Kiwi Indycar driver Scott McLaughlin has opened the new season with a podium finish after starting on pole at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

Defending Indycar series champion Alex Palou won by almost 13 seconds, continuing his dominance and making it back-to-back victories in the series opener.

It was the Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s 20th win in his 99th start and comes after he won last year’s championship by a record 196 points.

McLaughlin held off Christian Lundgaard for second place. Fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong finished 11th after running fourth, while compatriot Scott Dixon retired from the race after his right rear tyre came loose.

McLaughlin, starting on the front row, held first place for the opening half of the race before falling behind Palou and Marcus Ericsson following a pit stop.

He regained the lead at lap 68 of 100, but only for one lap before pitting one last time. But when he returned to the track, Palou was more than 14 seconds ahead, a margin which he kept to the chequered flag.

McLaughlin was able to pass Kyle Kirkwood with six laps to go and move into second, and held off a fast-finishing Lundgaard, who started the race 12th.

McLaughlin said, in hindsight, the tyre choice played a key part.

“Alex was super fast but I think it’s just a mixed bag on what tyre you start on. Maybe we come back here and maybe you start on reds [softs] and get them out of the way. Overall, [we] made the passes that we needed to go make and the right times. I thought we maximised our day and that’s all we needed to do,” he told Sky Sport.

Armstrong was looking for a strong finish. Sitting fourth behind Ericsson, he passed him for third but was late on the brakes at the next corner, which cost him three spots. He then pitted and got stuck in traffic in his final stint, not making the top 10 again.

Dixon’s race ended on lap 40 when he pitted while briefly leading. But a mistake by his pit crew saw his right rear tyre fall off, with the 58-time winner calmly controlling his car and parking up before watching his tyre roll by him and into a wall.