Alex Rossi wins Indy 500 on fumes

Rookie Alex Rossi turned giant-killer when his team danced with the devil on fuel strategy to win the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The dumped F1 driver had less than a lap of ethanol left in the tank of his Andretti-Herta Honda to take the chequered flag after 200 laps.

Rossi had been supplied with a rapid machine all race, recording the fastest race lap of 225.28 mph (362.55 km/h) before he snatched the lead with three laps remaining.

After trying to watch the Indy 500 last year while in Monaco, Rossi admitted he had been scratching around for a drive 12 months ago for 2016.

The Californian prevailed over Andretti Autosport’s Carlos Munoz with Josef Newgarden (Ed Carpenter Racing) third.

“I was spluttering coming out of four (Turn 4) and it was close,” Rossi said.

“I was really focussed on taking it one lap at a time. The emotions that you go through in this race is ridiculous.

“One minute you are stoked, the next minute your not, then your stoked (again) and then you are not. I was thinking I was going to have to see a psychiatrist.”

The 24-year-old is the first rookie to lift the Borg-Warner trophy and swig the traditional milk since Helio Castroneves won in 2001.

Tony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing) was looking a solid chance of taking a second Indy 500 victory but was one of several drivers forced to pit inside the final 10 laps. The popular Brazilian finished fourth.

Team-mate Charlie Kimball was fifth ahead of JR Hildebrand (Ed Carpenter).

Polesitter James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) was seventh with Scott Dixon (Ganassi), Sebastien Bourdais (KV Racing) and Will Power (Team Penske) filling the top 10.

Castroneves’ chances of chalking up a fourth Indy 500 win evaporated when he suffered damage to the left side of his rear wing assembly when fighting up front with under 50 laps remaining. He eventually finished 11th.

As the Brazilian was falling back through the field Takuma Sato (AJ Foyt Racing) found the fence to bring out the sixth caution flag.

Team Penske’s defending Indy 500 winner Juan Montoya was worse than mid-pack when his Team Penske Chevrolet broke loose, making heavy contact with the front at Turn 2 on Lap 54.

Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing) collected the wall at Turn 1 after attempting an outside pass on Townsend Bell on Lap 94, bringing out the third yellow period.

Russian Mikhail Aleshin (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) made heavy contact with the Turn 2 wall as Conor Daly spun out of control in the immediate aftermath.

In the ensuing caution period, Andretti Autosport pair Townsend Bell and Ryan Hunter-Reay collided after the former was released into the path of Castroneves.

The resultant contact caused Bell and Hunter-Reay to pile up against the pit wall. Bell was handed a stop/go penalty for an unsafe release.

“I couldn’t believe it when they collided. They were both very, very strong but I thought we still had three more bullets left in the gun,” Michael Andretti said of his five-car assault.

At the start Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay traded the lead on 14 occasions in a frantic opening with front runners managing to execute passes more easily than in the pack.

The green sequence was broken for the first time when debris caused Johnny Rutherford to swing the Pace Car into action on lap 47.

Pirtek Team Murray rookie Matt Brabham dropped a handful of places when he had to take on fuel to make the finish inside the last 10 laps before finishing 22nd after starting 27th.

Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud wound up in 19th, which snapped a three-race winning streak.

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