Ryan Briscoe Replaces Outbound JR Hildebrand At Panther Racing

It has been confirmed that Ryan Briscoe will replace JR Hildebrand at Panther Racing for this weekend’s Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit, following the 25-year-old American’s contract termination with the Indianapolis-based outfit. Ryan Briscoe finished 12th last weekend in the Indianapolis 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Since storming to Championship success in the Firestone Indy Lights Series back in 2009 with AFS Racing, JR Hildebrand has enjoyed a relatively successful career in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Panther Racing. However, after only five races this season, the Californian-born 25-year-old has had his contract terminated with Panther Racing. For this weekend’s dual races in Detroit, the outfit has appointed Ryan Briscoe as Hildebrand’s replacement, however a full-time replacement has yet to be confirmed.

JR Hildebrand began his IZOD IndyCar career in 2010.

“I want to thank Panther Racing for the opportunity to drive the No. 4 National Guard Chevrolet,” explained JR Hildebrand in a statement. “It was a privilege to represent our men and women in uniform, along with the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe and the team’s veteran employment initiatives. I’m very much looking forward to the next chapter in my IndyCar career.”

After numerous Formula 1 tests with Toyota in 2003 and 2004, Ryan Briscoe made his debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2005. During his debut season, Briscoe was involved in a horrific incident at Chicagoland where he was launched into the catch-fencing. Despite being injured during the incident, the Australian driver made a full recovery and joined Dreyer & Reinbold racing the following season. After a season in the American Le Mans Series with Penske, Briscoe returned to IndyCar in 2008 with Team Penske.

Towards the end of the 2012 season it became apparent that Ryan Briscoe’s drive at Team Penske was under threat, and the Australian driver left the outfit after finishing 6th in the Drivers’ Championship with 370 points. Ryan Briscoe returned to the IZOD IndyCar Series last weekend for the Indianapolis 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing, and is understandably thrilled to be preparing to compete once again this weekend in Detroit.

“I’m unbelievably excited to be back in the IndyCar Series with Panther Racing and to have the opportunity to drive the National Guard Chevrolet this weekend,” enthused Ryan Briscoe. “I’ve competed against this team for a long time and it will be great to have the opportunity to work with John Barnes and the Panther guys. I’m confident we’ll all work well together and be able to hit the ground running this weekend in Detroit.”

Last season Ryan Briscoe finished 16th around the Belle Isle street circuit for Team Penske, a season when the Sydney-born 31-year-old only won one race at Sonoma. With a full-time replacement currently unconfirmed by Panther Racing, Ryan Briscoe will be out to impress this weekend in a bid prolong his time with the Indianapolis-based outfit.

Picture(s) Copyright © Jim Haines & Chris Jones/IndyCar

Ryan Briscoe Fastest After Opening Practice At Fontana

Ryan Briscoe has ended the opening practice session for this weekend’s MAVTV IndyCar World Championships at the Auto Club Speedway fastest, after the first 90-minutes of track action ahead of qualifying for tomorrow’s IndyCar finale. The Australian driver was followed home by Carpenter in 2nd and Franchitti in 3rd.

In sweltering Californian conditions, Ed Carpenter set the initial pace once the session got underway. However, the Penske of Ryan Briscoe soon rose to the top of the timing sheets within the first 30 minutes. The session was momentarily halted in the early stages due to two track inspections, before Simona de Silvestro caused a third caution as her Lotus-powered HVM Racing car suffered an engine related issue. Justin Wilson was the only driver during the session to make contact with the wall, after the 34-year-old Briton spun whilst negotiating turn 2.

Ryan Briscoe remained fastest as the session progressed, and was eventually followed by Ed Carpenter and reigning Series Champion Dario Franchitti as the session came to a conclusion. Championship contenders Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay ended the session 4th and 16th respectively, with the latter suffering a highly uncompetitive opening session.

The teams and drivers will now be frantically preparing for the qualifying session which is scheduled to take place later today, before a final practice session after qualifying.

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Ryan Briscoe Takes Surprise Victory At Sonoma

Ryan Briscoe has taken his first victory of the season in a surprise twist during the closing stages of the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, leading home a Penske 1-2 finish ahead of Championship leader Will Power. Reigning Series Champion Dario Franchitti came home 3rd, only just behind the Penske of Power.

Will Power continued his IndyCar dominance as the race got underway, with the Australian driver opening up a considerable lead at the front. One of Power’s many Championship rivals, Scott Dixon, was dealt a huge blow on the opening lap as the Kiwi came together with the Penske of Helio Castroneves, who is also a Championship contender. This subsequently saw Castroneves issued with a drive-thru penalty, thus ruining his race early on.

Takuma Sato became the first retirement of the race, pulling off the track and coming to a halt due to an engine related issue on his car. Whilst many drivers continued to jostle for position throughout the field, further ahead saw Will Power in total control of the proceedings. With the top three very evenly spread out at the front, action on track was difficult to find throughout the opening few laps.

By lap 14, the first scheduled pit stops where carried out as Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Oriol Servia entered the pits for fresh rubber. Power made his first pit stop on lap 19, thus handing the lead of the race to team-mate Briscoe. However, the Penske driver only led for one lap, before he too entered the pits for his first scheduled stop. This enabled Alex Tagliani to take the lead, as Bourdais and Franchitti also pitted.

Championship contender Ryan Hunter-Reay assumed the lead once Tagliani made is stop, before Hunter-Reay also pitted thus completing the cycle and handing the lead back to the Penske of Power. James Hinchcliffe became the next retirement of the race, after the Canadian driver was tipped into a spin by Oriol Servia. This created a suspected loss of oil pressure on Hinchcliffe’s car, and saw the Andretti Autosport driver limp back to the pits to eventually retire. Sebastian Saavedra was then issued a drive-thru penalty for speeding in the pits, with the Firestone Indy Lights star showing potential in only his second IndyCar appearance.

Whilst the action occurred throughout the pack, race leader Will Power returned to the pits for his second stop. This once again handed the lead down to Briscoe, before the Australian driver also pitted several laps later and handed the lead back to Power. Dixon’s race suffered another blow on lap 45, as the Ganassi driver miscalculated an overtake on Hunter-Reay as the pair negotiated turn 9 and damaged his front wing. Marco Andretti and Katherine Legge became the latest retirees as the race progressed, both suffering from mechanical issues on their cars.

Scott Dixon finally pitted for a new nose cone on lap 58, but was then issue a drive-thru penalty for running over a piece of pit equipment upon exiting his pit box. This added yet another blow to the Kiwi’s disastrous race, as other drivers up and down the field began to make their third pit stops of the race.

On lap 64, the race was turned upside down as Power entered the pits for his third and final scheduled pit stop of the race. The stop in question didn’t run as smoothly as usual, as team-mate Briscoe once again assumed the lead. Whilst the leaders pitted for the final time, Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden brought out the first full course caution since Toronto back in July, after a violent incident through turn 8.

After making his third pit stop only moments earlier, Bourdais ran wide on the exit of turn 8 and upon rejoining the track collected Newgarden. This smashed Newgarden violently in the wall, destroying his car, the tyre wall and the retaining concrete wall due to the high speed nature of the impact. As the field slowed due to safety car conditions, Power lost out as the Championship leader was left stuck in traffic. This enabled Briscoe to make his final stop under caution, and return to the track still leading the race.

The race returned to green flag conditions on lap 74, as Briscoe defended his lead from team-mate Power throughout the first few corners. However, the race once again returned to safety conditions, as Alex Tagliani tipped Championship contender Ryan Hunter-Reay into a spin as the field negotiated the tight apex of the revised turn 7. The Andretti Autosport driver was unable to continue racing, after stalling his car. Tagliani was naturally issued a drive-thru penalty, with Hunter-Reay understandably furious with the Canadian.

As the race once again returned to green flag conditions on lap 77, the same incident was ironically caused by Ryan Hunter-Reay as he tipped EJ Viso into a spin. The race stewards then issued Hunter-Reay a drive through penalty for the incident, ruining his race further. Luckily for Viso he was able to continue racing, albeit further down the order.

With the race back under green flag conditions, Power was unable to find a way around Briscoe as the race drew to a conclusion. The Championship leader allegedly suffered an issue with his push-to-pass device, thus enabling Franchitti to pressurize the Penske driver in the closing stages.

However, it was Ryan Briscoe who crossed the line after 85 laps to take his first victor since Texas back in 2010. With the Australian driver still without a drive for next season, the victory will be most welcome for the 30 year-old. Although Will Power failed to take his hat-trick of victories around the Sonoma Raceway, he was still able to extend his lead atop the Drivers’ Championship mainly thanks to the misfortune of others. The IZOD IndyCar circus now heads to the streets of Baltimore, for the penultimate round of 2012 season.

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