Will Power was able to convert his second pole position of the season into victory at the Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, as the 30-year-old drove a composed race ahead of Scott Dixon who claimed the runner-up spot. Dario Franchitti followed his team-mate in third, securing a double podium finish for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
Skies were once again clear as the race got underway at 2:45pm local time (BST -6). Power got away from the line cleanly to lead Penske team-mates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves, although the latter would fall to ninth a few laps after the start. The Brazilian would go on to narrowly avoid a spin later in the race, after a nudge from Takuma Sato on Lap 27.
The first phase of pit-stops saw Briscoe lose a position to Dixon, while Franchitti was able to get ahead of Oriol Servià. Three yellow flag periods were to follow after this phase had passed, with Alex Tagliani, E.J. Viso, James Hinchcliffe and Simona de Silvestro all causes of on-track drama around the 2.3-mi (3.7-km) circuit.
Mike Conway was a victim of an unfortunate incident soon after, when his Andretti Autosport machine was forced into a spin. An incident involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Briscoe followed, with both men running off the circuit. Unfortunately for Briscoe, he was stuck in the gravel and out of the race. Hunter-Reay continued, but the American was awarded a drive-through penalty for causing the accident.
The situation presented a chance for Danica Patrick to move up the field, as she opted not to pit and remained on the same set of tyres, climbing up to third place. At the restart, Franchitti wasted no time in getting past to move into third, while Power kept his lead over Dixon. Marco Andretti and Oriol Servia also got ahead of Patrick soon after the race was back underway, meaning she dropped back to sixth position.
As the race continued, Justin Wilson was hit by Raphael Matos, forcing both drivers to retire with 26 laps to go. The remaining laps went smoothly, although Patrick had to make another visit to the pit lane to change her rapidly degrading tyres. She fell back to seventeenth, with her strategy ultimately failing to produce a strong result.
Power crossed the line to take victory after leading all 90 laps of the race, with Ganassi team-mates Dixon and Franchitti securing a visit to the podium. Andretti was able to secure fourth on a similar strategy to Patrick, with the American driver getting more out of his tyres during the closing stages of the race. Servia was next up in fifth, earning a positive result for Newman/Hass Racing.
Tony Kanaan crossed the line in sixth place after a brilliant drive from 24th on the grid, eventually edging out Hélio Castoneves. There was also much praise for Simon Pagenaud who completed his first ever IndyCar race - and his first race in open wheel racing since 2007 - in eighth, just ahead of Simona de Silvestro and Charlie Kimball who completed the top ten.
Power now moves into the championship lead ahead of current title holder Franchitti, with the Penske driver on 94 points, seven points ahead of his nearest rival. Third place is currently held by Kanaan after his promising start to the 2011 season, while Dixon and de Silvestro occupy fourth and fifth respectively with both drivers currently on a total of 54 points each.
Round 3 of the 2011 season will be staged at Long Beach next weekend
Read more »
Dixon heads Ganassi 1-2 in Alabama warm-up
The Target Chip Ganassi team headed the Sunday morning timesheets at Alabama’s Barber M...
Will Power will start from pole position for the second race weekend in succession,...
Dixon tops final practice in Alabama
Scott Dixon claimed the top spot during the third and final practice session at the...
| 8 Apr 2011 | Photos |  |
|---|---|---|
| 19:20-20:35 | First free practice |  |
| 22:00-23:00 | Second free practice | |
| 9 Apr 2011 | Photos | |
| 14:00-14:20 | Third free practice | |
| 15:25-16:40 | Qualifying | |
| 10 Apr 2011 | Photos | |
| 15:00-15:30 | Warm up | |
| 20:45 | Race | |
| IndyCar Series: Barber Motorsports Park |
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Dixon | Chip Ganassi | 01:12.441 | 22 |
| 2. | D. Franchitti | Chip Ganassi | 01:12.742 | 19 |
| 3. | T. Sato | Lotus KV Racing | 01:13.142 | 20 |
| 4. | J. Wilson | D&R Racing | 01:13.690 | 17 |
| 5. | H. Castroneves | Penske | 01:13.767 | 21 |
| 6. | A. Tagliani | Sam Schmidt | 01:13.819 | 19 |
| 7. | R. Hunter-Reay | Andretti | 01:13.820 | 16 |
| 8. | G. Rahal | Chip Ganassi | 01:13.963 | 19 |
| 9. | W. Power | Penske | 01:13.974 | 22 |
| 10. | M. Andretti | Andretti | 01:14.038 | 18 |
| Full results | ||||
| IndyCar Series: Barber Motorsports Park | |||
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| More IndyCar Series: Barber Motorsports Park photos | |||
| Date | |||
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| 27 Mar '11 | St. Petersburg Street Circuit |
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| 10 Apr '11 | Barber Motorsports Park |
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| 17 Apr '11 | Long Beach Street Circuit |
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| 2 May '11 | Sao Paulo Street Circuit |
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| 29 May '11 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
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| 12 Jun '11 | Texas Motor Speedway |
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| 19 Jun '11 | Milwaukee Mile |
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| 25 Jun '11 | Iowa Speedway |
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| 10 Jul '11 | Toronto Street Circuit |
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| 24 Jul '11 | Edmonton Street Circuit |
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| 7 Aug '11 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course |
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| 14 Aug '11 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
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| 28 Aug '11 | Infineon Raceway |
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| 4 Sep '11 | Baltimore Street Circuit |
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| 18 Sep '11 | Twin Ring Motegi |
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| 2 Oct '11 | Kentucky Speedway |
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| 16 Oct '11 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
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| 2011 IndyCar Series calendar | |||
| Date | Venue | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Apr 2013 | Barber Motorsports Park | R. Hunter-Reay | |
| 1 Apr 2012 | Barber Motorsports Park | W. Power | |
| 10 Apr 2011 | Barber Motorsports Park | W. Power | |
| 11 Apr 2010 | Barber Motorsports Park | H. Castroneves | |
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