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Mid-Ohio IndyCar: Simon Pagenaud wins again for Penske

Simon Pagenaud marched to a fourth win of the season at Mid Ohio after a pair of cautions swung the advantage to a handful of different drivers

Pagenaud had been leading Team Penske team-mate Will Power when the first caution hit on lap 15 of the 90.

A tangle between Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon into the Keyhole hairpin brought the yellow flags out, and handed the advantage to Mikhail Aleshin and the other drivers who had already pitted on the undercut strategy.

After the pitstops cycled out Aleshin looked like he would take a maiden series win, but the second caution caused by Jack Hawksworth slamming into the Turn 1 barriers on lap 60 proved his undoing.

As the final pit window opened following Hawksworth's crash, the whole field other than Dale Coyne Racing team-mates Conor Daly and RC Enerson took to the pits.

Aleshin's Schmidt Peterson mechanics waved him out of his box but the incoming Josef Newgarden who occupied the pitbox in front meant Aleshin careered into the Ed Carpenter Racing driver, and put him out of contention when he had to pit again one lap later for a new wing.

That left Daly gunning it from the front on the restart in a bid to make his four-stop strategy work, but with limited fuel and older tyres he had to pit in the dying laps, swinging the advantage and the race win back to Pagenaud.

The championship leader eventually crossed the line 4.1 seconds ahead of Power.

Carlos Munoz completed the podium, taking advantage of the same undercut strategy as Aleshin and crossing the chequered flag as the highest Honda-powered Dallara.

Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe did well to finish in fourth and fifth respectively after Takuma Sato and Sebastien Bourdais ­- who had been running ahead - touched with just three laps to go.

A final splash and dash meant Daly picked up respectable points in sixth.

It was an anonymous race for both Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan who could only manage 12th and 13th respectively.

Enerson had been running well in his IndyCar debut before the engine cutting out on one of his pitstops meant he finished 20th.

RESULTS - 90 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 1h49m59.6875s
2 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 4.1620s
3 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 6.5662s
4 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 7.0196s
5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 11.1260s
6 Conor Daly Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 11.8526s
7 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 12.8831s
8 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 15.0016s
9 Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda 18.0128s
10 Josef Newgarden Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 18.5404s
11 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 20.6074s
12 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 23.9632s
13 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 24.7606s
14 Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 25.5191s
15 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 26.6191s
16 Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 26.8199s
17 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 42.7274s
18 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 53.5383s
19 R.C. Enerson Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 1 Lap
20 Sebastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Dallara/Chevrolet Spun off
21 Jack Hawksworth AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Honda Contact
22 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Chevrolet Mechanical

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Pos Driver Points
1 Simon Pagenaud 484
2 Will Power 426
3 Helio Castroneves 373
4 Josef Newgarden 364
5 Scott Dixon 357
6 Tony Kanaan 357
7 James Hinchcliffe 329
8 Carlos Munoz 328
9 Graham Rahal 324
10 Charlie Kimball 318
11 Alexander Rossi 316
12 Juan Pablo Montoya 299
13 Ryan Hunter-Reay 294
14 Sebastien Bourdais 283
15 Takuma Sato 257
16 Mikhail Aleshin 243
17 Conor Daly 240
18 Marco Andretti 237
19 Max Chilton 187
20 Jack Hawksworth 162

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