Will Power in Toronto Victory Lane
The Honda Indy Toronto, Canada was full of excitement and plenty of wrecks. Will Power played it safe early on to avoid trouble, but knew when to be aggressive for a second straight victory on Sunday, his fourth this season. While almost every driver struggled on the slippery streets of Toronto, Power illustrated some of the best street car racing skills in his Verizon Team Penske car.
Power, a 29 year-old from Toowoomba, Australia, led the race after passing Justin Wilson with 14 laps to go on the outside after a restart. After the fifth of sixth caution periods, Wilson spun out, taking himself out of contention. He fought back and came in runner-up, but wasn’t fast enough to catch up to Power.
"I'd say it was a calculated, but risky, move to pass him on the outside because I wasn't sure I'd make it out the other side. It was close, but sometimes you have to do that in racing if you want to win... The key for me when I came to this race was avoiding the carnage and accidents because I knew that happens every year here," said Power.
Power’s riskiest move was trying to manoeuvre around Helio Castroneves and Ryan Hunter-Reay on the first corner, though he was unsuccessful. Power didn’t let Castroneves and Hunger-Reay get the best of him in the end, losing one battle doesn’t have to cost you the war, and in this case, Power’s gamble to let them pass paid off in the end.
Since joining up with Team Penske, all four of Power’s wins this season have come from street or road courses. He won the season openers at Sao Paulo and St Petersburg, and most recently won at Watkins Glen two weeks ago. This is the Australian’s first full season with Penske.
He only drove six races last year, in which he scored one victory in Edmonton, Alberta. The Indycar driver has won three Champ Car races, including one in 2007 on the tight and bumpy 1.755-mile Exhibition Place track in Toronto.
Power finished the race on Sunday, 1.2757 seconds ahead of Dario Franchitti, last year’s Toronto winner. Power held Franchitti off for most of the race, and now has a good 42 lead point on him in the standings. Franchitti surrendered the lead when he pitted with 30 laps left. Power was able to pass Franchitti by stretching his fuel longer and pitting one lap later along with Wilson.
"I had to pit a lap early, so Justin and Will jumped ahead when they went a lap longer," Franchitti said. "We just didn't run quite quick enough. We were fast in practice, but weren't quite fast enough to beat Will."
Power has earned more money, respect, and championship points than any other driver this season. He has been, for the most part, relatively unchallenged by the other IndyCar drivers, and is well on his way to becoming the next champion.
Power and Franchitti performed well on the slick Toronto course; the only drivers to fully adapt to the wet conditions. Both Power and Franchitti avoided crashes, which is more than can be said of the other racers.
Alex Tagliani crashed out after getting bumped by Tomas Scheckter on Turn 3, while Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe were both caught out on the fourth turn. Despite the numerous crashes, the drivers were generally happy with the layout of the course.
"Don't lose the character of the place," Hunter-Reay urged the IndyCar series. "It's known for that kind of action and I don't think it would be as good a show if every track we went to was smooth."
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