Indy Car Hype: GoPro Indy Grand Prix Of Sonoma (Video)

 

With the F1 and Drifting break it has been a while since I’ve had some motorsport news here so it is good to have some today!  We are starting off with the GoPro Indy Grand Prix Of Sonoma at the Sonoma Road Course in what was a rough weekend for many drivers at the top of the points battle.  Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, and James Hinchcliffe all had pretty bad practice sessions which left them with a lack of confidence going into qualifying and the race on Sunday.  On the other hand Team Penske seemed to find their groove as Will Power and Ryan Briscoe both had strong practice and qualifying efforts.  Helio Castroneves had a few hiccups but kept himself at the front of the field for the race start.

NOTE: IndyCar now puts entire races on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.  If you want to watch the whole thing unfold for yourself then just watch below.  If you want the cliff notes just scroll past the video and read on.

However once the race went underway Helio got into the back of Scott Dixon, spinning him out which effectively jacked up Scott’s day and Helio’s as he was given a drive through penalty for avoidable contact.  Later on James Hinchcliffe retired after being punted by a lapped car which upset the oil pressure and ended his day early.  Up front,  Will Power was running away from the field for the most part and everything was going his way until a late caution while he was in the pits caused a mix up that ended up putting him behind his teammate Ryan Briscoe in the restart.  Behind that Ryan Hunter-Reay shook off any anti-confidence demons he had to work his way up to third but a dive-bomb boner by Tagliani spun Ryan out and put him at the back of the field with less than 10 laps remaining.

With Ryan Hunter-Reay put way in the back Will Power decided it would probably be best to avoid pressuring Ryan Briscoe too much and possibly ruining his points run.  As such Ryan Briscoe went on to win the race with Will Power coming in second, and Dario Franchitti taking third.  Will Power remains in the championship lead and Ryan Hunter-Reay is now 35 points behind Power and only 5 points ahead of Helio Castroneves going into the next race at Baltimore.  After Baltimore is the final race of the season when Indy Car returns to California Speedway for the MAVTv 500.

Can Will Power keep his lead and get his first championship?  Or will Ryan Hunter-Reay or Helio Castroneves come from behind?  Only two more races to go!

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