Indy 500: Wheldon in the final meters

Dario Franchitti, two-time Indy 500 winner and solid leader, who lost control of the race when he made his last pit-stop. Graham Rahal, son of a former winner, who then takes the lead before Scott Dixon steals it from him. Danica Patrick who takes advantage of the New Zealander's supply to inherit the role of leader. Then, it was the Belgian Bertrand Baguette who went on the attack and took command, hoping for a neutralization to reach the finish without having to add a few liters of ethanol. In vain. He too must return to the pit lane three laps from the checkered flag.

In the end, it was the young beginner JR Hildebrand who regained the lead of the race. We then believe the young American is capable of making history by winning the Indy 500 on his first participation. But, as he approaches the final straight, he crashes into the wall and passes under the checkered flag on his momentum in 2nd position. Meanwhile, Englishman Dan Wheldon crossed the finish line first. The driver of the Brain Herta Autosport team, who was making his first race of the season, won at Indianapolis for the second time in his career after a first success in 2005.

The centenary edition ultimately did not please the favorites. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, the two drivers from the Chip Ganassia Racing team, who had led alternately during a large part of the event, finished in 6th and 12th place respectively. Against performance also from the Penske Racing team which has 15 victories at the Indy 500 and whose three drivers, Will Power (championship leader), Helio Castroneves (three-time Indy 500 winner) ranked 14th and 17th, while Ryan Briscoe ended his race in the wall after being hooked by Townsend Bell…

Find the Indy 500 report in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, on sale from Wednesday.

Rankings:

1. Dan Wheldon (Herta)
2. JR Hildebrand (Panther) + 2.1086s
3. Graham Rahal (Ganassi) + 5.5949s
4. Tony Kanaan (KV) +7.4870s
5. Oriol Servia (Newman/Haas) + 8.8757s
6. Scott Dixon (Ganassi) + 9.5434s
7. Bertrand Baguette (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) + 23.9631s
8. Tomas Scheckter (KV/SH) + 24.3299s
9. Marco Andretti (Andretti) + 25.4711s
10. Danica Patrick (Andretti) + 26.4483s
11. Ed Carpenter (Sarah Fisher) + 27.0375s
12. Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) + 56.4167s
13. Charlie Kimball (Ganassi) + 1 round
14. Will Power (Penske) + 1 round
15. Vitor Meira (Foyt) + 1 round
16. Justin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold) + 1 round
17. Helio Castroneves (Penske) + 1 round
18. Buddy Rice (Panther) + 2 rounds
19. Alex Lloyd (Dale Coyne) + 2 rounds
20. Pippa Mann (Conquest) + 2 rounds
21. Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold) + 3 rounds
22. John Andretti (Petty/Andretti) + 3 laps
23. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Foyt) + 3 rounds
24. David Hamilton (Dreyer & Reinbold) + 7 rounds
25. Paul Tracy (Dreyer & Reinbold) + 25 laps

Give up:
Townsend Bell (Sam Schmidt) 157 rounds
Ryan Briscoe (Penske) 157 laps
Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt) 147 laps
James Hinchcliffe (Newman/Haas) 99 laps
Jay Howard (Rahal/Schmidt) 60 laps
Simona de Silvestro (HVM) 44 rpm
EJ Viso (KV) 27 rounds
Takuma Sato (KV) 20 rounds