Dixon extends his series lead after great escape

New Zealand driver Scott Dixon has shown his class to survive an incident in the penultimate race of the IndyCar series to ensure his bid for a fifth championship will go down to the season-ending event in California.

Dixon finished the Grand Prix of Portland fifth yesterday, escaping from an early crash and needing an extra pit stop in a race won by Takuma Sato.

Dixon finished three places ahead of his main rival Alexander Rossi.

Dixon had a 26-point lead over Rossi entering the race and gained another three points to take to Sonoma in a fortnight.

Dixon’s other main rival, Australian Will Power, crashed out of lap 68 of 105 while Josef Newgarden, who also has a mathematical chance in the title race, finished 10th.

‘‘Huge day for the team, feels like a win for us,’’ Dixon said. ‘‘The points, whatever it is, is not a huge amount.’’

Dixon was almost gone in the opening lap when he got tangled in a pile-up.

Marco Andretti’s car flipped upside down in the crash, moments after the start in an accordion-effect collision.

Dixon did well to veer left and stay out of trouble, driving blindly through heavy dust. He was able to drive away after his car was pushed into a runoff section of the track.

‘‘I couldn’t see anything once I got off the in the dirt, it was just dust everywhere,’’ Dixon said. ‘‘Then I kept getting hit and hit and thought, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to be good’.’’

He had to pit to check for damage and rejoined the race in 19th. He was twice in 20th place before starting a charge through the field on an impressive salvage job. He was penalised for speeding on pit road, but still made his presence felt.

Dixon used a fuel-saving strategy and fortunate timing with mid-race cautions to climb through the field and gain some breathing room for Sonoma.

Sato, meanwhile, won his third career IndyCar race and first since he won the Indianapolis 500 last season.