Will Power (Penske) took his first victory of the 2011 IndyCar Series’ season by winning Sunday from pole to finish the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
Right from the start, the Australian maintained his lead and rapidly extended the gap between himself and his closest rivals; teammate Ryan Briscoe and Ganassi’s Scott Dixon.
The first caution came early as Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) spun and stalled his engine, allowing Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) to jump the Newman/Haas car driven by Oriol Servia at the first stops, which also saw Dixon take second from Briscoe. A little while later Franchitti would do the same and pass Briscoe.
The first restart lap saw EJ Viso (KV) spin and collect Canadian rookie James Hinchcliffe (Newman/Haas), and also force HVM's Simona de Silvestro to come to a halt.
Later on, on another restart, Mike Conway crashed his Andretti Autosports car heavily, while a contact between Justin Wilson and Takuma Sato left the KV Dallara with a broken wing and the Dreyer & Reinbold entry with a puncture.
Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosports) drove a strong race to fourth, just ahead of Servia who completed the top 5.
It was a great afternoon also for Tony Kanaan (KV), who jumped from 24th to 14th on the opening lap alone and eventually finished sixth.
IndyCar Alabama Grand Prix Results - 90 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 2h14m42.9523s
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 3.3828s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 15.5243s
4. Marco Andretti Andretti + 28.9601s
5. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 29.8817s
6. Tony Kanaan KV + 30.3853s
7. Helio Castroneves Penske + 30.7807s
8. Simon Pagenaud Dreyer & Reinbold + 31.2095s
9. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 32.5812s
10. Charlie Kimball Ganassi + 35.0038s
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne + 35.9883s
12. Vitor Meira Foyt + 42.6440s
13. JR Hildebrand Panther + 44.2950s
14. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 1m00.7427s
15. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 1m10.6879s
16. Takuma Sato KV + 1m12.1719s
17. Danica Patrick Andretti + 1 lap
18. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 2 laps
Retirements:
Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 62 laps
Raphael Matos AFS 62 laps
Ryan Briscoe Penske 57 laps
Mike Conway Andretti 45 laps
EJ Viso KV 40 laps
James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 40 laps
James Jakes Dale Coyne 30 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Conquest 27 laps
Right from the start, the Australian maintained his lead and rapidly extended the gap between himself and his closest rivals; teammate Ryan Briscoe and Ganassi’s Scott Dixon.
The first caution came early as Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) spun and stalled his engine, allowing Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) to jump the Newman/Haas car driven by Oriol Servia at the first stops, which also saw Dixon take second from Briscoe. A little while later Franchitti would do the same and pass Briscoe.
The first restart lap saw EJ Viso (KV) spin and collect Canadian rookie James Hinchcliffe (Newman/Haas), and also force HVM's Simona de Silvestro to come to a halt.
Later on, on another restart, Mike Conway crashed his Andretti Autosports car heavily, while a contact between Justin Wilson and Takuma Sato left the KV Dallara with a broken wing and the Dreyer & Reinbold entry with a puncture.
Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosports) drove a strong race to fourth, just ahead of Servia who completed the top 5.
It was a great afternoon also for Tony Kanaan (KV), who jumped from 24th to 14th on the opening lap alone and eventually finished sixth.
IndyCar Alabama Grand Prix Results - 90 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 2h14m42.9523s
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 3.3828s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 15.5243s
4. Marco Andretti Andretti + 28.9601s
5. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 29.8817s
6. Tony Kanaan KV + 30.3853s
7. Helio Castroneves Penske + 30.7807s
8. Simon Pagenaud Dreyer & Reinbold + 31.2095s
9. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 32.5812s
10. Charlie Kimball Ganassi + 35.0038s
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne + 35.9883s
12. Vitor Meira Foyt + 42.6440s
13. JR Hildebrand Panther + 44.2950s
14. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 1m00.7427s
15. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 1m10.6879s
16. Takuma Sato KV + 1m12.1719s
17. Danica Patrick Andretti + 1 lap
18. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 2 laps
Retirements:
Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 62 laps
Raphael Matos AFS 62 laps
Ryan Briscoe Penske 57 laps
Mike Conway Andretti 45 laps
EJ Viso KV 40 laps
James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 40 laps
James Jakes Dale Coyne 30 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Conquest 27 laps