Indycar – Ryan Briscoe beats Power at Sonoma

Will Power could have grabbed another victory in Sonoma but success ultimately went to his teammate Ryan Briscoe who implemented a better strategy to take the advantage. The Championship leader was slowed down by traffic which had reduced his pace following the accident (video on this link) involving Sébastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing) and Josef Newgarden (Fisher Racing). His compatriot, who had stopped in the pits a lap later, was able to take the lead of the race. The fight was close between the two residents of Team Penske but the driver of the DW n°2 was finally able to cross the finish line in first position.

The second Australian thus finished in second place less than a second behind his teammate while his old rival Dario Franchitti (Chip Ganassi Racing) completed the top three ahead of Rubens Barrichello (KV Racing), Graham Rahal (Chip Ganassi Racing) and Helio Castroneves (Team Penske). If Sébastien Bourdais' accident prevented the Frenchman from achieving a good result, his compatriot simon pagenaud secured a satisfactory seventh place. Will Power missed victory by only four tenths, but the result is still interesting since his rivals for the title missed the Sonoma meeting. Ryan Hunter-Reay lost ground at the head of the Championship following several collisions which caused him to finish in a distant 18th position. Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) only ranks 13th. The driver of the #12 DW now has a 36-point lead with two races remaining in the season.

Discover the report of theIndycar in Sonoma in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.