Pole winner Dixon wary of Alonso threat

TORONTO: Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Scott Dixon feels twice Formula One champion Fernando Alonso, who is making his IndyCar debut on Sunday, will be one of the main threats to his chances of winning The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Alonso slipped into an IndyCar for the first time three weeks ago but the accomplished driver qualified for the 33-car race with the fifth fastest time and starts in the second row.

“He’s done amazing and, to be honest, to win the race he’s going to be one of the guys you’re going to have to beat,” Dixon, a four times IndyCar Series champion, told Reuters on Tuesday during a promotional IndyCar stop in Toronto.

“You can typically weed out a group of guys in any formula that are at the top and are slightly different than the rest and he is one of those guys.”

Dixon, who started from pole when he won the 2008 Indy 500, said Alonso will benefit from driving for an Andretti Autosport team that put four drivers in victory lane, including Alexander Rossi, who last year became the race’s ninth rookie winner.

Alonso’s driver coach is 2003 Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran, who is famous for his analytical approach to racing, which Dixon feels in another element that makes the 35-year-old Spaniard a threat on the sprawling 2.5 mile (4.02km) speedway.

“You can tell he does everything very methodically,” Dixon said of Alonso. “He’s got a great group of people around him... helping him and guiding him. Plus it’s one of the few places we do get a lot of practice at which helps a lot.”

Meanwhile Alonso said his racing in this Sunday’s Indy 500 spurred great interest in Spain and that other Formula One drivers crossing over would benefit both U.S. racing and Formula One.

“I think Formula One needs North America and maybe North America needs more of Formula One than what we currently have,” Alonso told Reuters on Tuesday.

“I think its a win-win situation,” the Spaniard said about the potential impact of more F1 drivers following his example and crossing over between the circuits.

Alonso said he understood that interest back home in the Indy 500 had spiked by 800 percent.

“For the fans, from what I see now in Spain and Europe, it is amazing the interest in the Indy 500 this year compared to any other year,” he said.

“Everyone in Spain, they are waiting for May 28 to watch the race.”