Dario Franchitti takes third Indianapolis 500 win in epic race
Dario Franchitti came from the rear of the field to take the win in a dramatic Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
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
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