PREMA Racing drivers Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman both moved up the order in the Grand Prix of Portland, with Ilott cementing the team’s fourth top 10 finish in a row.
Starting from 24th and 25th respectively, Ilott and Shwartzman began the 110-lap race on the black-sidewalled Primary tires in sweltering temperatures.
The first corner has been the scene of incidents on the first lap in many previous races, but on this occasion it was clean.
It took three laps for the first caution to be thrown, and both PREMA Racing drivers were among those to pit at the first opportunity for the red-sidewalled Alternate tires – both running them to the end of the race.
The pair were able to avoid incidents in front of them to move up a few places. Further cautions came on laps eight and 15, which cycled the PREMA Racing drivers into the top three on their alternative strategy when others pitted.
Shwartzman followed Ilott when both pitted at the end of lap 39. By the halfway stage, when most drivers had pitted twice, Ilott led Shwartzman as both ran in the top seven.
With the early stop, both drivers ran to a four-stop strategy with many others on three. Shwartzman pitted for the third time on lap 63, with Ilott on lap 69.
Ilott kept in contention throughout for a top 10 finish, while Shwartzman dropped back slightly after his third pitstop. During the short stint, both were on the move forwards.
Ilott made his final stop on lap 81, with Shwartzman following a lap later. With 25 laps to go, Ilott ran eighth and Shwartzman 20th, on the wrong side of a close battle for the top 10.
Late pitstops and incidents for other drivers allowed both to move up the order slightly in the final stages.
At the chequered flag, Ilott took sixth for the second race running – equalling his and the team’s best result of the season, while Shwartzman worked up to 15th in the closing stages for one of his strongest finishes of 2025.
There is now a week gap before the final doubleheader of the season – a pair of ovals beginning with the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin on August 24.
#83 ROBERT SHWARTZMAN
"Overall for the team it was a good result, so well done to Callum on his race. After using two sets of Alternates in Qualifying, we had just one set of new red tires for the race. It was quite a big differential here between used and new. Having to drive with a used set was a bit worse; we had less grip. Until halfway into the race, were right with Callum. He had new tires, I had used Alternates and then I struggled quite a lot with my rear stability. I tried my best, I did some bold overtakes, I tried to play with the tools to help out the rear as much as possible, but we didn’t have enough pace. It's a shame because at the beginning I managed to overtake Callum and stay in front, overtake a few cars and if we ran the same strategy we both could have been in the top 10."
#90 CALLUM ILOTT
"It was a really good race by the team. They nailed the strategy and nailed the pitstops. It took a little bit of time to get going once we switched on to the first set of reds. I just couldn't get the rears to work on them but once we got some clear air we were able to keep chipping away and have some really good pace. I made a couple of overtakes in the middle part the race and managed to finish sixth. We gained another 18 positions as we did at Laguna Seca, so 24 must be my lucky number to start races from. I’m really happy with that and I'm looking forward to more into the final two races."