Mike Conway dominated the opening race of this weekend’s IndyCar double-header in Detroit; the Briton taking an extraordinary win on his one-off appearance with Dale Coyne Racing.
Conway, who was only confirmed as the driver of the second Coyne car a few days ago, crossed the line more than 12 seconds ahead of second-placed Ryan Hunter-Reay.
The pair had been fighting each other right from the start of the race, but the key moment came when Andretti driver Hunter-Reay switched to the red tyres for the middle stint and immediately began to struggle.
His drop in pace allowed Conway to open a huge lead, and when the Brit made his own stop to put the reds on with 18 laps to go, most of his work was already done.
Hunter-Reay was not able to get enough out of his final set of harder tyres to close the gap back down, and Conway was able to enjoy a pressure-free run to the flag.
Justin Wilson completed a great afternoon for the Coyne team by finishing third, although he had to hold off a charging Scott Dixon to earn his place on the podium.
A late crash by Ryan Briscoe, who is making his first appearance with Panther Racing this weekend, raised the prospect of a second finish under yellows in as many weekends, but on this occasion the situation was controlled with local yellows in the vicinity of the Australian’s stricken car, and the race was completed under green conditions.
Other significant incidents included the first-lap accident that accounted for AJ Allmendinger, who tried to go three-wide with Dixon and Wilson, and instead found himself flying over the back of Dixon’s car and into the wall.
Dixon was forced to pit under caution for repairs to his rear wing, but managed to remain on the lead lap.
Marco Andretti, who came into the weekend as the points leader, finished well down the order after losing several laps in the pits undergoing repairs to damage sustained in a clash with Charlie Kimball.
Andretti had earlier been involved in another accident that ended with Sebastian Saavedra’s car hitting the wall.
