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Power wins again in St Petersburg

Will Power took a second straight victory in the postponed second round of the IndyCar Series in St Petersburg, as Justin Wilson denied Penske a top three sweep by securing second for Dreyer & Reinbold

The incident packed race, which took place in dry conditions far removed from the storms that prevented any racing on Sunday, came down to a duel between Power and Wilson, with the leader's Penske team-mates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves close behind. But having topped every practice session and taken pole, Power had just enough speed to stay out of Wilson's reach and maintain his 100 per cent victory rate in 2010.

The race was delayed slightly further this morning to allow the track to fully dry out after the storms that caused its postponement - although it remained slick enough for Milka Duno to spin on the formation laps, and for both Mike Conway and Dario Franchitti to rotate on lap one, causing an immediate yellow.

Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti had surged to third behind Power and Scott Dixon (Ganassi) at the start, and after the restart overtook them both on consecutive laps to take the lead - but only for one lap before Dixon repassed him into Turn 1, with Castroneves following suit next time around.

Power had lost momentum after Andretti's move and temporarily fell back to fourth, but kept his softer red tyres in better shape than most, and overtook Andretti and Castroneves to return to second place by lap 19.

Takuma Sato prompted the next yellow on lap 22 by sliding his KV car into the wall while trying to fend off Foyt's Vitor Meira, who was one of several drivers, along with de Ferran/Luczo Dragon driver Raphael Matos and Franchitti, to emerge from the midfield into the lead briefly as the field followed various pitstop strategies during the next stint.

Being back in the pack following the pit shuffle spoilt several leading contenders' chances - with Dixon smashing his front wing by tagging KV's Mario Moraes, and Tony Kanaan (who had dropped back from second with a poor getaway at the start) and team-mate Andretti pitting for repairs after making contact amid the incident.

The most frightening crash of the day came on lap 46, when Panther driver Dan Wheldon's right rear suspension appeared to break on the approach to Turn 1. He bounced off Moraes and speared into the tyres, but was unhurt.

Half the field made what was planned to be their penultimate stops during the resultant caution, moving Power back into the lead ahead of Wilson, EJ Viso (KV), Simona de Silvestro (HVM) and Danica Patrick (Andretti Autosport), all five among the drivers who stayed out.

The top three broke away at the restart, with Viso then the first to make his final stop on lap 64. This turned out to be sublime timing, as moments later Dreyer & Reinbold's Mike Conway bounced into the tyres after a tangle with Matos and caused another yellow.

With all the other leaders having to pit during the caution, Viso moved to the front - at least once Meira, on another totally different strategy, had pitted from the lead. But just when Viso looked a good bet for a maiden win, a gearbox glitch forced him to pit for repairs.

After another brief yellow - caused by Graham Rahal (Sarah Fisher Racing) tapping de Silvestro into a spin at Turn 1, and the rapidly-recovering Dixon crashing by himself at Turn 9 - the race came down to a final sprint with Power narrowly leading Wilson, and Briscoe and Castroneves giving chase. Briscoe had overcome his dismal qualifying result by making an early first tyre stop and therefore gaining ground when many ahead pitted under the Sato yellow.

Despite a few minor slides from Power, Wilson was never able to get close enough, finishing just under a second behind the victorious Australian, with battling team-mates Briscoe and Castroneves completing the top four.

Having been further delayed by a mid-race puncture, Franchitti mounted a searing late charge to take fifth, as Alex Tagliani gave Fazzt an excellent sixth place finish in only its second ever race.

Running the soft red tyres in the final stint, Patrick had to work hard to resist Matos, Rahal, Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Andretti to secure seventh at the flag. Hunter-Reay rued slowing when he mistakenly thought he had picked up damage from contact, and getting trapped on the wrong side of the Rahal/de Silvestro tangle.

Also missing out on a potentially great result was Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Hideki Mutoh, who popped up among the Penskes mid-race having made an early stop and gained ground as the leaders pitted during the Sato crash yellow, only to later stall in the pits and finish 14th.

Pos  Driver               Team                         Time/Gap
 1.  Will Power           Penske                  2h07m05.7968s
 2.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold           + 0.8244s
 3.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske                      + 4.7290s
 4.  Helio Castroneves    Penske                      + 5.1699s
 5.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi                    + 22.2172s
 6.  Alex Tagliani        Fazzt                      + 29.3224s
 7.  Danica Patrick       Andretti                   + 30.3360s
 8.  Raphael Matos        de Ferran Luczo Dragon     + 30.6695s
 9.  Graham Rahal         Sarah Fisher               + 30.8426s
10.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti                   + 31.3508s
11.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti                   + 31.6286s
12.  Marco Andretti       Andretti                   + 32.1703s
13.  Mario Romancini      Conquest                   + 39.8086s
14.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas/Lanigan        + 39.9949s
15.  Vitor Meira          Foyt                       + 56.0593s
16.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                           + 1 lap
17.  EJ Viso              KV                           + 3 laps

Retirements:

     Scott Dixon          Ganassi                 73 laps
     Mike Conway          Dreyer & Reinbold       64 laps
     Dan Wheldon          Panther                 46 laps
     Mario Moraes         KV                      45 laps
     Takuma Sato          KV                      21 laps
     Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne              10 laps
     Milka Duno           Dale Coyne              7 laps

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