Not only Will Power dominated Sunday's Grand Prix of Sonoma but Team Penske turned its 1-2-3 in qualifying into a sweep by placing all its drivers onto the podium.
Australian Will Power made a good deal as he not only got points from his victory but also gained some more for the pole and leading the most laps. It was Team Penske's first 1-2-3 since Nazareth in 1994 where Paul Tracy, Al Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi claimed the top three spots.
With this second consecutive victory on the Californian road circuit, Power collected 21 points at Sonoma, and heads to Baltimore just 26 points behind Dario Franchitti.
For a rare time this year, Helio Castroneves seems to have been able to get out of trouble and finished in second place, still 3.2 seconds behind Power. Ryan Briscoe completed the all-Penske podium.
As they did in qualifying, both Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon finished respectively 4th and 5th.
Giorgio Pantano was one of the stars of an afternoon, working his way up from 11th to sixth across the line for Dreyer & Reinbold, but the former GP2 champion was issued with a penalty for blocking Sebastien Bourdais on the final lap and was relegated to 17th.
IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma - Results
Pos. Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 1h47m29.7619s
2. Helio Castroneves Penske 3.2420s
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske 6.4494s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 7.6540s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi 14.4755s
6. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne 17.1257s
7. James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 17.2713s
8. Graham Rahal Ganassi 17.7900s
9. Ernesto Viso KV 21.6276s
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 22.1731s
11. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas 22.9512s
12. Martin Plowman AFS/Sam Schmidt 24.2602s
13. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 29.7207s
14. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest 41.1146s
15. Simon Pagenaud Dreyer & Reinbold 41.7526s
16. Mike Conway Andretti 1m.2912s
17. Giorgio Pantano Dreyer & Reinbold 1m14.2922s
18. Takuma Sato KV + 1 lap
19. James Jakes (Dale Coyne) + 1 lap
20. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 1 lap
21. Danica Patrick Andretti + 1 lap
22. Vitor Meira Foyt + 1 lap
23. JR Hildebrand Panther + 1 lap
24. Marco Andretti Andretti + 1 lap
25. Ed Carpenter Sarah Fisher + 1 lap
Retirements
Charlie Kimball Ganassi 66 laps
Ho-Pin Tung Sam Schmidt Dragon 63 laps
Tony Kanaan KV 38 laps
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| Photo: LAT/IndyCar |
Australian Will Power made a good deal as he not only got points from his victory but also gained some more for the pole and leading the most laps. It was Team Penske's first 1-2-3 since Nazareth in 1994 where Paul Tracy, Al Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi claimed the top three spots.
With this second consecutive victory on the Californian road circuit, Power collected 21 points at Sonoma, and heads to Baltimore just 26 points behind Dario Franchitti.
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| Photo: LAT/IndyCar |
For a rare time this year, Helio Castroneves seems to have been able to get out of trouble and finished in second place, still 3.2 seconds behind Power. Ryan Briscoe completed the all-Penske podium.
As they did in qualifying, both Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon finished respectively 4th and 5th.
Giorgio Pantano was one of the stars of an afternoon, working his way up from 11th to sixth across the line for Dreyer & Reinbold, but the former GP2 champion was issued with a penalty for blocking Sebastien Bourdais on the final lap and was relegated to 17th.
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| Photo: LAT/IndyCar |
IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma - Results
Pos. Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 1h47m29.7619s
2. Helio Castroneves Penske 3.2420s
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske 6.4494s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 7.6540s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi 14.4755s
6. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne 17.1257s
7. James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 17.2713s
8. Graham Rahal Ganassi 17.7900s
9. Ernesto Viso KV 21.6276s
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 22.1731s
11. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas 22.9512s
12. Martin Plowman AFS/Sam Schmidt 24.2602s
13. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 29.7207s
14. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest 41.1146s
15. Simon Pagenaud Dreyer & Reinbold 41.7526s
16. Mike Conway Andretti 1m.2912s
17. Giorgio Pantano Dreyer & Reinbold 1m14.2922s
18. Takuma Sato KV + 1 lap
19. James Jakes (Dale Coyne) + 1 lap
20. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 1 lap
21. Danica Patrick Andretti + 1 lap
22. Vitor Meira Foyt + 1 lap
23. JR Hildebrand Panther + 1 lap
24. Marco Andretti Andretti + 1 lap
25. Ed Carpenter Sarah Fisher + 1 lap
Retirements
Charlie Kimball Ganassi 66 laps
Ho-Pin Tung Sam Schmidt Dragon 63 laps
Tony Kanaan KV 38 laps
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| Photo: LAT/IndyCar |