A dominant Helio Castroneves (Penske) won his second straight IZOD IndyCar race yesterday by taking with ease the Indy Japan 300 presented on Twin Ring Motegi in front of a large crowd.
Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti had a field day as he ended up second, clinching both the AJ Foyt Oval Championship Trophy and managing to trim Will Power’s lead at the top of the standings to only twelve points as the Australian finished third, his best ever finish on an oval.
At one time, the Brazilian was leading by as much as five seconds. Only once during the entire duration of the race did Castroneves appeared to be under threat.
For a long time, Franchitti and Castroneves' teammate Ryan Briscoe continually exchanged second place both in the pits and on track, until Power, who drifted back as low as 10th at some point, slipped past Briscoe for third shortly after the last restart with 31 laps to go.
Briscoe finished fourth while Danica Patrick had a strong run to fifth in the leading Andretti Autosport car.
The local favourites were not able to finish in the top-10 as KV Racing’s Takuma Sato ended up 12th, Andretti Autosport’s Hideki Mutoh 14th, and returnee with Conquest Roger Yasukawa 20th.
The race saw several heavy accidents, with apparent car problems sending Mario Moraes (KV) and Alex Lloyd (Dale Coyne) into the wall. Moraes was flown to the hospital for checks, having reported back pain.
Still another race to forget for Paul Tracy as he damaged Dreyer & Reinbold car following a brush with the wall and had to retire while FAZZT Racing Alex Tagliani still managed to finish 13th after having qualified a distant 23rd.
IndyCar Indy Japan 300 - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Helio Castroneves Penske 2h04m04.4780s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 4.5746s
3. Will Power Penske + 5.0743s
4. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 6.4825s
5. Danica Patrick Andretti + 7.6057s
6. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 8.3641s
7. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 9.4093s
8. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas + 11.7163s
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 12.2125s
10. Dan Wheldon Panther + 12.4720s
11. Marco Andretti Andretti + 15.5007s
12. Takuma Sato KV + 16.0693s
13. Alex Tagliani FAZZT + 17.6774s
14. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas + 18.2811s
15. EJ Viso KV + 18.7349s
16. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 19.4293s
17. Vitor Meira Foyt + 20.1047s
18. Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon + 21.2346s
19. Milka Duno Dale Coyne + 3 laps
20. Roger Yasukawa Conquest + 5 laps
Retirements:
Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 131 laps
Paul Tracy Dreyer & Reinbold 114 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM 85 laps
Mario Moraes KV 66 laps
Bertrand Baguette Conquest 1 lap
IndyCar Standings – One event left
Pos. Driver Points
1. Will Power 587
2. Dario Franchitti 575
3. Helio Castroneves 501
4. Scott Dixon 497
5. Ryan Briscoe 450
Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti had a field day as he ended up second, clinching both the AJ Foyt Oval Championship Trophy and managing to trim Will Power’s lead at the top of the standings to only twelve points as the Australian finished third, his best ever finish on an oval.
At one time, the Brazilian was leading by as much as five seconds. Only once during the entire duration of the race did Castroneves appeared to be under threat.
For a long time, Franchitti and Castroneves' teammate Ryan Briscoe continually exchanged second place both in the pits and on track, until Power, who drifted back as low as 10th at some point, slipped past Briscoe for third shortly after the last restart with 31 laps to go.
Briscoe finished fourth while Danica Patrick had a strong run to fifth in the leading Andretti Autosport car.
The local favourites were not able to finish in the top-10 as KV Racing’s Takuma Sato ended up 12th, Andretti Autosport’s Hideki Mutoh 14th, and returnee with Conquest Roger Yasukawa 20th.
The race saw several heavy accidents, with apparent car problems sending Mario Moraes (KV) and Alex Lloyd (Dale Coyne) into the wall. Moraes was flown to the hospital for checks, having reported back pain.
Still another race to forget for Paul Tracy as he damaged Dreyer & Reinbold car following a brush with the wall and had to retire while FAZZT Racing Alex Tagliani still managed to finish 13th after having qualified a distant 23rd.
IndyCar Indy Japan 300 - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Helio Castroneves Penske 2h04m04.4780s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 4.5746s
3. Will Power Penske + 5.0743s
4. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 6.4825s
5. Danica Patrick Andretti + 7.6057s
6. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 8.3641s
7. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 9.4093s
8. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas + 11.7163s
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 12.2125s
10. Dan Wheldon Panther + 12.4720s
11. Marco Andretti Andretti + 15.5007s
12. Takuma Sato KV + 16.0693s
13. Alex Tagliani FAZZT + 17.6774s
14. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas + 18.2811s
15. EJ Viso KV + 18.7349s
16. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 19.4293s
17. Vitor Meira Foyt + 20.1047s
18. Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon + 21.2346s
19. Milka Duno Dale Coyne + 3 laps
20. Roger Yasukawa Conquest + 5 laps
Retirements:
Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 131 laps
Paul Tracy Dreyer & Reinbold 114 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM 85 laps
Mario Moraes KV 66 laps
Bertrand Baguette Conquest 1 lap
IndyCar Standings – One event left
Pos. Driver Points
1. Will Power 587
2. Dario Franchitti 575
3. Helio Castroneves 501
4. Scott Dixon 497
5. Ryan Briscoe 450