidable accident at the previous round of the championship.
* Andrew Draco was moved to the rear of the field for causing an avoidable accident at the previous round of the championship.

## Race Report

### Opening Laps

Nicole Liechti led the field to green, but would not be leading the race by turn three, with Keisha Fox moving from fifth to first on the opening lap as the field battled three wide most of the opening lap. Liechti would hold on to second place, with Matheus Michelin moving from 11th to third in a battle with David Wessel. Both Team Impulse cars would sit fifth and sixth, with Champ Car debutante Artyom Kozlov getting past their championship contending teammate of Hazel Lacasse.

David Wessel would take the lead on lap 3, the New Jersey native needing to win both of the final races to stay in championship contention. His teammate, Andrew Draco, started last due to a penalty from the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. By lap 3, he'd move from 27th to 20th. While Draco continued moving through the field, Wessel would begin to extend his race lead over Keisha Fox, who began to fall under fire from the likes of Liechti, Michelin, Kozlov, and the Razgriz Racing car of Astrid Krane. A bit further down the order, Hazel Lacasse found herself fighting to stay in the top 10, dropping to eighth place and fighting to stay ahead of Isabel Espinoza, Alan Herrera, and Siri Lundqvist.

## See Also

* 2021 Intel 500, the last race of the 2021 season.