Will Power says he has gained more confidence and is feeling less pressure as the IndyCar Series heads into a showdown at the penultimate round at Pocono this weekend.
The IndyCar Series remains on a knife-edge with Power fifth in the standings, 59 points behind Juan Montoya.
Double points are on offer at the closing round at Sonoma a week after Pocono, guaranteeing a thrilling finish to the series.
Power became the first Australian to climb to the top of American open wheel racing when he won the title last year.
Team Penske’s Montoya has lead the way from the outset at St Petersburg although Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) has made significant inroads into the Colombian’s advantage which has reduced to just nine points in the latter part of the condensed season.
Kiwi ace Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) is looking to come away from Pocono with the aim of at least slicing his deficit of 34 points in half while Helio Castroneves is just one point ahead of his Penske partner Power.
Power says he is clear on what he has to do at Pocono and Sonoma as opposed to last season when he was leading the points race and remained tentative on what tactics to employ.
“If you’re in the position that Montoya is in, you definitely do feel the pressure, because sometimes it becomes unclear what you have to do to win the championship,” Power said in an IndyCar teleconference.
“Whereas if you’re in the position that I’m in right now, it’s very clear what you have to do, which is win two races.
“I’ve been there a number of times before, but obviously Juan has won a championship before, so he kind of understands how ‑‑ and he’s got a lot of experience as well, so he knows how it goes. And it can be tough being chased, honestly.
“Like I said, it’s tough to understand how aggressive and how not aggressive to be.
“It kind of puts you out of your comfort zone, but when you understand what you have to do, it becomes a little easier and less stressful and less pressure.”
For the full current points standings CLICK HERE.
A look back at the IndyCar equation with two races remaining since 2011
2014 Leader: Will Power (602 points); Second: Helio Castroneves (-39);Third: Simon Pagenaud (-92).
Final margin and champion: 62 points, Power.
2013 Leader: Helio Castroneves (513); Second: Scott Dixon (-8); Third: Simon Pagenaud (-50).
Final margin and champion: 27, Dixon.
2012 Leader: Will Power (422); Second: Ryan Hunter-Reay (-26); Third:Helio Castroneves (-41).
Final margin and champion: 3, Hunter-Reay.
2011 Leader: Dario Franchitti (507); Second: Will Power (-5); Third: Scott Dixon (-77).
Final margin and champion: 18, Franchitti.
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