Scott Dixon wins at Long Beach

Autosport

Scott Dixon ended his Long Beach hoodoo with a comfortable win on the southern Californian street circuit in Sunday’s IndyCar race.

The Ganassi driver was able to get around Juan Pablo Montoya early on to claim second, and then capitalised on a brief delay for then-leader Helio Castroneves during the first round of stops to leapfrog the Brazilian.

From that point on, he was never really under threat. By the third stint his lead over Castroneves was out to more than three seconds, and it settled to 2.2s when he crossed the line to take his first win at a venue where he had never previously finished higher than fourth.

Castroneves had a similarly straightforward run to the flag for second place, and it was left to the battle for third behind him to provide most of the late-race entertainment.

Initially it was a straight fight between Penske team-mates Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud, with Pagenaud pushing the Colombian hard right through the final stint.

Over the closing laps Tony Kanaan and Sebastien Bourdais closed in to make it a four-way fight, but nobody was able to make a move stick and the quartet crossed the line with their running order unchanged.

By Long Beach standards, the race was largely uneventful. The only caution period was early and brief; the cars spending just a couple of tours behind the safety car to allow a piece of debris to be retrieved on lap four.

The only real drama came during the first round of stops, when Luca Filippi stalled at the pit entry, and then Will Power did the same thing while trying to get around him.

Both were able to rejoin, but only after falling off the lead lap.

RESULTS – 80 laps

PosDriverTeamCarGap
1Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet1h37m35.2353s
2Helio CastronevesTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet2.2221s
3Juan Pablo MontoyaTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet13.4862s
4Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet13.7382s
5Tony KanaanChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet14.6249s
6Sebastien BourdaisKVSH RacingDallara/Chevrolet15.0829s
7Josef NewgardenCFH RacingDallara/Chevrolet18.8398s
8Marco AndrettiAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda33.9476s
9Carlos MunozAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda34.9599s
10Sebastian SaavedraChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet35.5359s
11Graham RahalRahal Letterman LaniganDallara/Honda37.4628s
12James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsDallara/Honda38.7713s
13Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda40.3347s
14Jack HawksworthAJ Foyt EnterprisesDallara/Honda41.2744s
15Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet44.3872s
16Gabby ChavesBryan Herta AutosportDallara/Honda46.6589s
17Conor DalyDale Coyne RacingDallara/Honda50.0574s
18Takuma SatoAJ Foyt EnterprisesDallara/Honda53.8043s
19James JakesSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsDallara/Honda1m39.7966s
20Will PowerTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet1 Lap
21Francesco DraconeDale Coyne RacingDallara/Honda2 Laps
22Luca FilippiCFH RacingDallara/Chevrolet3 Laps
23Stefano ColettiKV Racing TechnologyDallara/Chevrolet11 Laps
Rocky Moran Jr.Dale Coyne RacingDallara/HondaWithdrawn

DRIVERS’ POINTS

PosDriverPoints
1Juan Pablo Montoya119
2Helio Castroneves116
3Tony Kanaan93
4Scott Dixon87
5James Hinchcliffe83
6Will Power80
7Simon Pagenaud73
8Sebastien Bourdais66
9Josef Newgarden66
10Graham Rahal62
11Marco Andretti61
12Carlos Munoz56
13James Jakes54
14Ryan Hunter-Reay51
15Luca Filippi50
16Jack Hawksworth48
17Simona de Silvestro44
18Gabby Chaves42
19Charlie Kimball40
20Takuma Sato37
21Stefano Coletti30
22Sage Karam23
23Francesco Dracone23
24Sebastian Saavedra20
25Carlos Huertas20
26Conor Daly13

 

Scott Dixon wins at Long Beach

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