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| Will Power dominated the Grand Prix of Indianapolis |
Will Power hasn't had the best start to a championship defending season. Before the Grand Prix of Indianapolis he had stood on the podium just once, at the season opener in St Petersburg, and had taken a lot of flack for his frankly stupid move into the side of Takuma Sato whilst exiting the pits at Barber Motorsports Park. However, the series champion put all of that behind him at Indy, taking pole position and dominating the race, but he was made to work for it during the latter stages of the race...
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| Power makes his escape as carnage unfolds behind him |
Power owed part of his victory to the chaos that ensued at the start of the race. It was triggered by Helio Castroneves, who decided it would be fun to send Scott Dixon, who started 2nd, into a spin. This caused mayhem further back as cars tried to avoid the carnage, and it resulted in James Hinchcliffe tangling with Josef Newgarden, Hinch's front wing taking damage and Newgarden spinning and stalling, ruining his race. Jack Hawksworth was also caught up in the mayhem, as were other cars, most of which managed to escape over the grass or via the escape road.
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| Graham Rahal was again on fine form for Rahal Letterman Racing |
All of this allowed Graham Rahal to leap from 17th to 5th, in the space of two corners. Rahal had taken a brilliant 2nd place at Barber Motorsports park a couple of weeks before the GP of Indy, and was now right in the mix for a podium position, possibly even the race win. However, it wasn't like the people in-front of him would be pushovers...
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| Power leads Pagenaud, Bourdais, Montoya and Rahal in the early stages |
Rahal would have to battle past Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud before he could think about attacking Power. The rejuvenated Rahal though wasn't phased by this, and thanks to some great driving and great strategy by his pit-crew, he was soon up into 2nd place. It wasn't over yet though as Montoya was chasing him all the way, the winner from St Petersburg looking to extend his championship lead.
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| Montoya took 3rd place but had to fend off a hard charging Sebastian Bourdais |
Rahal however, would not budge, and as the race went on and reached the final stint, Montoya decided to back off and save fuel. This though brought Bourdais up his gearbox, Montoya now having to not only save fuel, but defend his third place from a Bourdais looking for his first podium of the season.
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| Rahal closed to within 1.5 seconds of Power, but that was as close as Power let him get |
This had allowed Rahal to go chasing after Power, and he steadily brought the gap down to under 2 seconds. Power was now under serious pressure for the race win. However, he held on to the lead brilliantly, not buckling under pressure and putting in a champions performance. Rahal though was the star of the show, showing Honda were making gains in performance and that he himself was performing at his best. Power crossed the line just 1.5 seconds ahead of Rahal.
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| Chaos Castroneves recovered to 6th place after causing the melee at the start of the race |
Montoya held on to 3rd spot ahead Bourdais, meaning half of the Penske team was happy. Pagenaud had been in a solid 5th position and was on for some good points before he retired with a mechanical issue, and Castroenves did very well to recover up to 6th place. He still remains in touch with Power and Montoya in the championship though, and is most certainly in the fight for the championship. Full results of the race below;
After five rounds, Montoya still holds the championship lead, but his team mates are closing in...
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| Power will no doubt be hoping to add a more famous Indianapolis victory to his name next week |
Will Power has started May off with a victory on the Indianapolis road course...but he no doubt has his eyes on one of the most prestigious prizes in motor-racing history, in just a weeks time...the Indianapolis 500. Until next time folks. Ciao.
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| Power, Rahal and Montoya celebrate on the podium, the Indy girls hoping to avoid a champagne soaking
All photo's copyright of the Verizon IndyCar series
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