LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES (AFP)–Team Penske’s Will Power bounced back from qualifying disappointment to win the second race of the IndyCar weekend double-header at Detroit on Sunday.
The Australian, whose pole-winning qualifying lap was disallowed on Sunday morning, showed he didn’t need the premium starting spot as he bulled his way to a 26th career IndyCar victory.
Power finished 0.9203 of a second ahead of Penske team-mate Simon Pagenaud of France after 70 laps on the 2.35-mile (3.78 Km) Belle Isle street circuit.
Pagenaud retained his championship lead after eight races in the 16-race season.
His 357 points put him 80 ahead of New Zealand’s Scott Dixon, who finished fifth on Sunday for Target Chip Ganassi racing.
The race was marred by a string of accidents, starting with a chain-reaction crash at the green flag that brought a premature end to the day for James Hinchcliffe and Max Chilton.
Japan’s Takuma Sato and American Marco Andretti were also involved but were able to continue.
At the restart, pole-sitter Pagenaud extended his lead over Ryan Hunter-Reay, but the contenders behind battled hard.
On lap 23, Colombian Penske pilot Juan Pablo Montoya made contact with Dixon, cutting the Kiwi’s right rear tire and causing damage to both cars.
Montoya’s day would later end when he hit the wall after his second pit stop on lap 34 and spun into the barrier.
After the Lap 39 restart, Brazilian Helio Castroneves overtook Pagenaud for the lead.
But Castroneves dropped from contention when he was forced to pit under the caution that ensued when Jack Hawksworth stopped on the track with a mechanical failure.
France’s Sebastien Bourdais emerged from the final caution with the lead, but he had to make a late stop for fuel and finished eighth, Power making his move past Pagenaud on the final restart for his first victory since last year’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was third and Josef Newgarden fourth.
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