Dario Franchitti claimed his third Indy 500 crown in spectacular fashion last Sunday.
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| Franchitti recovered from this early incident |
The Scot, starting from the middle of the field took the lead for
the first time on lap 151 after earlier falling to last place after
being spun in the pits by EJ Viso of KV Racing.
The two Lotus runners, Simona de Silvestro and rookie Jean
Alesi were black flagged after nine and ten laps respectively due to not
meeting Indy Car's 105% Speed ruling.
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| A spinning Conway (top) took out Will Power |
Championship leader Scott Dixon was an early victim after a colision
with the spinning Mike Conway. The Andretti Curse also struck again when
Marco Andretti crashed out of eigth place with only 12 laps remaining.
He had earlier complained that the high temperatures
were affecting the soles of his racing shoes.
The race set the record for most lead changes in the Indy 500 (35),
Franchitti, Andretti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe and
even former F1 stars Rubens Barichello and Takuma Sato were amongst the
leaders.
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| Sato's move didn't pay off |
In the closing stages, Target Chip Ganassi team meats Dario
Franchitti and Scott Dixon exchanged the lead with Tony Kanaan also
coming into play. After leading earlier, and making a fantastic pass on Scott Dixon a lap earlier to take second; Takuma Sato made a brave move
on the last lap at turn one for the lead but he got his
left wheels onto the white line at the bottom of the racing surface,
spinning into the wall, subsequently ending the race under caution.
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| Franchitti leads Dixon |
Franchitti, Dixon and Kanaan (1-2-3 in the race) crossed the line
together in tribute to their best friend Dan Wheldon, the 2011 Indy 500
winner who died tragically last October in a crash during the Indy Car
World Championsip race at Las Vegas.
An emotional Franchitti, donning Wheldon's trademark white framed
sunglasses, said in victory lane: "To be on the trophy beside Dan on
either side, that means more than anything. Everybody up there was a
friend of Dan's and everybody loved Dan. I think DW
[Dan Wheldon] would be proud of that one."
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| Franchitti kisses the bricks |
Dan Wheldon's 2011 Indy 500 car took to the track before the race in a
short tribute whilst American troops where honoured, with team owner
Bryan Herta behind the wheel.
Images from LA Times
In memory of Dan Wheldon - 1978-2011
