Power passes IndyCar title rival Franchtti in Rankings after Baltimore triumph

Power took a comprehensive victory in the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix to cut his points deficit to Franchitti to just five points.

Three rounds ago, the gap had been 62.

Franchitti finished fourth to limit the damage, but the threat a resurgent Power poses to his 2011 title ambitions was made clear as he dropped behind the Australian in the Rankings order - Power gaining two places to break into sixth, equalling his highest ever spot.

After the race Power was unequivocal in his overall goal, stating: "To me, second in the championship means nothing. I want to win."

Behind power, Newman/Hass' Oriol Servia equalled his best finish of the year in second to vault up the Rankings order, rising 14 places to 52nd.

In a similar situation to the lead IndyCar fight, Yvan Muller (43) finally jumped Huff (47) after closing steadily in the past three events.

Muller took a brace of wins in Valencia to also capture the championship lead, which had been held by Huff from the first day of the season. Both drivers rose in the Rankings on the back of their Spanish display, but Muller enjoyed the biggest gains to vault his British rival.

Elsewhere there were massive gains as FIA GT1 marked the end of a long summer break with the first of back-to-back rounds in China.

Marc VDS Ford duo Maxime Martin (131) and Frederic Makowiecki (178) dominated the weekend, taking a clean sweep of pole positions and race wins to improve by a combined total of 50 places.

The biggest gainers in the series however were Hexis AMR's Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini, who rose a combined total of 115 places to sit 337th and 286th respectively.

To see the full Castrol Rankings and the latest positions in the Race for 2011, please visit www.castroldriverrankings.com.