Penske's Ryan Briscoe took a home victory after getting the lead over pole sitter and compatriot Will Power (KV Racing) who took himself out of the race on Lap 16 of the Surfers Paradise event held in Australia
For the third year in a row, Power's race ended abruptly when he misjudged the Turn 5/6 chicane and smashed his left-front suspension on the wall.
That open the lead for Ryan Briscoe who never looked back after that but did have to watch for Ganassi's Scott Dixon who was following him closely for the second half of the race.
That gap was reduced to almost nothing with five laps to go, when Briscoe was badly held up lapping Patrick, but the Australian was able to resist huge pressure from Dixon and claim his third win of the year.
Conquest Racing's Alex Tagliani had a great race but lost fourth to Ryan Hunter-Reay who clipped the Canadian in the first pit stop.
Justin Wilson (NHLR) was forced to start at the back following pre-race gearbox problems.
This race did not count in the championship. Scott Dixon has been declared the 2008 Champion of the series in Chicagoland, on last September 7th.
Race Results - Not in the championship:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1h45:50.3868
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 0.5019 - CHAMPION
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman + 9.1179
4. Alex Tagliani Conquest + 19.9844
5. Oriol Servia KV + 20.4376
6. EJ Viso HVM + 33.7249
7. Helio Castroneves Penske + 34.4931
8. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 55.7467
9. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1:20.0592
10. Dan Wheldon Panther + 1:31.9002
11. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1:31.9353
12. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold + 1:33.9068
13. Marco Andretti Andretti Green + 1:38.3970
14. Vitor Meira Foyt + 1 lap
15. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne + 1 lap
16. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 1 lap
17. AJ Foyt IV Vision + 2 laps
18. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 2 laps
19. Jaime Camara Conquest + 2 laps
Retirements:
Driver Team Lap
Ed Carpenter Vision 57
Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 34
Will Power KV 16
Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 8
Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 7
photo:IRL - Shawn Payne
For the third year in a row, Power's race ended abruptly when he misjudged the Turn 5/6 chicane and smashed his left-front suspension on the wall.
That open the lead for Ryan Briscoe who never looked back after that but did have to watch for Ganassi's Scott Dixon who was following him closely for the second half of the race.
That gap was reduced to almost nothing with five laps to go, when Briscoe was badly held up lapping Patrick, but the Australian was able to resist huge pressure from Dixon and claim his third win of the year.
Conquest Racing's Alex Tagliani had a great race but lost fourth to Ryan Hunter-Reay who clipped the Canadian in the first pit stop.
Justin Wilson (NHLR) was forced to start at the back following pre-race gearbox problems.
This race did not count in the championship. Scott Dixon has been declared the 2008 Champion of the series in Chicagoland, on last September 7th.
Race Results - Not in the championship:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1h45:50.3868
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 0.5019 - CHAMPION
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman + 9.1179
4. Alex Tagliani Conquest + 19.9844
5. Oriol Servia KV + 20.4376
6. EJ Viso HVM + 33.7249
7. Helio Castroneves Penske + 34.4931
8. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 55.7467
9. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1:20.0592
10. Dan Wheldon Panther + 1:31.9002
11. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1:31.9353
12. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold + 1:33.9068
13. Marco Andretti Andretti Green + 1:38.3970
14. Vitor Meira Foyt + 1 lap
15. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne + 1 lap
16. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 1 lap
17. AJ Foyt IV Vision + 2 laps
18. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 2 laps
19. Jaime Camara Conquest + 2 laps
Retirements:
Driver Team Lap
Ed Carpenter Vision 57
Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 34
Will Power KV 16
Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 8
Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 7
photo:IRL - Shawn Payne