Will Power believes that he deserved more than 17th from the first Gateway race after the pole-sitter was on the wrong end of a Caution.

The Team Penske driver led until his first stop and was still in contention for victory having just pitted for a second time from third position when yellows were called on Lap 109 for rain.

Power was therefore trapped a lap off the pace at the 1.25mi (2.01km) oval and while he got that back under the Caution, Car #12 was still left in 12th position.

He ran as high as 10th in the latter half of the race but also suffered a tyre failure and eventually made the finish two laps down.

“That was not the race that Verizon, Chevrolet or my team deserved out there today,” said the Queenslander.

“Our car was pretty good. It was really hard to get close to guys and hard to pass when you got around them.

“A lot of us were just running the same speed. When it’s like that, it’s all about track position and we lost ours with that Caution. The race was over after that.

“Then we had a tyre go down and that was that.

“We just have to go back after it tomorrow at this point.”

Power, who remains ninth in the IndyCar Series standings, is set to start third when the second race of the Gateway weekend gets underway tomorrow morning (AEST).