  July 4, 2010 |
|
IndyCar Series
Round 09: Watkins Glen |
Power Rockets to Watkins Glen Victory |
Qualifying >> |
Pole qualifier Will Power was not to be denied in search of his third IZOD IndyCar Series win of 2010. Starting from the pole, Power swept past teammate Ryan Briscoe on the 44th lap of Sunday’s Camping World GP at ‘The Glen’ heading a 1-2 finish for Team Penske on a sunny and hot Independence Day, the first major race victory for the Penske organization at the historic 3.77-mile Watkins Glen International Raceway.
 |
 |
 |
Will Power(Team Penske) |
|
Ryan Briscoe(Team Penske) |
In all, Power led 45 of the 60 laps in today’s contest, as he extended his drivers’ championship lead to 32
points over defending series champion Dario Franchitti. For his part, Franchitti led one lap during an
exchange of pit stops, but spent most of the day chasing the two leading Penske drivers. He moved up to
second, ahead of Briscoe, following the last round of pit stops on Lap 41, but then surrendered the
position following a momentary slide off the edge of the circuit on the penultimate lap. Franchitti then
recovered to bring his Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda home third.
For the ninth consecutive race weekend in 2010, all 25 drivers completed the event without a single
failure for the Honda Indy V-8 engine. This weekend, drivers and teams logged a total of 9,911 troublefree
miles around the classic road-racing circuit.
Just six seconds behind the lead trio at the checkers, Raphael Matos equaled his best result of 2010 with
a fourth-place run for de Ferran Dragon Racing. Another Brazilian, Mario Moraes, had his strongest
outing of 2010 with a fifth-place finish for KV Racing Technology.
Both of Moraes’ teammates also featured in today’s race, with former Formula One racer Takuma Sato
battling over fourth place with 2009 race winner Justin Wilson in the early laps, before a late pit stop
dropped him to 15th; while E.J. Viso rebounded from a crash in practice on Saturday to finish 11th after
starting last in the field.
Another driver to recover from adversity, Panther Racing’s Dan Wheldon, spun after contact from Alex
Lloyd early in the race, but drove through the field to finish sixth, his best result since finishing second at
the Indianapolis 500 in May.
In two weeks, the IZOD IndyCar Series continues this season’s second run of road-racing events with the
July 18 Honda Indy Toronto, run on the temporary street circuit set up at Exhibition Place on the
downtown Toronto waterfront.
 |
|
 |
Dario Franchitti(Target Chip Ganassi) |
|
Hideki Mutoh(Newman Haas Racing) |
Will Power (#12 Team Penske Honda) started 1st, finished 1st, his 3rd IZOD IndyCar Series win of
2010 and 4th career win; 1st major race victory for Team Penske at Watkins Glen International
Raceway:
“We were a bit close on fuel towards the end of the race, but it was under control, my team
was giving me the [fuel mileage] numbers I needed to hit and I was making them. I knew the [final] restart
was my only chance to pass [teammate Ryan Briscoe], so I hit the ‘push to pass’ coming up the back
straight and just went for it. I just wanted to win so bad, it’s been too long between victories.” [Power’s
more recent win prior to today’s race was at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg].
Dario Franchitti (#10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) started 4th, finished 3rd:
“The Firestone tires
we had today were great, but you can only push the best tires so far, and I think I pushed them a bit too
far today. I understeered off the track [at Turn 10] in the closing laps, and Ryan [Briscoe] made a great
move and was able to take advantage and get around me for second. But it was a fun race, as it always
is at The Glen. Very physical, but the challenge is part of what makes it so enjoyable.”
Roger Griffiths (Technical Director, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race:
“Congratulations to Team Penske on their first IndyCar Series win at Watkins Glen. Today’s race was a
demanding event run under hot conditions, and Will Power had the near perfect day he needed for the
victory. It also was encouraging to see strong performances from both de Ferran Dragon Racing, with
fourth for Raphael Matos, and the fifth-place run from Mario Moraes at KV Racing Technology. It was
another trouble-free weekend for Honda, and we’re looking forward to our annual trip north of the border
to Toronto and Edmonton.”
|
IndyCar Series
Round 09: Watkins Glen
 |
|
 |
| 1 |
|
Will Power(Team Penske) |
|
| 2 |
|
Ryan Briscoe(Team Penske) |
|
| 3 |
|
Dario Franchitti(Target Chip Ganassi) |
|
| 4 |
|
Raphael Matos(De Ferran/Dragon Racing) |
|
| 5 |
|
Mario Moraes(KV Racing Technology) |
|
| 6 |
|
Dan Wheldon(Panther Racing) |
|
| 7 |
|
Ryan Hunter-Reay(Andretti Autosport) |
|
| 8 |
|
Scott Dixon(Target Chip Ganassi) |
|
| 9 |
|
Helio Castroneves(Team Penske) |
|
| 10 |
|
Justin Wilson(Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) |
|
| 11 |
|
E.J. Viso(KV Racing Technology) |
|
| 12 |
|
Hideki Mutoh(Newman Haas Racing) |
|
| 13 |
|
Marco Andretti(Andretti Autosport) |
|
| 14 |
|
Paul Tracy(Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) |
|
| 15 |
|
Takuma Sato-R(KV Racing Technology) |
|
| 16 |
|
Adam Carroll(Andretti Autosport) |
|
| 17 |
|
Alex Tagliani(FAZZT Racing) |
|
| 18 |
|
Bertrand Baguette-R(Conquest Racing) |
|
| 19 |
|
Vitor Meira(A.J. Foyt Racing) |
|
| 20 |
|
Danica Patrick(Andretti Autosport) |
|
| 21 |
|
Tony Kanaan(Andretti Autosport) |
|
| 22 |
|
Mario Romancini-R(Conquest Racing) |
|
| 23 |
|
Milka Duno(Dale Coyne Racing) |
|
| 24 |
|
Simona de Silvestro-R(HVM Racing) |
|
| 25 |
|
Alex Lloyd-R(Dale Coyne Racing) |
|
|
Will Power(Team Penske) & Ryan Briscoe(Team Penske) & Dario Franchitti(Target Chip Ganassi) |
 |
|
Related Links
|
|
