Will Power Storms To Victory At Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Will Power has surprised many by winning the 2012 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the Barber Motorsports Park, after coming from 9th on the grid to victory in a frantic race which saw many wheel-to-wheel battles up and down the grid. Scott Dixon was able to come 2nd with Helio Castroneves holding off Graham Rahal for 3rd.

  The race had barely completed one lap before the first full course caution was caused after Alex Tagliani ground to a halt halfway around the lap. As the marshals retrieved the stricken Canadian, it was believed by the team that the issue wasn’t engine related. Either way, Tagliani failed to return to racing and became the first retirement of the day.

On lap 4, the race returned to green as Mike Conway was forced onto the dirt resulting in the Brit loosing several positions through turns’ 1 and 2. Sebastien Bourdais started the race in promising fashion as he fought his way around Rubens Barrichello, whereas rookie Simon Pagenaud passed Conway for 7th.

By lap 15, the first pit-stops began as Oriol Servia peeled off into the pits. He was then followed three laps later by reigning Series Champion Dario Franchitti, who was struggling down in 17th position. Ryan Hunter-Reay, J.R. Hildebrand and Ryan Briscoe all pitted in quick succession. Out on the track Marco Andretti was locked in a grueling battle for 16th with Takuma Sato, with the American eventually passing the Japanese driver.

Marco Andretti then set his sights on E.J. Viso, with the two lightly coming together as they battled for 15th. Once again Andretti came out on top and passed the Venezuelan several laps later. Will Power came into the pits on lap 22, taking brand new sticker reds in exchange for his worn black tyres.

On lap 25, Helio Castroneves finally pitted from the lead for scuffed black tyres. Simon Pagenaud momentarily stalled as he pitted, throwing away valuable seconds after an extremely strong first stint. James Hinchcliffe then assumed the lead, until he was forced to pit along with 2nd place driver Scott Dixon on lap 27. Hinchcliffe suffered a disastrous pit-stop, as his mechanics struggled with the left-rear. This awarded track position to Scott Dixon, whose mechanics completed a stunning pit-stop which even gave the Kiwi track position over Helio Castroneves.

As Castroneves, Hinchcliffe and Dixon battled for track position during their pit-stops, Graham Rahal sneaked through into the lead. This came to an end as the American driver pitted on lap 28, gifting the lead of the race to Scott Dixon. Further down the order Will Power continued a strong afternoon’s racing as he passed Tony Kanaan for 5th.

Charlie Kimball had a dodgy moment on lap 40, running extremely wide and into the gravel as he battled for track position. He lucky to keep the car going as he eventually rejoined the track. 

As the race wore on, the second series of pit-stops began to take place as Will Power pitted on lap 42, who was subsequently followed by many other drivers’ on the same lap. Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered a disastrous pit-stop on lap 43 as he stalled his car, making is afternoon’s work all the more difficult as he eventually rejoined the race.

On lap 48, Charlie Kimball became the second retirement of the race as he peeled off the track with what looked like mechanical issues. Scott Dixon pitted on lap 49 and suffered a slow stop, as his mechanics were slow with the right-rear, a recurring issue for many teams up and down the paddock.

As the battles’ for position on the track increased, Takuma Sato became the third retirement as he suffered a mechanical issue on lap 54. This caused only a local caution as the race remained under green flag conditions. Tony Kanaan was forced to pit on lap 59, the team reporting a rear shock issue on the car. The Brazilian was left stranded in the pits as his mechanics began work on the car.

British driver Justin Wilson suffered a torrid race, which included a spin. He was able to rejoin the track, albeit after loosing several places. Debris was then spotted on the track, the culprit being rookie Josef Newgarden who made contact with the rear of Ed Carpenter. 

A second full course caution was caused late on in the race as Katherine Legge spun and embedded her car into the gravel. Just before this occurred, Scott Dixon suffered another disastrously slow pit-stop, awarding the lead to Will Power. As the race returned to green, Dixon momentarily got his nose ahead of Power, but the Aussie had the racing line and retained the lead.

On the closing laps Sebastien Bourdais continued a highly successful race passing J.R. Hildebrand and Marco Andretti, however at the sharp end of the field Will Power crossed the line to win his first race of 2012, followed home by Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves. 

There is now a two week gap before the IZOD IndyCar Series rolls up at the famous Long Beach street course for the 38th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Results - 90 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Car Gap
 1.  Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevrolet
 2.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda            + 3.3709s
 3.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevrolet         + 19.1150s
 4.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda            + 19.3395s
 5.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt-Hamilton DW12-Honda   + 20.1050s
 6.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       + 23.3093s
 7.  Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda               + 24.5552s
 8.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevrolet             + 25.4023s
 9.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon DW12-Lotus             + 27.1815s
10.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda            + 32.7377s
11.  Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       + 33.5038s
12.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       + 35.8730s
13.  Oriol Servia         Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus  + 37.8944s
14.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevrolet         + 41.6742s
15.  JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevrolet        + 44.5059s
16.  James Jakes          Coyne DW12-Honda              + 54.5343s
17.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher DW12-Honda             + 1m00.6182s
18.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevrolet             + 1 lap
19.  Justin Wilson        Coyne DW12-Honda              + 1 lap
20.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus                + 1 lap
21.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevrolet             + 1 lap
22.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet      + 2 laps
23.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Lotus             + 5 laps

Did not finish:

     Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda              52 laps
     Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda            45 laps
     Alex Tagliani        BHA DW12-Lotus                0 laps

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