Dixon snatches Lights win

The team Green driver had looked set to continue the phenomenal run of success he had enjoyed at the end of 1999, after taking pole around the Long Beach street circuit.

Kane led for the majority of the race, but as the race was green flagged after a caution period, Kane got away badly and was forced onto a defensive line on the run down to turn 1.

The Ulsterman consequently missed his braking point off-line, and Dixon had room to squeeze past.

The New Zealander had followed Kane for the early part of the race from second on the grid, steadily applying pressure to Kane's Lola. It was pressure that would eventually pay off.

"On the last restart I was disappointed I did not go under Jonny (Kane) earlier because I think I could have made it," said the PacWest driver. "As it turned out he broke too late and I was in a position to slip underneath him cleanly.

"We have a bit of a break now and I know I will just be itching to get back into the car."

Kane was confident that were it not for his slip, he had the car and the speed to have won.

"The race was going perfectly," said the 26 year old. "I had a few re-starts, which were all quite good. I didn't have to defend into the first turn. My car was obviously working well as we went further into the race. I wasn't pushing that hard and I was pulling away."

However, as Kane explained, his poor getaway at the last restart led to him locking up his brakes. Ironically, Kane pipped Dixon to the Rookie of the Year title at the last race of last season - the 19 year old will no doubt be relishing his revenge.

Dixon went on to enjoy a 3.753-second margin of victory over Jason Bright and Felipe Giaffone in third.

Kane's teammate Jeff Simmons started fifth and finished fourth in his Indy Lights debut. Simmons held his ground all day long and finished comfortably ahead of Casey Mears, who was fifth. Kane had fallen to seventh after his miscue, but passed Rodolfo Lavin to finish sixth.

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