Dario Franchitti claimed victory in the Iowa Corn Indy 250. On the 7/8 mile short oval, the 2007 champion used excellent pitwork to stay clear of Penske's Ryan Briscoe and take his second win of the season. Briscoe stays in the lead for the title.
Early on, it looked like Franchitti's and Briscoe's respective teammates would have a say in the race. As qualifying was called off due to water seepage on the track, the starting order was based on the current point standings, meaning Helio Castroneves would start on pole ahead of Briscoe and Dixon.
Castroneves' and Dixon's intense lead battle eventually ended up in contact, causing a broken front wing on Helio's #3 Penske and a flat tyre for champion Dixon.
Briscoe came out ahead and appeared to reach out for the win, despite several full course yellows mixing up the grid. On the final pitstop however, Ganassi's superior teamwork allowed Franchitti to jump ahead of Briscoe and hold on until the checkered flag for his second win at Iowa.
Andretti-Green's Hideki posted his season-best result in third, ahead of Dan Wheldon (Panther) and Dixon. Tomas Scheckter took sixth for Dreyer & Reinbold after starting from sixteenth and passing six cars on a spectacular opening lap. Castroneves settled for seventh, ahead of an impressive Mike Conway who completed D&R's success.
Despite the IndyCar grid being down to just twenty cars, the Iowa race proved to be an incident-packed affair. E.J. Viso, Robert Doornbos and and Ryan Hunter-Reay all collided on the opening lap, eventually leading to a retirement for all involved. HVM's Viso is still to finish a race this season.
Justin Wilson, Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes also had to retire after an accident. After lengthy repairs, Robert Doornbos went back out to classify ahead of Matos in the rookie standings. Meanwhile, Tony Kanaan continued his string of bad luck, once again making contact with the concrete walls. Following Kanaan's big crash at Indy, the Brazilian is yet to catch his break this year.
Following his second win of the season, Dario Franchitti closes in on championship leader Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe leads Dario by just three points, with Dixon fifteen points behind the Australian. Helio Castroneves trails his Penske teammate by 29.
Drivers and teams hardly get any rest during the busy summer schedule, as the IndyCars head off to Richmond this weekend for another short oval race.
Full results:
1. Dario Franchitti - Ganassi
2. Ryan Briscoe - Penske
3. Hideki Mutoh - Andretti Green
4. Dan Wheldon - Panther
5. Scott Dixon - Ganassi
6. Tomas Scheckter - Dreyer & Reinbold
7. Helio Castroneves - Penske
8. Mike Conway - Dreyer & Reinbold
9. Danica Patrick - Andretti Green
10. Ed Carpenter - Vision
11. Graham Rahal - Newman/Haas/Lanigan
12. Marco Andretti - Andretti Green
13. Jaques Lazier - 3G
14. Tony Kanaan - Andretti Green
15. Robert Doornbos - Newman/Haas/Lanigan
16. Raphael Matos - Luczo Dragon
17. Mario Moraes - KV
18. Justin Wilson - Coyne
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay - Foyt
20. EJ Viso - HVM
Filip Cleeren
Written: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:08:09
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- June 22, 2009Franchitti claims Iowa win
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