French flyer Sebastien Bourdais has taken his second win of the IndyCar season in the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at the Milwaukee mile.
A late race caution failed to derail Bourdais’ grip on the 250-lap affair as he sprinted to a 2.2s win over Penske’s Helio Castroneves with Letterman Rahal Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal third.
KV Racing’s Bourdais held sway at the front when a full course caution threatened to put a final twist on proceedings when Justin Wilson’s Andretti Autosport machine suffered mechanical problems with less than 30 laps remaining.
It proved a timely break for Castroneves, who ran long in a risky strategy as the Brazilian had improved from last to challenge for what would have been a staggering victory.
The yellow period enabled Castroneves to pit and maintain station.
Colombian Juan Montoya protected his position at the top of the points table by finishing fourth ahead of poleman Josef Newgarden who had earlier appeared set to claim a third win of the season as he paced the field.
Ganassi team-mates Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon were next to take the chequered flag with Marco Andretti, Simon Pagenaud and Ed Carpenter filling the back-end of the top 10.
Dixon has now swapped places with Will Power for second in the championship, 54 points behind Montoya.
Power’s race turned sour just after half-race distance when he and fellow Australian Ryan Briscoe collided with both eliminated from the action as the latter spun.
“No question it makes it tough,” Power said of the DNF.
“We just have to focus and move on to the next one.”
The race had just been waved green after the first caution period was shown for James Jakes as the engine let go in his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda.
With Briscoe and Power classified in 21st and 22nd, KV Racing rookie Stefano Coletti was the next to retire after 156 laps with mechanical issues.
The series next moves to the Iowa Corn 300 this weekend.
See below for full results
| Pos. | Car # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Running / Reason Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Sebastien Bourdais | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 2 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 3 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Honda | 250 | Running |
| 4 | 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 5 | 67 | Josef Newgarden | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 6 | 10 | Tony Kanaan | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 7 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 8 | 27 | Marco Andretti | Honda | 250 | Running |
| 9 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 10 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 11 | 98 | Gabby Chaves (R) | Honda | 250 | Running |
| 12 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 13 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Honda | 250 | Running |
| 14 | 14 | Takuma Sato | Honda | 250 | Running |
| 15 | 26 | Carlos Munoz | Honda | 250 | Running |
| 16 | 19 | Tristan Vautier | Honda | 248 | Running |
| 17 | 41 | Jack Hawksworth | Honda | 221 | Running |
| 18 | 25 | Justin Wilson | Honda | 219 | Mechanical |
| 19 | 8 | Sage Karam (R) | Chevrolet | 183 | Contact |
| 20 | 4 | Stefano Coletti (R) | Chevrolet | 156 | Mechanical |
| 21 | 5 | Ryan Briscoe | Honda | 130 | Contact |
| 22 | 1 | Will Power | Chevrolet | 130 | Contact |
| 23 | 7 | James Jakes | Honda | 113 | Mechanical |
| 24 | 18 | Pippa Mann | Honda | 27 | Handling |
See below for full points
|
Pos |
Driver |
Points |
|
1 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
439 |
|
2 |
Scott Dixon |
385 |
|
3 |
Graham Rahal |
370 |
|
4 |
Hélio Castroneves |
370 |
|
5 |
Will Power |
369 |
|
6 |
Sébastien Bourdais |
343 |
|
7 |
Marco Andretti |
332 |
|
8 |
Tony Kanaan |
314 |
|
9 |
Josef Newgarden |
309 |
|
10 |
Simon Pagenaud |
278 |
|
11 |
Charlie Kimball |
266 |
|
12 |
Carlos Muñoz |
251 |
|
13 |
Takuma Sato |
229 |
|
14 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
227 |
|
15 |
James Jakes |
197 |
|
16 |
Gabby Chaves |
197 |
|
17 |
Jack Hawksworth |
184 |
|
18 |
Luca Filippi |
161 |
|
19 |
Stefano Coletti |
150 |
|
20 |
Sage Karam |
137 |
|
21 |
James Hinchcliffe |
129 |
|
22 |
Tristan Vautier |
105 |
|
23 |
Ryan Briscoe |
84 |
|
24 |
Conor Daly |
81 |
|
25 |
Simona de Silvestro |
66 |
|
26 |
Sebastian Saavedra |
61 |
|
27 |
J.R. Hildebrand |
57 |
|
28 |
Pippa Mann |
52 |
|
29 |
Ed Carpenter |
47 |
|
30 |
Rodolfo González |
40 |
|
31 |
Justin Wilson |
38 |
|
32 |
Francesco Dracone |
38 |
|
33 |
Townsend Bell |
32 |
|
34 |
Carlos Huertas |
31 |
|
35 |
Alex Tagliani |
27 |
|
36 |
Oriol Servià |
10 |
|
36 |
James Davison |
10 |
|
36 |
Bryan Clauson |
10 |
#more to follow
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