CAREER TIMELINE: Will Power

History-making Toowoomba driver Will Power came through the conventional ranks in Australian single-seater racing before venturing to England.

After snaring the coveted Australian Drivers Championship in 2002, Power drove in British Formula 3 in 2003 and 2004.

The following timeline documents an overview of Power’s pathway to IndyCar glory:

1999: Queensland Formula Ford Series

2000: Australian Formula Ford

2001: 2nd Australian Formula Ford Championship behind Will Davison

2002: Won the Formula Holden Australian Drivers Championship by 54 points from Stewart McColl.

Took six wins along the way to 2nd in the Australian Formula 3 Championship.

Made V8 Supercar debut when co-driver to Mark Larkham with the pair finishing 11th in the Queensland 500 before going on to finish 19th at Bathurst.

2003: Ventured overseas when had part campaigns when Diamond Racing and Fortec Motorsport in British Formula 3.

2004: Did full British Formula 3 season with Alan Docking Racing claiming five podiums.

Did a one-off test along with fellow Aussie Will Davison in a Minardi Formula 1 car in Italy.

2005: Moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series where he undertook the season with Carlin Motorsport taking wins at Le Mans and Bilbao.

Did the opening season in the inaugural A1 GP series for Australia at Brands Hatch, finishing second.

Made his Champ Car debut in the final two races of the season at the Gold Coast and Mexico.

2006: Signed up for first full Champ Car season with the Derrick Walker-run Team Australia part-owned by Gold Coast businessman Craig Gore.

Took pole at Surfers Paradise before striking problems in the race with incidents with Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais. Took maiden podium at the Mexico race and won the rookie of the year title.

2007: Continued with Team Australia in the new Panoz DP01 chassis and claimed his first win in the Las Vegas street race before scoring again at Toronto.

2008: Took the final Champ Car race at Long Beach with the points going to the IndyCar series following the unification of the two series.

2009: Team Penske announced Power would replace Helio Castroneves while the Brazilian defended tax evasion charges for which he was acquitted.

Power finished sixth at the season opener at St Petersburg.

While Castroneves returned to racing, Penske retained Power for a total of seven races during the season where he took a win at Edmonton and an unlucky fifth at the Indy 500.

He suffered two fractured vertebrae in a practice shunt at Sonoma.

2010: Began his first full season at Team Penske with wins at Sao Paulo and St Petersburg.
Went on to win at Watkins Glen, Toronto and Sonoma before finishing second in the championship.

2011: Took six wins for the championship before again finishing runner-up on the points ladder in a season which saw the race at the las Vegas Motor Speedway cancelled following the tragic death of Dan Wheldon.

2012: Took three wins and was in the running to win the title again before failing at the final race at Fontana.

2013: Had a poor start to the season before coming back strongly to take three wins from the last four events.

2014: Scored wins at St Petersburg, Detroit and Milwaukee where he has managed to overcome his previous weakness on the different configuration of oval tracks.

Power went into the finale at Fontana with a 51-point lead where a maximum of 104 was on offer.

He ended up beating Helio Castroneves by 62 points to become the first Australian to win the biggest open wheel championship in North America and pocket a cool $1 million prize bonus.

Will Power

Born: March 1, 1981

Birthplace: Toowoomba, Queensland

Residence: Mooresville, North Carolina

Team: Team Penske

Career IndyCar/Champ Car wins: 24

Power’s Indy Car/Champ Car record