Team Penske's Will Power took an important win at the inaugural IndyCar event in Baltimore closing in on Dario Franchitti (Ganassi).
In what he described as one of the toughest race of the season, the Australian earned his victory after having had to cope with warm and humid conditions as well as he had survive to a lot of incidents on the track.
The result brings Power to within five points of current championship leader Dario Franchitti.
Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas Racing) finished second but way over 10 seconds behind the Penske ace while Tony Kanaan (KV Racing) miraculously survived a terrible crash during warm-up that forced him to start from the back of the field to finish a remarkable third.
A huge pile-up happened on lap 37 when Ryan Briscoe (Penske) made contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)while trying to take fourth at Turn 3. Hunter-Reay spun, taking a lot of cars in the mayhem.
Briscoe was penalized for his role in the incident and the traffic jam prompted a dramatic reshuffle of the order between positions six and 28.
Dario Franchitti finished fourth just in front of his teammate Scott Dixon.
Great ending for Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt) who managed sixth despite having had started from 21st as James Hinchcliffe (NHR) was forced out of the race.
IndyCar Baltimore Grand Prix Results - 75 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 2h02m19.4998s
2. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 10.2096s
3. Tony Kanaan KV + 10.8557s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 11.0831s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 11.5032s
6. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 17.7124s
7. Danica Patrick Andretti + 18.5661s
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 18.9269s
9. Vitor Meira Foyt + 22.3096s
10. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 22.6977s
11. Martin Plowman AFS/Sam Schmidt + 23.7405s
12. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 24.7568s
13. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 29.6042s
14. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 30.9855s
15. EJ Viso KV + 50.6756s
16. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 60.5667s
17. Helio Castroneves Penske + 1 lap
18. Takuma Sato KV + 2 laps
19. JR Hildebrand Panther + 2 laps
20. Ed Carpenter Sarah Fisher + 2 laps
21. Charlie Kimball Ganassi + 2 laps
22. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold + 4 laps
23. Mike Conway Andretti + 11 laps
Retirements:
James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 54 laps
Marco Andretti Andretti 40 laps
Giorgio Pantano Dreyer & Reinbold 39 laps
James Jakes Dale Coyne 37 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne 9 laps
In what he described as one of the toughest race of the season, the Australian earned his victory after having had to cope with warm and humid conditions as well as he had survive to a lot of incidents on the track.
The result brings Power to within five points of current championship leader Dario Franchitti.
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| Photo: indycar.com |
Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas Racing) finished second but way over 10 seconds behind the Penske ace while Tony Kanaan (KV Racing) miraculously survived a terrible crash during warm-up that forced him to start from the back of the field to finish a remarkable third.
A huge pile-up happened on lap 37 when Ryan Briscoe (Penske) made contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)while trying to take fourth at Turn 3. Hunter-Reay spun, taking a lot of cars in the mayhem.
Briscoe was penalized for his role in the incident and the traffic jam prompted a dramatic reshuffle of the order between positions six and 28.
Dario Franchitti finished fourth just in front of his teammate Scott Dixon.
Great ending for Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt) who managed sixth despite having had started from 21st as James Hinchcliffe (NHR) was forced out of the race.
IndyCar Baltimore Grand Prix Results - 75 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 2h02m19.4998s
2. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 10.2096s
3. Tony Kanaan KV + 10.8557s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 11.0831s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 11.5032s
6. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 17.7124s
7. Danica Patrick Andretti + 18.5661s
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 18.9269s
9. Vitor Meira Foyt + 22.3096s
10. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 22.6977s
11. Martin Plowman AFS/Sam Schmidt + 23.7405s
12. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 24.7568s
13. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 29.6042s
14. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 30.9855s
15. EJ Viso KV + 50.6756s
16. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 60.5667s
17. Helio Castroneves Penske + 1 lap
18. Takuma Sato KV + 2 laps
19. JR Hildebrand Panther + 2 laps
20. Ed Carpenter Sarah Fisher + 2 laps
21. Charlie Kimball Ganassi + 2 laps
22. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold + 4 laps
23. Mike Conway Andretti + 11 laps
Retirements:
James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 54 laps
Marco Andretti Andretti 40 laps
Giorgio Pantano Dreyer & Reinbold 39 laps
James Jakes Dale Coyne 37 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne 9 laps