Ryan Hunter-Reay’s quest for a second consecutive IndyCar Series title has received a well-timed boost with victory at Milwaukee.
Returning to the Wisconsin venue that kick-started his 2012 title assault, Hunter-Reay controlled much of the 250 lap race.
The Andretti driver eventually led home Helio Castronves and now sits second in the standings to the Brazilian.
A solid run from Will Power netted third ahead of EJ Viso and James Hinchcliffe as Andretti and Penske again locked out the top five places, just as they had done so in qualifying.
It was a disastrous day for pole-sitter Marco Andretti, however, who lost 75 laps in the pits with an electrical problem.
Ganassi pair Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti steadily moved forward from poor qualifying efforts to finish sixth and eighth respectively, split by the ever lively Takuma Sato.
Sato had joined Castroneves and several others in going off-sequence on strategy mid-race – a move that saw him hold the lead on three separate occasions.
The timing of the penultimate pitstops would prove crucial, with Sato losing significant ground by stopping under green moments before a full-course yellow.
Australia’s Ryan Briscoe two laps down in 15th after a race that saw just eight cars finish on the lead lap.
RESULTS: Milwaukee
|
Pos |
Driver |
Car/Engine |
Laps |
|
1 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
250 |
|
2 |
Hélio Castroneves |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
250 |
|
3 |
Will Power |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
250 |
|
4 |
Ernesto Viso |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
250 |
|
5 |
James Hinchcliffe |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
250 |
|
6 |
Scott Dixon |
Dallara/Honda |
250 |
|
7 |
Takuma Sato |
Dallara/Honda |
250 |
|
8 |
Dario Franchitti |
Dallara/Honda |
250 |
|
9 |
Justin Wilson |
Dallara/Honda |
249 |
|
10 |
Tony Kanaan |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
249 |
|
11 |
Josef Newgarden |
Dallara/Honda |
249 |
|
12 |
Simon Pagenaud |
Dallara/Honda |
249 |
|
13 |
Sebastian Saavedra |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
248 |
|
14 |
Ed Carpenter |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
248 |
|
15 |
Ryan Briscoe |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
248 |
|
16 |
Graham Rahal |
Dallara/Honda |
247 |
|
17 |
Charlie Kimball |
Dallara/Honda |
246 |
|
18 |
James Jakes |
Dallara/Honda |
245 |
|
19 |
Ana Beatriz |
Dallara/Honda |
242 |
|
20 |
Marco Andretti |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
176 |
|
21 |
Tristan Vautier |
Dallara/Honda |
173 |
|
22 |
Sébastien Bourdais |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
152 |
|
23 |
Alex Tagliani |
Dallara/Honda |
146 |
|
24 |
Simona de Silvestro |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
69 |
See below for the updated points standings
| Rank | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Helio Castroneves | 299 |
| 2 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 283 |
| 3 | Marco Andretti | 249 |
| 4 | Takuma Sato | 223 |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | 221 |
| 6 | Tony Kanaan | 215 |
| 7 | Simon Pagenaud | 212 |
| 8 | Justin Wilson | 207 |
| 9 | James Hinchcliffe | 206 |
| 10 | Dario Franchitti | 192 |
| 11 | Will Power | 188 |
| 12 | E.J. Viso | 183 |
| 13 | Charlie Kimball | 175 |
| 14 | Josef Newgarden | 167 |
| 15 | James Jakes | 160 |
| 16 | Ed Carpenter | 156 |
| 17 | Graham Rahal | 149 |
| 18 | Simona de Silvestro | 143 |
| 19 | Tristan Vautier | 130 |
| 20 | Oriol Servia | 123 |
| 21 | Sebastien Bourdais | 117 |
| 22 | Alex Tagliani | 110 |
| 23 | Sebastian Saavedra | 105 |
| 24 | Mike Conway | 97 |
| 25 | J.R. Hildebrand | 79 |
| 26 | A J Allmendinger | 65 |
| 27 | Ana Beatriz | 64 |
| 28 | Ryan Briscoe | 63 |
| 29 | Carlos Munoz | 54 |
| 30 | Pippa Mann | 14 |
| 31 | Conor Daly | 11 |
| 32 | Townsend Bell | 10 |
| 33 | Katherine Legge | 8 |
