Power scores slashing Indy road course victory

Will Power ignited his IndyCar series claims by becoming the fifth different winner in as many races with a sublime performance in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Controlling the 82-lap race from pole position, Power was able to put together the perfect race as he surged back into calculations in defence of his maiden series title last year.

After leading 65 laps on the 3.9km circuit, Power guided his Penske Chevrolet to a 1.5s win over a resurgent Graham Rahal who emerged as the surprise contender from the Honda-powered brigade.

Rahal’s result was helped when he leap-frogged Simon Pagenaud in the first round of scheduled pit stops to move into second place.

Series leader Juan Montoya withstood a late charge from Sebastien Bourdais to finish third.

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The top 10 were completed by Charlie Kimball in fifth, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Stefano Coletti, Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon.

Despite his seemingly invincible position, Power was told to conserve fuel during his last stint.

“That’s the most physical race I think I’ve ever done. It just didn’t stop,” Power said.

“I’m pretty happy for the Verizon guys, it’s pretty special to win here.”

The race began under controversial circumstances as the field swept into turn 1 with Castroneves tapping Dixon’s Ganassi machine which triggered a multiple car melee.

Castroneves made a good fist of the recovery to return deep into the top 10, although the Team Penske veteran has now lost valuable ground to Montoya in the points race.

The Brazilian has slipped to third with Power shooting from fifth to second, only five points adrift of Montoya heading into the Indianapolis 500 in two weeks.

Pagenaud was a non-finisher after his team told him to switch to emergency mode on his ECU (Engine Control Unit).

He ultimately rolled into the pits with terminal problems on lap 25 which has seen him slip to 10th in the points standings.

See below for full results

Pos.	Car #	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Running / Reason Out
1	1	Will Power	Chevrolet	82	Running
2	15	Graham Rahal	Honda	82	Running
3	2	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	82	Running
4	11	Sebastien Bourdais	Chevrolet	82	Running
5	83	Charlie Kimball	Chevrolet	82	Running
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Chevrolet	82	Running
7	10	Tony Kanaan	Chevrolet	82	Running
8	4	Stefano Coletti (R)	Chevrolet	82	Running
9	14	Takuma Sato	Honda	82	Running
10	9	Scott Dixon	Chevrolet	82	Running
11	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Honda	82	Running
12	5	James Hinchcliffe	Honda	82	Running
13	26	Carlos Munoz	Honda	82	Running
14	20	Luca Filippi	Chevrolet	82	Running
15	98	Gabby Chaves (R)	Honda	82	Running
16	27	Marco Andretti	Honda	82	Running
17	8	Sebastian Saavedra	Chevrolet	82	Running
18	7	James Jakes	Honda	81	Running
19	18	Carlos Huertas	Honda	81	Running
20	21	Josef Newgarden	Chevrolet	81	Running
21	6	JR Hildebrand	Chevrolet	81	Running
22	19	Francesco Dracone (R)	Honda	80	Running
23	41	Jack Hawksworth	Honda	69	Running
24	25	Justin Wilson	Honda	68	Mechanical
25	22	Simon Pagenuad	Chevrolet	57	Mechanical

Points standings

1	Juan Pablo Montoya	171
2	Will Power	166
3	Hélio Castroneves	161
4	Scott Dixon	144
5	Graham Rahal	144
6	Tony Kanaan	136
7	Josef Newgarden	129
8	James Hinchcliffe	129
9	Sébastien Bourdais	123
10	Simon Pagenaud	101
11	Carlos Muñoz	101
12	Ryan Hunter-Reay	100
13	Marco Andretti	95
14	Charlie Kimball	89
15	Luca Filippi	85
16	James Jakes	75
17	Takuma Sato	72
18	Gabby Chaves	71
19	Stefano Coletti	65
20	Jack Hawksworth	64
21	Simona de Silvestro	44
22	Francesco Dracone	38
23	Sage Karam	35
24	Sebastian Saavedra	33
25	Carlos Huertas	31
26	Conor Daly	13
27	Rodolfo González	10
28	J.R. Hildebrand	9
29	Justin Wilson	6