Huge penalty costs Scott Dixon any chance in IndyCar season-opener
Scott Dixon steps away from his car during the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Scott Dixon has made a sloppy start to his latest IndyCar campaign causing an accident that cost him a hefty penalty and ruined his chances in the season-opener in Florida.
The 37-year-old Kiwi eventually finished sixth in the St Petersburg Grand Prix on Monday (NZT).
Dixon was penalised for running into the back of Takuma Sato’s car and was sent to the rear of the field for what IndyCar deemed “avoidable contact.”
Dixon, a four-time series champion, restarted the race 21st and made good progress through the field but couldn’t get to the leaders.
In an incident-packed race, Sebastien Bourdais took advantage of a wreck among leaders Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi on a late restart to win.
Graham Rahal was second and Alexander Rossi third.
The top six finishers which included James Hinchliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dixon all used Honda engines.
Wickens was heading to a victory in his IndyCar debut until two late cautions gave Rossi a chance to take it away.
On a restart with two laps remaining, Rossi tried to dive inside of Wickens entering the first turn. The two cars made contact and Wickens spun off course.
Bourdais slid by both cars from third for the victory.
The race debuted IndyCar’s sleek new race car that is designed to improve competition, level the playing field and cut costs. Sunday saw a race-record 366 on-track passes, breaking the mark of 323 set in 2008.
Dixon had shown good speed in practice sessions but started ninth on the grid after he was caught with the wrong tires when light rain fell on the final qualifying session on Sunday (NZT).
Source :Stuff.co.nz
Comments
