Single seat

Will Power wins the Indianapolis 500

Will Power breaks the curse that pursued him at the Indy 500 by easily winning ahead of Ed Carpenter and Scott Dixon. Simon Pagenaud finished sixth.

Published on 27/05/2018 à 21:38

Pierre Tassel

0 View comments)

Will Power wins the Indianapolis 500

Glory day for Australia in motorsport. A few hours after the victory of Daniel Ricciardo at the Monaco Grand Prix, Will Power (Team Penske – Chevrolet) achieves his first success at the Indianapolis 500 after a solid race from the Australian, always placed in the leading pack from the start.

The start of the event was dominated by pole sitter Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet), author of the best start to the green flag. The first quarter of the race took place without any major problems, with Carpenter regularly at the front before the first neutralization caused on the 48th lap.

Slowing down for several seconds, James Davison (AJ Foyt with Byrd – Chevrolet) surprises Takuma Sato (RLL – Honda), winner of the 2017 edition, who cannot avoid the car from the Australian. After the restart, it was Ed Jones (Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda) who crashed into the wall on the 55th lap before, for the last race of his career, Danica Patrick (Ed Carpenter Racing) hit the outside wall on the turn n°4.

 

 

Power was the strongest

The race will then stabilize with a long green flag period and still a trio composed of Ed Carpenter, Will Power and simon pagenaud (Team Penske), in control of the race, Tony Kanaan (AJ Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet) having lost contact following a puncture.

On the 138th lap, a new yellow flag was displayed with the accident of Sébastien Bourdais (Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser / Sullivan – Honda). Visibly winded when returning to Alexander Red (Andretri Autosport – Honda), the four-time Champ Car champion loses control and hits the outside wall. More fear than harm for the Frenchman, examined and released from the medical center immediately.

 

 

In the 145th round, another favorite is eliminated with Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) also victim of turn n°4. Just after the restart, Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing – Chevrolet) also had to retire after an accident at the start of the main straight.

 

 

It was Will Power who then led the peloton at the restart ahead of Ed Carpenter, Alexander Rossi, who had come back well from his 32nd place on the grid, Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport – Honda).

Less than 30 laps from the goal, Will Power initiates the last burst of stops, followed by Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Carpenter, Rossi. Pagenaud is the last of the leading group to return to the pit lane with 24 laps to go. Oriol Servia (Team Corsa with RLL – Honda) then took control of the event, the Spaniard being on an offbeat strategy.

However, a final neutralization occurred on the 189th lap, caused by Tony Kanaan. At the restart, Stefan Wilson (Andretti Autosport) and Jack Harvey (Meyer Shank Racing with Schmidt Peterson – Honda) got the better of Servia but could not avoid a fuel supplement on the 197th lap, leaving Will Power to race to victory.

The Australian, 2014 champion, won for the first time at the Indy 500 ahead of Ed Carpenter and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing). Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay complete the top 5 ahead of Simon Pagenaud, who achieved the best result by a Frenchman in the event since the 20s.

 

 

Race ranking

Discover the full report of the Indianapolis 500, produced by our special correspondent in the United States, in issue 2167 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.

0 View comments)

Read also

Comments

*The space reserved for logged in users. Please connect to be able to respond or post a comment!

0 Comment (s)

To write a comment