Power clinches fourth win of the season in Toronto19/07/2010

Power increases championship lead in Toronto

Team Penske driver, Will Power, has increased his championship lead further by winning the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday 18 July. After starting behind Justin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) on the grid, the Australian driver was joined on the podium by reigning Champion Dario Franchitti (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport). Two women finished in the top ten, the first time this has happened in IndyCar racing.     

The event was swamped with yellow flag safety car periods after a number of on track collisions. Takuma Sato (KV Racing Technology) hit the wall and retired, Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) and team mate Ryan Briscoe were eliminated from the event following crashes, with Alex Tagliani (Fazzt Race Team) and Tomas Schneckter (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) colliding for the final yellow flag.  

The final eight laps were green flagged, with power leading home Franchitti and Hunter-Reay. Andretti Autosport saw all four of its cars finish in the top eight, with Danica Patrick (Andretti Autosport) clinching sixth and Simona de Silvestro (HVM Racing) finishing ninth.   

Powers’ win at Toronto is his second at the circuit, as he previously won the 2007 event when the Champ Car World Series was the sanctioning body. It was also Powers’ fourth victory this season.

Firestone did a fantastic job in Toronto

"I knew that restart would be really slippery. You could just feel the pick-up on the tires (during the caution laps) and we had a long yellow, so the tires were very cold. It was the only time I was going to get past him. Justin made a bit of a mistake and I made a move on the outside. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off, but I was able to. The Firestone (alternate) reds were certainly really good on the first stint and the (primary) blacks held on quite well for the two long stints we had after that. Firestone did fantastic again."
Will Power, #12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone

Another thrilling race in Toronto 

"The streets of Toronto provided us with another thrilling and unpredictable race today. Congratulations to Will Power and the Verizon Team Penske crew for another great victory. Will showed his experience by backing off at the race start, even though he lost a few positions. He bided his time and worked his way back to the front, and the move he made to take the lead was terrific. Will had the confidence in his Firehawks to make that pass and they stuck for him. Overall, we are pleased with the performance of both the Firestone primary and alternate specs. The black-sidewall primes may have been the more popular choice this weekend, but the red-sidewall alternates held up quite well and even saw stints as long as 37 laps (about 65 miles) put on a set without issue."
Joe Barbieri, Manager, Firestone Racing