Dario Franchitti holds off Will Power in Mid-Ohio
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| Dario Franchitti |
| Mark Scheuern/AR1.com |
Dario Franchitti, who had not won since the Indy 500, got the lead on the first round of pitstops when he just beat polesitter Will Power out of the pits and was never headed the rest of the way to win the 2.258-mile Honda Indy 200 on the challenging Mid-Ohio Race Course.
The key move was the pitstop though and Power said afterward that there was no way to get back by him because the cars were so equally matched. The current push-to-pass HP increase on the current Honda engine just isn't enough to pull off a pass at Mid-Ohio unless the driver ahead makes a mistake.
"I think the key to the race, obviously, was the Target car was very fast," said Franchitti. "I drove every lap like it was a qualifying lap today, whether I was behind Will or ahead of Will. But the key was that first pit stop by the Target boys to get me out ahead, especially a 35-foot pit box. It's the tightest we run. In practice, we couldn't get the thing out of the box with Will parked in his or get it in properly. But when the race win was on the line, it didn't seem quite as difficult and managed to pass him. I think that was the key today, because we were incredibly evenly matched on the track."
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| (L to R) Will Power (2nd),Dario Franchitti (1st) and Helio Castroneves (3rd) |
| Mark Scheuern/AR1.com |
"Dario, he just got out before us," said Power, whose pit stall was the first at pit-out. "I mean, that was it. I couldn't do anything about it. Obviously those guys did a really good stop. Initially, I thought they might have short-filled some."
"I was trying really hard at the end to make him make a mistake, letting him see me in his mirrors, letting him know if he made one little slip-up, I'm going to get him," Power said. "That was the only way I was going to get by."
Power's Penske teammate Helio Castroneves came home third followed by Alex Tagliani and Scott Dixon rounding out the top-5.
It was Franchitti's 15th IndyCar win and 25th open wheel win when you include his Champ Car wins and he moved into a tie with Gordon Johncock for 12th on the all-time list. Next up is Rodger Ward.
With his 2nd place Power clinched the 2010 Mario Andretti trophy as the IndyCar road course champion.
Today's margin of victory of 0.5234 seconds is the third closet road/street finish in IZOD IndyCar Series history.
Simona de Silvestro started 10th in the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing car and finished a season-best eighth — one position better than the previous high at Toronto.
Bertrand Baguette advanced four positions to finish a season-best 11th in the No. 36 Conquest Racing RACB car. Alex Lloyd, driving the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car for Dale Coyne Racing, moved up eight positions to 13th — his best road/street course finish of the season.
The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 22 at Infineon Raceway. The race will be telecast in high-definition by VERSUS at 5 p.m. The race will also be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network and on XM Satellite Radio 145 and Sirius 212. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Carneros 100 on Aug. 22 at Infineon Raceway.
QUOTES:
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 CV Logistics/FAZZT Race Team , finished fourth): "They called it right. Rob (Edwards) is a pretty risky guy. (Engineers) Allen (McDonald), Brendan (Cleve), Robert (Gue), they all went for it. We had a great car. The boys did a fantastic job on the car, considering we didn't test here. We've been having a few little issues on the road course car. Our best car is the oval, for some reason. Our second best car is street course and our third best car is the road course. It felt good (to lead laps). It is very difficult when you're in the back. This track is so difficult to pass on, so I'm very pleased that the strategy worked out."
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing, finished 15th): "Any day you make up nine positions at Mid Ohio, you can't complain too much. It was a tough race and a complicated race. We learned a bunch for next year and as tough as this series is, I feel we are still making strides."
MARIO MORAES (No. 32 KV Racing Technology): "We were looking to gain some points here today and we did that. We still have a chance for a top-ten in the final standings. After what happened this morning with the pit accident (when Moraes' car made contact with two crew members), I was feeling pretty bad. It was in mind for a long time. But we didn't have any problems with our pit stops. The team did a great job. Now we move onto Sonoma. I think we can be strong there."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 LOTUS – KV Racing Technology): "It was an exciting start. Dario and I were side-by-side going into the sweeping corner at the start and I took the second position. But soon Dario was able to get by me on the back straight. I then settled in third and ran directly behind the top two. My engineers were very happy with my pace and fuel savings. Under the yellow caution period, I came into the pits with the leaders. Unfortunately, the pit stop was very long and I lost many positions. On the restart, I had a good opportunity to get alongside Scott (Dixon) at the end of the back straight. But the inside line was so slippery, I struggled to stop and ran wide. Unfortunately, that ended my race. It is very disappointing."
E.J. VISO (No. 8 PDVSA – KV Racing Technology): "I want to congratulate the team because we had a strong weekend overall. With the right breaks, I think Takuma (Sato) and I had a shot for the pole position here on Saturday. We made a lot of progress with the cars. In the race, I was trying to save fuel as much as possible. I was trying to extend the pit window. Justin attempted to make a run on me at the end of the back straight. I don't think he was even close to being alongside of me. I hit my normal braking point and turned into the corner. I suddenly felt the hit of my right rear tire. He was trying to overtake me, but his braking was extremely late. I was already turning when I got hit. The right rear suspension was bent. It is very sad because we had a good car and I felt we could run faster, too."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished fifth): "It was a tough day for the #9 Target car. We were running fairly well and I think we definitely had the speed to be in the top 3, or even a chance to win if we would have used the right strategy. It was tough to pass because the competition was so thick, but when you have a bad pit stop and drop back to twelfth, it's pretty hard to pick it back up. I am pleased with a seventh place finish after my pit stop incident."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske, finished second): "Dario (Franchitti) was the guy with the speed, and we just couldn't get around him. It's hard to pass here, and I was just trying to force him to make a mistake. I wasn't going to make it easy on him. I am happy with the day and it was a good result, but the man we need to beat, beat us. Dario is the guy that is chasing us right now and we need to finish ahead of him."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, finished sixth): "It was a tough day. We were struggling with a lot of understeer at first, but we made some adjustments during the first pit stop. We had slight contact in the pit box between (Ryan) Hunter-Reay and (Helio) Castroneves going three-wide in the smallest pits of the year. We bent our rear suspension and this really made for a handful the rest of the race. It was frustrating having two races in a row where I have done the whole thing with a bent suspension. I am pretty happy to bring it home and we are lucky to not have had more damage. We got some good points and now we just have to chase down those Ganassi guys."
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing, finished seventh): "It was a very exciting race! I have to thank the team for great pit stops and strategy. We needed a good result after our qualifying result wasn't what we had hoped. The team and engineers gave me a really good car. I was able to conserve fuel when I needed to and was able to be competitive and push when I needed to as well. I am extremely happy with the end result. We'll carry some momentum and some new knowledge gained here into the race in two weeks at Infineon."
J.R. HILDEBRAND (No. 24 Roll Coater/DRR): "There were some good things and some bad things about today. I think that our pace was really good and I was able to push for most of the race and pass guys. For me, this was my first time dealing with any kind of fuel mileage and in the first stint it ended up being irrelevant the way that the yellows worked out, but we were able to do a good job of keeping the pace with the guys in front of us and get the mileage that we were looking for. For me, those were all big positives. On the flip side of that, I made some kind of obvious mistakes that I should make, so the next time around I will be a little more used to the car and the circumstances. I don't think that I will be making those kind of errors like driving off the track on the exit of corners, or getting a little bit of push that I'm not expecting, and for whatever reason, these cars seem to be a little more sensitive to it than what I'm used to. Our pit stops on my end were fairly dismal as a whole. This was my first time dealing with them in a race situation and they are a little bit different than the pit stops I have dealt with in the past. In fairness, I don't think that is much of an excuse and from that perspective the only way to go is up and I think we can run a mistake free race and qualify a little bit better, and we will be in the thick of it. I think we had the pace to be running up front. There were some positives and some negatives, but all around it was a pretty solid day."
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR): "I'm sorry for everyone on the Z-Line Designs car and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. We had a good race going; the car was good and we were keeping up on black tires. I got a run on EJ down into Turn 4. We weren't quite wheel to wheel, but I was three quarters alongside when we hit the brakes. He went for the apex so I tried to back out of it, but he just didn't leave any racing room for me. Whether it's your corner or not, you've got to leave some room for the other guy to get out of it."
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 02 National Tires & Battery): "Initially I think we were okay but we never quite had the ultimate pace that we needed. I felt like we were pretty consistent and conservative. I had a lot of understeer but the rear of the car was pretty good and we were able to move up a little bit. I tried to make a move on Wheldon and it was the second or third lap on the red tires and I went up underneath him and I think the car bottomed and right when it bottomed, it locked. Unfortunately I just tried to make too bold of a move, too early. I was hoping that I could get away with it because I didn't want to be stuck behind him long but it just didn't work. Those tires were flat spotted pretty bad so we came in and put primary tires on and from then on we just couldn't get a handle on the car. We passed Danica on the last lap but the car wasn't good. It was a difficult weekend. We wanted to give National Tire & Battery a better result."
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic): "At the beginning of the race I was able to keep the same pace as those ahead of me while saving fuel big time. Unfortunately there was a problem on the outside rear and I dropped some positions there and I just couldn't get them back. On the second pit stop I had a clutch issue and lost even more when I couldn't leave the pits. I was quite happy with the speed of the car; I think we were very competitive speed-wise."
ADAM CARROLL (No. 27 Team AFS): "I've never struggled like this before. It's a hard championship, and the car isn't like anything I'm used to driving. At least we finished the race and got more miles under our belt. You get difficult weekends like this sometimes. We'll come back stronger, and hopefully we'll get another chance to get out there and prove what we can do. Thanks to everyone for their help."
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com): "It was definitely a frustrating weekend for the GoDaddy.com car. We made the most of the day but unfortunately we came up short. Hopefully our hard work will show in Sonoma."
DAN WHELDON, No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing): "We started off and held position at a reasonable pace and then the National Guard Panther Racing guys had a great pit stop on the first stop, and the Andretti Autosport guys were kind enough to give us some room and that made a huge difference. So with our guys doing a good stop and Danica's guys helping us we were able to move up quite a few positions. Then in the second stint we were really good and then in the third stint for whatever reason from the get-go we had a lot of understeer. As I continued to push I blistered the front tire and the understeer just continued to get worse and I went off the track a few times and unfortunately just didn't have the pace on that last stint. But the Panther guys did a really good job, and worked hard all weekend. The IZOD IndyCar Series competition is just so close that if you have one bad stint it makes the difference between a Top Ten and, unfortunately for us, being outside the Top Ten."
BERTRAND BAGUETTE (No. 36 Conquest Racing RACB): "I think it was a good race for us. We had a good first stint where we were saving fuel. Unfortunately, just before the first pit stop we had a yellow flag so that didn't help with our strategy. We then put the Alternate Firestone tires for our second stint and that was a really good choice. With all the cautions during my second stint, I was able to overtake on every restart. The car was very good in that stint. I did a little mistake close to the end that probably cost us a top 10. I was trying to get by Andretti when I went a little wide into the marbles and I lost some of the grip and that's when Matos got by me. Overall, I'm happy with my race, and my weekend, we could have been better in qualifying but in general it was another encouraging weekend."
FRANCESCO DRACONE (No. 34 Conquest Racing): "For my first IZOD IndyCar Series race, it was a positive experience because I was able to have a good pace. The first stint was a little more difficult but then with the Alternate Firestone tires it was going really well. Unfortunately I made two mistakes, one in which I ended up damaging the front wing, which was disappointing. But overall, we finished the race and I was able to gain more experience. So I think I can be satisfied with this first weekend in the series."
Results
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Rank |
No | Name | Laps | Gap | Diff | Best Lap Time | Pits | Comment |
| 1 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | 85 | –.—- | –.—- | 1:08.9722 | 3 | Running |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power | 85 | 0.5234 | 0.5234 | 1:08.8598 | 3 | Running |
| 3 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | 85 | 3.5649 | 4.0883 | 1:09.0087 | 3 | Running |
| 4 | 77 | Alex Tagliani | 85 | 1.5540 | 5.6423 | 1:09.1761 | 3 | Running |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 85 | 0.2727 | 5.9150 | 1:08.9877 | 3 | Running |
| 6 | 6 | Ryan Briscoe | 85 | 0.5950 | 6.5100 | 1:08.8148 | 3 | Running |
| 7 | 2 | Raphael Matos | 85 | 0.2418 | 6.7518 | 1:08.9889 | 3 | Running |
| 8 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | 85 | 3.3933 | 10.1451 | 1:09.1015 | 3 | Running |
| 9 | 26 | Marco Andretti | 85 | 0.8104 | 10.9555 | 1:09.1963 | 3 | Running |
| 10 | 37 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 85 | 2.2789 | 13.2344 | 1:08.8302 | 5 | Running |
| 11 | 36 | Bertrand Baguette | 85 | 1.5916 | 14.8260 | 1:09.3252 | 3 | Running |
| 12 | 32 | Mario Moraes | 85 | 1.2201 | 16.0461 | 1:09.2252 | 3 | Running |
| 13 | 19 | Alex Lloyd | 85 | 0.5109 | 16.5570 | 1:09.3344 | 3 | Running |
| 14 | 4 | Dan Wheldon | 85 | 2.7948 | 19.3518 | 1:09.2754 | 3 | Running |
| 15 | 14 | Vitor Meira | 85 | 0.7264 | 20.0782 | 1:09.7635 | 3 | Running |
| 16 | 24 | JR Hildebrand | 85 | 0.1387 | 20.2169 | 1:09.2472 | 5 | Running |
| 17 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | 85 | 5.2117 | 25.4286 | 1:09.1980 | 4 | Running |
| 18 | 06 | Hideki Mutoh | 85 | 1.1632 | 26.5918 | 1:09.4808 | 3 | Running |
| 19 | 27 | Adam Carroll | 85 | 0.7384 | 27.3302 | 1:09.8690 | 3 | Running |
| 20 | 02 | Graham Rahal | 85 | 0.3039 | 27.6341 | 1:09.2946 | 4 | Running |
| 21 | 7 | Danica Patrick | 85 | 0.5758 | 28.2099 | 1:09.8901 | 3 | Running |
| 22 | 34 | Francesco Dracone | 82 | 3 laps | 3 laps | 1:10.5032 | 5 | Running |
| 23 | 18 | Milka Duno | 81 | 1 lap | 4 laps | 1:12.7177 | 7 | Running |
| 24 | 66 | Jay Howard | 38 | 43 laps | 47 laps | 1:10.2226 | 3 | Contact |
| 25 | 5 | Takuma Sato | 28 | 10 laps | 57 laps | 1:09.0768 | 1 | Contact |
| 26 | 8 | EJ Viso | 22 | 6 laps | 63 laps | 1:09.8319 | 0 | Contact |
| 27 | 22 | Justin Wilson | 22 | 0.4034 | 0.4034 | 1:09.8339 | 0 | Contact |
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 100.542
Time of Race: 1:54:32.2568
Margin of victory: 0.5234 of a second
Cautions: 5 for 15 laps
Lead changes: 4 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders: Power 1-25, Tagliani 26-55, Franchitti 56-60, Hunter-Reay 61, Franchitti 62-85
Point Standings: Power 461, Franchitti 420, Dixon 379, Briscoe 352, Castroneves 340, Hunter-Reay 336, Kanaan 304, Andretti 266, Wilson 262, Wheldon 259