Pikes Peak: De Ferran storms to victory

After leading into the final lap at Nazareth and losing a wheel left untightened after his final pit stop at Indy, de Ferran dominated in Colorado to win by just under a second and a half from his team-mate, Helio Castroneves.

Away from the green flag, de Ferran led until the skies opened up at the 30-lap mark, pitting under the resultant yellow, but surrendering the lead to Billy Boat, the only driver who did not stop. When the race went green again, Castroneves led a couple of laps before de Ferran took over for good.

"It was fantastic today," said de Ferran. "In traffic, I could drive on the bottom, I could drive on the top. We've been knocking on the door since the beginning of the year, and I'm glad to get one under my belt.

"There is no backing off. Those guys were running really close. Certainly Helio and Hornish were very, very fast. I knew my advantage was in traffic, so I was trying to use those situations to open up a little bit of a cushion," he added.

He held the top spot to the end despite the close attentions of both his team-mate and third-placed Sam Hornish Jr. (Pennzoil Dallara-Chevrolet), who finished second and third.

The shuffle behind those three ultimately ended with Felipe Giaffone taking fourth in Mo Nunn's Hollywood GForce-Chevy, ahead of Tom Kelley's two drivers, Al Unser Jr and Scott Sharp, in the Corteco and Delphi Dallaras, respectively.

Laurent Redon (MiJack Dallara-Infiniti), Eddie Cheever (Red Bull Dallara-Infiniti), Airton Dare (Harrah's Dallara-Chevy) and Alex Barron (Rayovac Dallara-Chevrolet) filled out the top 10. Anthony Lazzaro, Jon Herb and Jeff Ward were unhurt in separate accidents during the race.