France’s Sebastien Bourdais won the opening race of IndyCar’s Detroit double-header on Saturday, using a savvy fuel strategy to capture his first race of the season.
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Will Power’s miserable luck came to an end at Belle Isle on Sunday.
On Thursday, just a day before race weekend, Larkin took a ride in a two-seater IndyCar around the track at Belle Isle.
“Man, it’s been a long time”, screamed Power, the 2014 IndyCar champion, into the team’s two-way radio after he crossed the finish line. He won the second in last year’s double-header.
There are races Saturday and Sunday at Belle Isle.
It’s not the first time Mingay has suffered physically for his profession, the movie stunt driver once joked he had suffered 34 broken bones in his career and was uninsurable.
Power’s win gave Chevrolet the weekend sweep and team owner Roger Penske a hometown win.
Will Power was fast enough for a track record during qualifying, though it didn’t count because of a penalty.
“The Verizon Chevy was great today.” said Power “We started in ninth and were able to quickly gain ground and get up front”.
Verizon IndyCar Series point standings: Pagenaud 313, Castroneves 254, Dixon 247, Munoz 227, Newgarden 227, Montoya 223, Rossi 223, Hinchcliffe 217, Kanaan 214, Kimball 213.
“I knew on that restart, I had to get Simon. I had to make it a very clean move, so I went to the outside”.
“He has helped me so much”.
For some reason, the little guys in IndyCar seem to find a way to punch above their weight class on the bumpy 2.3-mile Belle Isle street course, and that was again the case Saturday.
Mingay’s truck overturned Saturday during the third of 10 scheduled laps in the race – the second of three races held this weekend in that series.
Race one victor Sebastien Bourdais ended proceedings eighth, despite assuming the lead during the latter stages of the race after the third and final caution period.
Meanwhile Indianapolis 500 victor Alexander Rossi came home 12th, despite assuming the lead during the latter stages for a very brief period before he too required a final splash and dash for fuel along with Bourdais, Graham Rahal and Kimball.
Fifth was Helio Castroneves in the No.3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Pagenaud went into the pit on lap 49 and Castroneves stayed out a bit longer.
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Montoya’s day would later end when he hit the wall after his second pit stop on lap 34 and spun into the barrier. He actually almost ruined my race, (but) I was smart enough to know how aggressive and how far he’s willing to go.
