Dixon fifth but still holds IndyCars lead
New Zealand’s Scott Dixon had to settle for fifth in yesterday’s Ohio IndyCars race and had his overall lead trimmed but remains in charge with four races remaining.
Alexander Rossi took a gamble which paid off to nail his second win of the season and fourth overall.
Starting from pole and using a twostop strategy while the rest of the field pitted three times, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner finished 12.8 seconds ahead of rookie Robert Wickens in the cautionfree race on the 13-turn, 3.6km permanent road course. The race covered 90 laps and 325km.
“It was a little concerning at times,” Rossi said. “Guys committed to doing it, but they bailed. [The strategy] worked. We didn’t know how it would work. Without a warm-up we were not capable of knowing the fuel mileage you’re getting.”
Australian Will Power was third, 14.7s back. Josef Newgarden was fourth and Dixon fifth. Dixon leads the series with 494 points, 46 more than Rossi. Defending champion Newgarden is third, 60 points back.
Dixon made his 300th IndyCar start and Power his 200th yesterday. There is plenty of banter between the pair when it comes to sporting issues. “He doesn’t have much to fight for coming from Australia,” Dixon quipped.
Power shrugs off the barbs: “It’s a friendly rivalry between New Zealand and Australia. Every time he sees me, he flips me off. I do that back to him.” Dixon has finished in the top five of half of his career starts. The next race is on August 19 in Pennsylvania.