Race Report on the IndyCar Series at Phoenix
source: Max d'Orsonnens
Under
the circumstances, Patrick Carpentier drove a tremendous race to finish ninth in
Round Two of the Indy Racing League IndyCar® Series held Saturday on the
one-mile Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona. The Red Bull Cheever Racing
driver had to overcome the physical pain caused by his crash on Friday to finish
the 200-lap race only one lap behind the winner.
During the second practice session on Friday afternoon, Carpentier's Dallara-Toyota
hit the wall in Turn 2 promopting the Canadian driver to visit the local
hospital to ensure he had no broken ribs. He missed qualifying and started from
20th place on the grid with the back-up car. His crew worked out a well-planned
race strategy that enabled him to cross the finish line one lap ahead of his
teammate Alex Barron who ended up 13th overall.
''After what happened to me Friday, I have to be happy with the outcome of the
race'', Carpentier said. ''I was so down following the crash but the team came
through with a back-up car that was similar to the one I crashed. We did not
have the best car out there, but the since I could not battle with the leaders,
the team decided to run a fuel strategy race that paid off. I was able to erase
a lap deficit near the end of the race to finish only one lap down on the
winner. The engineers learned a lot this weekend and improved the car quite a
bit, but there we are still a long way from being front runners. We are supposed
to get the new Toyota engines for the next race at St. Petersburg. This should
erase some of the power gap we have with the fast cars.''
The XM Satellite Radio INDY 200 race was won by Sam Hornish Jr. The American
driver took the lead with 10 laps to go, following the final round of pit stops
to cross the finish line one second ahead of his teammate Helio Castroneves. The
results provided the first one-two finish of the 2005 season for the Dallara-Toyotas
of Team Penske. There was plenty of action in the leader's pack with more than
nine lead changes among five drivers, but Hornish came through at the end.
Brazilian Tony Kanaan ran a brilliant race to take his Dallara-Honda to third
place overall. The Andretti-Green driver also missed qualifying due to
mechanical problems, and had to start the race from 21st on the grid. The
defending series and two times defending race champion was magnificent on the
first lap, passing close to 12 cars before settling in. Unfortunately, an extra
pit stop probably cost him the race. His teammate Dario Franchitti finished
fourth. The Scott was running second when the race was relaunched on lap 190.
But his eagerness to win the race cost him as he caught dirty air when he closed
in on the leader Hornish. Scott Sharp of the United States finished fifth, the
last driver on the lead lap.