Dario Franchitti takes third Indianapolis 500 win in epic race

The Scot spent the late laps trading the lead with Ganassi team-mate Scott Dixon, but Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) managed to get between the pair with two laps to go and lined Franchitti up for a passing attempt.

Sato managed to get alongside Franchitti in the first corner of the final lap, but did not allow himself enough space and bounced off the Ganassi car and into the wall, bringing out the yellows and allowing Franchitti an unchallenged run to the finish.

Franchitti only took the lead for the first time on lap 151 after having to fight his way back from last place following an incident in pitlane during his first stop, when he was hit from behind by KV Racing's EJ Viso and spun while approaching his pit box.

It is Franchitti's third Indy 500 win, and the first win this season for Ganassi and engine supplier Honda.

Dixon finished second for a Ganassi one-two, with KV's Tony Kanaan third and first of the Chevrolet-powered runners. The Brazilian had led during the final caution, but was jumped by the Ganassi pair on the restart.

The race broke the record for the most lead changes in Indy 500 history as drivers took advantage of the tows created by the new DW12 chassis, first place changing hands 35 times.

A number of drivers suffered an early end to their afternoon due to mechanical problems or contact with the wall, including Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti, who crashed out of eighth place with 12 laps to go and brought out the final caution.

The only multi-car incident was triggered by AJ Foyt's Mike Conway, who spun and collected championship leader Will Power (Penske). Conway had just returned to the track after a disastrous pitstop in which he hit two of his pit crew, reportedly leaving him with front wing damage that was not repaired before the Briton was sent back out onto the track.

Results - 200 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                           Time/Gap
 1.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda            2h58m51.2532s
 2.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda                + 0.0295s
 3.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevy                     + 0.0677s
 4.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy            + 2.9166s
 5.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevy                 + 3.6721s
 6.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevy               + 4.0962s
 7.  Justin Wilson        Dale Coyne DW12-Honda             + 4.2430s
 8.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda                + 4.6056s
 9.  Townsend Bell        Schmidt DW12-Honda                + 5.6168s
10.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevy                 + 7.6352s
11.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevy                     + 7.9240s
12.  Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Honda                  + 8.2543s
13.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda                + 8.7539s
14.  JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevy               + 11.3423s
15.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne DW12-Honda            + 13.4494s
16.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt DW12-Honda               + 14.1382s
17.  Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda                    + 1 lap
18.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevy                       + 1 lap
19.  Michel Jourdain Jr   Rahal DW12-Honda                    + 1 lap
20.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon DW12-Chevy                   + 1 lap
21.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevy                + 1 lap
22.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Chevy                   + 1 lap
23.  Ana Beatriz          Andretti/Conquest DW12-Chevy      + 10 laps

Retirements:

     Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevy                187 laps
     Josef Newgarden      Fisher DW12-Honda                  161 laps
     Sebastian Saavedra   AFS/Andretti DW12-Chevy            143 laps
     Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevy                123 laps
     Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevy                   79 laps
     Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda                     78 laps
     Bryan Clauson        Fisher DW12-Chevy                   46 laps
     Wade Cunningham      Foyt DW12-Honda                     42 laps
     Jean Alesi           Fan Force DW12-Lotus                10 laps
     Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus                       9 laps