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Latest from Australia

Regular updates from the Honda Indy 300 at Surfer's Paradise. Click 'refresh' for the latest news

Race due to commence at 5.00am BST

Finish- Dario Franchitti wins and takes the points lead in the process. Full report to follow...

The weather is currently fine, but with some threat of rain in the clouds

Start- Franchitti holds the lead, Pruett up to second then Tracy, Herta down to fourth. De Ferran hits the wall, out of the race with right front suspension damage

Lap 2- Gugelmin retires having trailed smoke since the start. Race order: Franchitti; Pruett; Tracy; Herta; Andretti; Fernandez; Montoya; Kanaan; Moore; da Matta; Papis; Castro Neves; Fittipaldi; Jourdain Jr; Vasser; Carpentier; Magnussen; Gordon; Gidley; Unser Jr; Blundell; Hearn; Montermini; Hattori; Salles

Fittipaldi retires with a fire on his car. Gugelmin has suffered gearbox failure. Pruett is keeping up with Franchitti

Race order- Franchitti; Herta; Montoya; Fernandez; Pruett; Andretti; Tracy; Moore; Kanaan; Papis; Castro-Neves; da Matta; Gordon; Magnussen; Vasser; Blundell; Gidley; Jourdain Jr; Salles; Montermini; Hattori; Carpentier

Unser retired due to throttle linkage failure, Hearn had gearbox problems

Lap 3- Tracy given penalty for startline violation, the steward judged that he passed Herta before the flag came out. He will have to take a drive through penalty within the next couple of laps

Lap 5- Tracy penalty withdrawn on the orders of Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach

Lap 5- Montoya dives past Andretti into sixth, Kanaan tries to follow him through

Lap 7- Montermini spins but continues

Lap 11- After review and debate, Tracy is given the black flag again. His penalty will definitely now be imposed. Franchitti still narrowly leads from Pruett and Tracy

Lap 12- Tracy takes his penalty, drops to tenth

Lap 15- Franchitti leads by nearly 3s. Herta and Fernandez now beginning to come under heavy pressure from Montoya in fifth

Lap 18- Salles being observed for signs of smoke from the rear of the Bettenhausen entry

Lap 20- Kanaan is first man to pit, appears to be a scheduled service

Lap 21- Franchitti and Pruett both pit without drama

Carpentier and Jourdain both go into the tyres trying to outbrake each other, continue unscathed

Lap 22- Montoya and Herta pit, emerge just in front of Pruett, who then tries repeatedly to pass Montoya. The Columbian defends. Unser Jr retires

Lap 23- Fernandez is last of leaders to pit, comes out just in front of Herta, Montoya and Pruett. Hattori crashes in turn three and brings out full course yellow. Herta and Montoya both pass Fernandez, but possibly do so under yellow. Herta definitely made the move in front of a waved yellow, Montoya did it on the exit of the corner so could escape a penalty

Lap 24- Hearn retires in the pits. Race order- Franchitti, Herta, Montoya, Fernandez, Pruett, Andretti, Tracy, Moore, Kanaan, Papis, Castro Neves, Da Matta, Gordon, Magnussen, Vasser, Blundell, Gidley, Jourdain Jr, Salles, Montermini, Hattori, Carpentier

Lap 27- Herta ordered to drop behind Montoya and Fernandez. Franchitti and Montoya now 1-2, green flag next time by

Lap 28- Restart, Montermini spins, Vasser and Blundell collide, brings yellow out again. Franchitti and Montoya had already pulled out a huge lead over the rest of the field

Lap 31- Castro Neves retires with transmission failure. Franchitti and Montoya are flying away frm the pack and running absolutely together

Lap 34- Kanaan passes Tracy for seventh and immediately starts working on Andretti. Franchitti now has the bonus for leading the most laps, cutting Montoya's lead to 11, as Herta works on Fernandez for third.

Lap 35- Blundell collides with Hattori, both are out, full course yellow, Franchitti pits, so do all the other leaders.

Franchitti holds lead, but Fernandez gets out in second ahead of Montoya and Herta. Papis leads, the only one not to pit yet. Pruett, Andretti, Tracy, Kanaan, Moore, Da Matta, Magnussen follow on. Jourdain will drop to the back of the queue as a punishment for driving over equipment in the pits

Lap 37- Green flag, Montoya already working on Fernandez, Da Matta dives down the inside of Moore to take tenth into the first chicane

Lap 38- Kanaan and Da Matta both pass Tracy in separate moves. Papis pulling away very quickly as Kanaan has a big look down the inside of Andretti

Lap 41- Papis has pulled out nearly six seconds over the field, Kanaan putting Andretti under an amazing amount of pressure, with Da Matta also in there

Lap 45- Vasser stops and retires on course, Papis sets the fastest lap of the race and extends his lead to nearly ten seconds

Greg Moore also stops and retires with engine failure.

Lap 47- Papis pits, drops to 14th after a long stop

Lap 48- Franchitti pulling away as Montoya finds himself stuck behind Fernandez

Lap 50- Montoya locks up and slides into the wall. He is out of the race

Lap 51- Leaders all pit. Franchitti holds lead. Pruett lost a lot of ground, Da Matta gained some positions. Full course yellow

Lap 53- Magnussen has not pitted and will lead this race. Race order- Magnussen; Franchitti; Papis; Fernandez; Herta; Andretti; Da Matta; Kanaan; Tracy; Pruett; Gordon; Salles; Gidley; Jourdain; Montermini

Lap 54- Franchitti takes lead on restart as Magnussen tries to conserve fuel

Lap 57- Franchitti leads by 2s, the action is still being mostly provided by Tony Kanaan, who has passed Da Matta and is working on Andretti again

Lap 59- Da Matta loses places to Pruett, Gordon, Salles and Gidley, Gordon then has a major look at Pruett but cannot get through

Lap 60- Montermini retires with a misfire, Papis beginning to put Magnussen under heavy pressure for second place

Lap 61- Gidley slows with smoke coming from the rear of his car

Lap 62- Magnussen has to dive into the pits for a splash and go stop, he drops to the tail of the field

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