THE LINE

August 11, 2010

(Images © 2010 - John Thawley)
Everything fell into place for Mazda and the Dyson team at Mid-Ohio on Saturday when the Chris Dyson/Guy Smith No. 16 Castrol Mazda MZR-R-powered Lola took the overall win over the No. 1 Patron Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01c driven by David Brabham/Simon Pagenaud by .506 of a second, with both first and second place racers setting their fastest race laps within the last 15 laps of the 119 lap race. It was the first overall win for the Mazda MZR-R engine in ALMS competition (the wins in 2009 were in the LMP2 class), the first ever overall win with BP BioFuels Iso-butanol fuel and the first overall win for Dunlop in the ALMS (which finally ended Michelin's incredible 50-race win streak).  Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker (No. 55 Level 5 Racing) finished third overall and took the win in the LMP Challenge class running the entire two hour, 45-minute race without changing tires. Considering that ALMS cars must start the race on their qualifying tires and Bouchut ran a session-high 15 laps in qualifying to take the pole, the duo covered 130 laps or 293 miles on a single set of Michelin non-confidential specification tires. The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari driven by Gianmaria (Gimmi) Bruni and Jaime Melo took its third win of the season and moved into second place in the GT championship. The No. 4 Corvette C6R driven by Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta battled the Risi Ferrari entry throughout the race, finishing second. The E10-fueled HPD Highcroft Racing prototype driven by Brabham and Pagenaud captured their second MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge win of the season and the E85R-fueled No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long also scored their second MICHELIN GREEN X GT win of the season. Check out the latest set of scintillating images from John Thawley - this time from Mid-Ohio - here.

(Shawn Gritzmacher/IndyCar)
Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda-Powered Dallara) held off Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Hone-Powered Dallara) by 0.5234 (the third-closest road/street course finish in series history) and scored his second win of the season at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Sunday afternoon. It was Franchitti's first win at the 2.258-mile circuit, a venue where he holds the track record and won his first pole 12 years ago. It was also Franchitti's 15th career IZOD IndyCar Series victory and his 25th career Indy car win (combining IZOD IndyCar Series and CART results). He currently is tied with Gordon Johncock ranking 12th on the all-time Indy car win list. Power's Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves, finished third in his No. 3 machine and Alex Tagliani finished a season-high fourth in the No. 77 FAZZT Race Team car. Scott Dixon was fifth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry. "I think the key to the race, obviously, was the Target car was very fast," said Franchitti. "I drove every lap like it was a qualifying lap today, whether I was behind Will or ahead of Will.  But the key was that first pit stop by the Target boys to get me out ahead, especially a 35-foot pit box. It's the tightest we run.  In practice, we couldn't get the thing out of the box with Will parked in his or get it in properly. But when the race win was on the line, it didn't seem quite as difficult and managed to pass him. I think that was the key today, because we were incredibly evenly matched on the track." Next up for IndyCar is the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 22 at Infineon Raceway. The race will be telecast in HD by VERSUS at 5 p.m. The race will also be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network and on XM Satellite Radio 145 and Sirius 212.

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
Will Power - shown here getting pit service from his Penske crew - and Franchitti were so evenly matched that it was ultimately the speedy pit work by Franchitti's crew that made the difference. Franchitti has now closed to within 41 points of Power - the overall championship leader - but Power did capture IndyCar's inaugural Mario Andretti Road Championship Trophy.

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
With the commotion from Edmonton finally over, Helio Castroneves finished third, his third podium of the 2010 season.

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
Dario receives congratulations from his crew after his big win at Mid-Ohio.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Every win is special at this level, just ask Dario.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Dario savors his victor's kiss from wife Ashley Judd.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Martin Plowman (shown here in practice) scored his first career Firestone Indy Lights victory, leading the Mid-Ohio 100 flag-to-flag in his No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers/KEP Print Group machine. Plowman is the fifth different race winner in Firestone Indy Lights this season.

(© 2010 - Tyler Barrick Autostock)
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Roush-Fenway Racing Aflac Ford) leads Jamie McMurray (No. 1 Ganassi Racing McDonald's Chevrolet) and Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet) through the "The Esses" after the start at Watkins Glen International in the "Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen." Montoya would score his second career NASCAR victory - leading 74 of 90 laps - and first win in 113 races after a race-long duel with Marcos Ambrose, who had won the Nationwide race on Saturday. Kurt Busch would eventually end-up in second place, with Ambrose finishing third.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD

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