Australia’s Will Power, determined not to miss out on the IndyCar title to Dario Franchitti two years in a row, is applying the blowtorch as the series nears its climax
Second straight victory narrows gap to five points
Australia’s Will Power has intensified his challenge to Scotsman Dario Franchitti for the IndyCar championship with his second straight win and sixth of the year, narrowing the gap between the pair to just five points with three races remaining.
Power won the new street race at Baltimore today to go to 502 points in the championship, while defending champion Franchitti retained the lead by finishing fourth for a season tally of 507 points. The remaining races are at the Motegi road course in Japan on September 17, then the oval tracks at Kentucky on October 2 and Las Vegas on October 16.
An IndyCar title for Power could create a complication for the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercar round the week after the Las Vegas race because the Toowoomba star, due to share Mark Winterbottom’s Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon, most likely would have promotional duties in the US.
Power has trimmed 57 points off Franchitti’s lead over the past three races. His Baltimore success for Team Penske means it now has won the same number of IndyCar races in the past three years (21) as its great rival, Ganassi Racing, for which Franchitti and New Zealander Scott Dixon race. However, Ganassi has won three titles in a row – Franchitti the past two years (beating Power last season by five points) and Dixon in 2008.
Power said of his Baltimore triumph: “That was the toughest race I’ve done all year. “I’m just exhausted, but that was a championship run. It was crazy - they (the Penske team) said I had to make up three seconds a lap to keep the lead, so it was like qualifying for 10 laps!
“I’ve never driven so hard in my whole life. I gave it absolutely everything. I reckon that’s probably one of my best race wins ever.”
The other Australian in the race, Sydneysider Ryan Briscoe, also driving for Penske, created mid-race chaos for 11 cars in a hairpin bend, was sent to the back of the field for the restart and finished 14th.
Briscoe made contact with American Ryan Hunter-Reay while trying to overtake for fourth. The Andretti Autosport driver spun, triggering a huge concertina behind him, although only Italian Giorgio Pantano and British rookie James Jakes were forced out with damage.
Power, after winning at California’s Infineon Raceway a week earlier, started from pole position on the 3.2km Baltimore course, led 70 of the 75 laps and ultimately cruised to a 10.2-second victory over Spaniard Oriol Servia, driving for the Newman-Haas team. That equaled Servia’s best finish of the season and came after he started 16th.
Newman-Haas made the right call on fuel strategy while many of the top 10 runners were forced into late stops.
Brazilian Tony Kanaan finished third for KV Racing in a spare car after the brakes failed on his primary machine during the morning and he flew over countryman Helio Castronves’ Penske car into a wall of tyres. That pair started from the back of the 28-car field.
Dixon finished fifth after both his rear tyres went flat and Danica Patrick advanced from 25th on the grid to take sixth place as she nears the end of her full-time open-wheeler career before concentrating on stock car racing next year.
Franchitti said he would not be changing his mentality for the final three races despite the heat Power is applying to him.
“What’s the point getting concerned? It doesn't make you any quicker,” Franchitti said. “In this race, it looked like we had everyone else covered but there was a miscue on the strategy - they called me into the pits when I was already 10 car lengths past, which was unfortunate.
“From there I came out and Scotty [teammate Dixon] and I almost crashed being too nice to each other. I thought he was going through and he thought I had the corner. It was a tough day, a very challenging track.”
IndyCar series standings after 14 of 17 rounds - Dario Franchitti (Ganassi Racing) 507 points, Will Power (Team Penske) 502, Scott Dixon (Ganassi) 430, Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas) 367, Tony Kanaan (KV Racing) 340, Ryan Briscoe (Penske) 328, Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) 305, Marco Andretti (Andretti) 292, Helio Castroneves (Penske) 290, Graham Rahal (Ganassi) 284, Danica Patrick (Andretti) 275. All cars are Honda-engined Dallaras.
Ambrose has to wait 48 hours for bonus race
The 25th round of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Aussie Marcos Ambrose is one of four drivers with a chance of winning $3 million in bonuses, has been postponed for two days after a wash-out this morning, Australian time. The two-day delay is because high winds are expected with storms in the next 24 hours.
Senna stays in F1 – Renault settles with Heidfeld
Renault has confirmed Brazilian Bruno Senna will race in Formula One for the rest of the season after settling its legal dispute with German Nick Heidfeld — ousted in favour of Senna ahead of the recent Belgian Grand Prix.
Heidfeld, who has had eight second places in F1 without a win in a 183-race career, had disappointed Renault as the stand-in for injured Polish ace Robert Kubica. Heidfeld has vowed to “be back racing at the highest level soon” – but his future may be in the German Touring Car Championship with BMW rather than in F1.
Picture courtesy of Penskeracing.com
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