Power caps comeback with Brazil win

Australia’s Will Power has guided his Verizon Team Penske machine to victory in the opening race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil today.

The win came on Power’s race return after injuring his back in a horrifying smash in Sonoma, California in August last season and also confirmed his status as arguably the IndyCar Series’ premier street fighter.

In his second win for team boss Roger Penske – his first came in Edmonton, Canada last season – Power avoided the carnage to begin the 2010 season in the best possible fashion. It was Penske’s 36^th Indy Racing League-sanctioned win.

The first event for the brand new Sao Paulo street circuit, Power admitted that the race was a chaotic one, even from his vantage point.

“It was probably the most mixed up race that I have ever been in, but it created an opportunity for me to come back through the field and end up winning the race,” said Power.

The race was red-flagged for 36 minutes after a thunderstorm swept over the Anhembi section of the city, and it became a timed race. It was also the first time that an IZOD IndyCar Series event held qualifying and race on the same day.

Dario Franchitti won pole earlier in the day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, but in a chaotic first corner clash, Takuma Sato (KV Racing Technology), Helio Castroneves (Team Penske), Mario Moraes (KV Racing Technology), Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosports) and Franchitti’s team-mate Scott Dixon were all involved in a spectacular shunt.

The mid-race downpour came just as Power and countryman Ryan Briscoe fought for the lead, along with Andretti Autosports driver Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Unfortunately for Briscoe, he would crash out of contention on the wet circuit, leaving Power to contend with Hunter-Reay and ultimately take the win. Briscoe recovered to finish 14^th.

Power said that the overnight grinding of the front straight helped the drivers during today’s race.

“The improvements that they did to the track last night, were like night and day,” said Power.

“There was not a problem at all going down the front straight. I think it is just a really good day for racing. If you were fast you could pass, because there is such a good track layout here. I’m pretty sure it was an exciting race for the fans.”

2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Points Standings – After Race 1: Power 50, Hunter-Reay 40, Meira 35, Matos 32, Wheldon 30, Franchitti 29, Dixon 28, Conway 24, Castroneves 22, Kanaan 20.

RESULTS: Sao Paulo Indy 300 (61 laps)

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps
1.	Will Power	Team Penske	61
2.	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosports	61
3.	Vitor Meira	AJ Foyt Enterprises	61
4.	Raphael Matos	de Ferren Luzco Dragon Racing	61
5.	Dan Wheldon	Panther Racing	61
6.	Scott Dixon	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	61
7.	Dario Franchitti	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	61
8.	Mike Conway	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	61
9.	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	61
10.	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Autosports	61
11.	Justin Wilson	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	61
12.	EJ Viso	KV Racing Technology	61
13.	Ana Beatriz	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	61
14.	Ryan Briscoe	Team Penske	61
15.	Danica Patrick	Andretti Autosports	60
16.	Simona De Silvestro	HVM Racing	58
17.	Mario Romancini	Conquest Racing	46 – Contact
18.	Alex Lloyd	Dale Coyne Racing	30 – Contact
19.	Alex Tagliani	FAZZT Race Team	28 – Contact
20.	Hideki Mutoh	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	27 – Contact
21.	Milka Duno	Dale Coyne Racing	20 – Contact
22.	Takuma Sato	KV Racing Technology	0 – Contact
23.	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosports	0 – Contact
24.	Mario Moraes	KV Racing Technology	0 – Contact