USA TODAY International Edition
Power salutes Pagenaud
Driver, undone by clutch issue, says teammate worthy
Without a functioning clutch, Will Power lost his chance to win another Verizon IndyCar Series championship Sunday.
That was Power’s situation at Sonoma Raceway, where just shy of the halfway point of the GoPro Grand Prix his car stopped surging. Power was downshifting on the approach to Turn 7 when an electrical problem related to the clutch surfaced.
Power worked feverishly on emergency options, but the damage was done as the car coasted to a stop.
If Power couldn’t finish ahead of Simon Pagenaud — he needed to finish 44 points ahead of him here — he couldn’t win the season title for the second time in three years. Power was the 2014 champion.
Team Penske President Tim Cindric said the team called it “a clutch control unit, which leaves the clutch engaged, and it hasn’t experienced such a failure since 2012 when it happened to Ryan Briscoe’s car in a practice.”
The failure on lap 36 and the ensuing repair on pit road dropped Power eight laps off Pagenaud’s race- leading pace, and that let the Frenchman finish the 85- lap race without much concern. Pagenaud made the most of it, winning the race.
Power, who finished 20th, called Pagenaud very deserving.
“Even if I had ( finished) first, he was going to have a great day,” Power said of Pagenaud. “He did everything he needed to. He qualified on pole, he led the ( most) laps, there wasn’t much we could do. Have a win, maybe.”
Power never got to the lead as Pagenaud dominated, leading 76 of the 85 laps. Just before the failure, Power was 11 seconds behind his teammate.
Power finished second in the IndyCar Series standings for the fourth time.
He did so this year despite being forced to miss the seasonopening race in St. Petersburg, Fla., with vertigo issues related to an inner- ear infection.
“Honestly, second ( with) missing the first race and how I felt at the beginning of the year, getting four wins ( I’m) still happy with the year,” Power said.