Hunter-Reay claims first win of 2012 in rain-delayed IndyCar race at Milwaukee

Rain showers half an hour before the scheduled start time forced a 90 minute delayed to allow the weather to improve and the track to be cleared.

Once things got underway Hunter-Reay was in contention from the opening stages, but he only took the lead for the first time when Helio Castroneves slowed on lap 141. From there he survived a series of late cautions to cross the line 5.1029s clear of nearest challenger Tony Kanaan.

Andretti's James Hinchcliffe secured third with a pass around the outside of Dreyer and Reinbold's Oriol Servia just a handful of laps before the end, elevating himself to second in the points standings in the process. EJ Viso (KV Racing) and Castroneves (Penske) rounded out the top five.

Polesitter and early race leader Dario Franchitti was among those whose afternoon ended early.

The Scot was running alongside Penske's Ryan Briscoe on a restart when the pair touched wheels. With what the Ganassi team suspects was broken suspension, Franchitti was entering the next corner when the car suddenly swapped ends and shot into the wall.

Team-mate Scott Dixon also had a frustrating afternoon, having climbed from 21st to third when he was called in for a drive-through penalty for jumping a restart - a decision that caused some consternation on the Ganassi pit perch, given that the restart in question was waved off.

The one scrap of consolation for the New Zealander was the fact that despite the penalty he was still able to finish one place ahead of title rival Will Power, who spent most of the race in a fruitless search for some clear air.

The only multi-car incident in the race occurred when Takuma Sato lost control and managed to collect James Jakes on his way into the wall, just as JR Hildebrand simultaneously shut down with a terminal overheating problem.

Last weekend's Texas winner Justin Wilson also failed to see the finish line after his engine let go with a cloud of smoke shortly before half-distance.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevy         1h52m17.8119s
 2.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevy                   + 5.1029s
 3.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevy             + 7.2715s
 4.  Oriol Servia         Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus    + 9.8940s
 5.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevy                  + 10.0782s
 6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevy              + 12.1105s
 7.  Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Chevy               + 12.3440s
 8.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevy           + 12.7396s
 9.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda             + 13.3395s
10.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevy                  + 13.8178s
11.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda             + 14.3764s
12.  Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevy              + 24.2642s
13.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt DW12-Honda                + 1 lap
14.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevy                 + 1 lap
15.  Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevy               + 1 lap
16.  Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda                   + 1 lap
17.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda                + 1 lap
18.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Lotus                + 5 laps

Retirements:

     Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda               193 laps
     Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda                 107 laps
     James Jakes          Dale Coyne DW12-Honda            106 laps
     JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevy               105 laps
     Justin Wilson        Dale Coyne DW12-Honda             93 laps
     Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus                    62 laps
     Josef Newgarden      Fisher DW12-Honda                 48 laps