After sweeping to the PEAK Performance Pole for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy, Will Power was emphatic that this was a race he wanted to win ... badly.
Power, who also started on the pole in the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series race on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park course, finished fourth last April. It cost him points in the championship race over the course of the 17-event season, and he believed he let it slip away.
So the Aussie put an exclamation point on the picture-perfect spring weekend with a wire-to-wire victory. Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon was runner-up for the second year in a row and reigning series champion Dario Franchitti was third.
Marco Andretti, who wound up upside down on the first lap of the season opener two weeks earlier, finished fourth for Andretti Autosport and Oriol Servia continued to impress with a fifth place for Newman/Haas Racing.
Tony Kanaan advanced 18 positions to finish sixth and Helio Castroneves, the 2010 race winner, was seventh. Simon Pagenaud, who was filling in for the injured Ana Beatriz (broken wrist) came in eighth after starting 23rd. Simona de Silvestro earned her second consecutive top 10, while rookie Charlie Kimball recorded his first top-10 finish.
Results Sunday of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
2. (3) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
3. (7) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
4. (9) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
5. (6) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
6. (24) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
7. (4) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
8. (23) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
9. (13) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
10. (21) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
11. (20) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
12. (19) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
13. (15) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
14. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
15. (12) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
16. (11) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
17. (22) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 89, Running
18. (10) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 88, Running
19. (5) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 62, Contact
20. (14) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 62, Contact
21. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 57, Contact
22. (16) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 45, Contact
23. (18) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 40, Contact
24. (8) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 40, Contact
25. (25) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 30, Mechanical
26. (26) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 27, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 92.194
Time of Race: 2:14:42.9523
Margin of victory: 3.3828 seconds
Cautions: 6 for 20 laps
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Power 1-90
Point Standings: Power 94,Franchitti 87, Kanaan 63, Dixon 54, De Silvestro 54, Servia 52, Andretti 44, Sato 44, Tagliani 43, Meira 42.
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