BRISCOE TAMES TEXAS (& Danica too)

Pole sitter Ryan Briscoe held off Danica Patrick to win the Firestone 550K at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday night. Marco Andretti finished third for the second consecutive race and New Zealand's Scott Dixon, the 2008 race winner, finished fourth. Briscoe had a late race dice with Patrick who continued her return to form after Indy. "Danica got by us and I didn't want to make any aggressive moves and block." said Briscoe. "I gained some momentum on the next lap, used the push-to-pass and was able to pass her out of Turn 4 and into Turn 1. She gave us a real run for our money tonight. It was fun racing side-by-side with her." Dixon's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti was fifth, ending the two-year streak of the Indianapolis 500 winner repeating at Texas the same year.

AUSSIE BRISCOE ON POLE FOR TEXAS INDY

Australian driver Ryan Briscoe will start from pole in Saturday night's Indy car race at Texas Motor Speedway. Driving for Team Penske, Briscoe recorded a four-lap average speed of 215.273 mph (1 minute, 37.3275 seconds) to earn the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the Firestone 550K race which will be held under lights at the high banked 1.5 mile oval. Dario Franchitti, seeking to be the third consecutive Indianapolis 500 champion to win at Texas in the same year, was 0.0057 of a second off Briscoe's pace. He'll start on the outside of the front row for the 228-lap race under the lights after an average of 215.261 mph. Briscoe's teammate and fellow aussie, Will Power, will be on the second row along with New Zealand's Scott Dixon.

FRANCHITTI WINS SECOND STRAIGHT INDY 500

A dominant performance by Dario Franchitti has given the Scotsman his second straight win in America's biggest motor race, the Indianapolis 500. Franchitti started from position three but by the end of lap one he had already passed both Will Power and pole man Helio Castroneves for the lead. Second place went to England's Dan Wheldon. Wheldon came on strong late in the race to overhaul Marco Andretti who was the first American driver home in third. Alex Lloyd, drove from 26th to finish fourth. Initially credited with third place, Lloyd was relegated to fourth after stewards determined that he had passed under the yellow flag following the huge accident that took out Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Conway and Hunter-Reay made contact catapulting Conway into the air. His car hit the catch fencing, shredding the car, sending debris flying and leaving Conway with injuries to his left leg. The in-car footage from Hunter-Reay's car shows just how lucky he was to avoid any serious injury.

AUSSIE POWER TAKES EDMONTON INDY

Australian driver Will Power has recorded his first IndyCar Series victory with a win in the Indycar Grand Prix of Edmonton in Canada. Starting from pole Power won the 95-lap race from Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and New Zealand driver Scott Dixon. Power's fellow Australian, Ryan Briscoe was fourth ahead of Dario Franchitti and local fan favourite Paul Tracy. "It caps a perfect weekend," Power said. The race was headed for the first without a caution in IndyCar Series history until Tomas Scheckter's No. 23 MonaVie car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing made contact with the concrete barrier in Turn 10 of the 1.973-mile, 14-turn circuit. The previous low was one yellow flag for two laps at Infineon Raceway last August. A scary situation developed during what was supposed to be a routine Lap 34 pit stop when the fueling hose remained open after the stop, splashing 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol onto the side of the car and on driver Tony Kanaan. The fuel ignited, with Kanaan scrambling to extricate himself from the car as Team Penske and Panther Racing crew members doused the car to retard the flames. Kanaan suffered burns on his thumbs and face and will be re-evaluated by Indy Racing League medical personnel this week. Graham Rahal finished seventh, Justin Wilson was eighth and Robert Doornbos tied his season high with a ninth-place finish. Marco Andretti, who started 18th, finished 10th. Dixon now leads the series as the teams head back to the oval at Kentucky Speedway on August 1. with Indycar Media

WILL POWER ON WIND TUNNEL

MORE POWER FOR PENSKE

Australian driver Will Power will return to the drivers seat this year with Roger Penske announcing that Power will drive at five races in 2009. Power raced for Penske at the start of the year filling in for regular driver Helio Castroneves who was facing serious tax evasion charges. Castroneves returned to the team after he was acquitted of all charges leaving Power without a regular drive. Speaking before Sunday's NACAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway Penske said the team was looking at some road and street courses for Power over the final 11 races of the IndyCar season. Power finished sixth on the streets of St. Petersburg before a fine second at Long Beach, he returned to Indianapolis for the 500 where he finished fifth. In spite of missing several rounds Power remains eighth in this years Indycar Championship.

AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT MOURNS LOSS OF GRAHAM WATSON

Team owner, driver patron and former CAMS Gold Star winning driver Graham Watson has passed away after a brief battle with cancer. Watson who won the Australian Drivers Championship in 1986 was a prominent supporter of openwheel racing in Australia actively supporting several young drivers in their local careers. Most recently he had thrown his support behind young NSW driver Tom Tweedie in this years Australian F3 championship. Despite his illness Watson was alongside Tweedie at the opening round of the season on the streets of Adelaide. Watson was an integral part of the local openwheel scene, his roster of drivers reading like a who's who of local and international motorsport. Current Indy Racing League stars Scott Dixon and Will Power both drove for Watson in the early stages of their careers as did current F1 star Mark Webber, Le Mans endurance driver David Brabham, Brazilian Roberto Moreno and V8 Supercars star Craig Lowndes. The Australian Formula Three Association said that the loss of Watson was a huge blow to the community that surrounds the Gold Star championship, and will be felt around Australian Motorsport in general - such was his influence on so many drivers, teams and people working throughout the industry. The Association have announced plans to honour Watson at the next round of the championship to be held at Wakefield Park in conjunction with the Shannons Nationals on April 24 – 26. In Pit Lane passes on its sincere condolences to the family and many friends of a great friend of Australasian motorsport. 

MORE POWER TO PENSKE: All Aussie line up possible ?

It could be an all Australian line up as Australian driver Will Power replaces Helio Castroneves at Team Penske. The Indianapolis Star has reported that Power will replace the Brazilian while the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion fights serious tax evasion charges.  Castroneves, who also won the US version of the popular television programme “Dancing With The Stars“, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and tax evasion involving about $US5.5 million ($A8.1 million) in income stashed in offshore accounts. Penske team president Tim Cindric told the “Star” that the team remained behind Castroneves and were hopeful that the situation would soon have a “positive outcome.” Power, who looked set to be without a drive following the withdrawal of Craig Gore's Team Australia sponsorship will take over testing of Penske's No.3 car.

BRISCOE WINS ANZAC DAY ON THE GOLD COAST

Only hours before their respective Nations clash in the Rugby League World Cup Australian Ryan Briscoe and New Zealand's Scott Dixon fought out a thrilling Gold Coast Indy 300 and it was the Aussie that came out on top. Briscoe became the only Australian driver to win the race hanging on to beat the reigning Indycar Champion by less than a second. Briscoe took the lead after home town hero Will Power crashed out while leading. Back in the pits Power was gutted by his mistake. “It was a really bad mistake, the worst of my life.” he said. “It was a very bad day for me and I am very disappointed.”  Even Briscoe had some sympathy for his fellow Aussie. “ I really feel bad for Will Power. He had a real fast car.“ said Briscoe.

WILL POWERS TO PARADISE POLE

Local hero Will Power has given his home state fans something to cheer about setting the fastest time in qualifying for Sunday's Gold Coast Indy 300. It'll be a trans-tasman showdown with series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner New Zealand's Scott Dixon alongside Power on the front row.   In a qualifying session hit by showers, Power timed his run perfectly to beat the Kiwi star to the pole by almost a full second. “It was quite a difficult session, to be honest.” said Power. “ I went out there and half the track was wet and half the track was dry. It was a matter of getting through each round and in the last round it was all dry. It was back to what I knew quite well. On the last lap, I backed off out and made sure I got a good run in. I'm very happy for the team. We turned up with a pretty good car out of the box and the guys did great work. Hopefully we can get it done this weekend, because that's what we've been trying to do for the last three years.“