Mixed fortunes for 2 Aussies at Indy 300

[October 27, 2008]  SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) -- Ryan Briscoe thought Sunday's Indy 300 was a great way to cap off the year. Will Power thought it featured the worst mistake of his career.

No trouble figuring which one of these Aussies won, and which might not have reached the finish line.

Briscoe took the lead when polesitter Power crashed into the wall on the 17th lap, giving Team Penske its first victory Down Under since 1992, when Emerson Fittipaldi was the winner. It was also the first victory by a homegrown driver in the Australian race.

"It doesn't get any better than this," Briscoe said. "What a way to cap off the year, and in my home country."

For the third straight year Power, who grew up about a two-hour drive from the track, thought it might just be him.

Fastest in two practice sessions Friday and winner of the qualifying session Saturday, Power took a two-second lead after four laps in the 60-lap race on the sun-drenched oceanside street track.

But it all came undone when he clipped the wall on Turn 6. While Power heavily criticized Sebastien Bourdais for taking him out of the race in 2006, and he made contact last year with Katherine Legge that forced him out, this year he had only himself to blame.

With his suspension gone, he hit the next wall and then drove the damaged car to the back of a tire barrier, where it stayed until the race ended.

"It's a big disappointment, the worst mistake of my career," said Power, who appeared to be close to tears in the pits. "It's motorsports, but I just can't win at this place. I had such a quick car this weekend ... it was just a bad display."

Briscoe finished .5019 seconds ahead of Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon of New Zealand on the 2.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. American Ryan Hunter-Reay was third.

Alex Tagliani of Canada, who is attempting to cement a place with Conquest Racing after two races with the team, was fourth, followed by Oriol Servia.

"It was definitely special to win here," said Briscoe. "I was getting pressured there at the end with Scott and low fuel. I really feel bad for Will Power. He had a real fast car."

Only three pole-sitters have won in the 18-year history of the Australian race -- Nigel Mansell in 1993, Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and Dario Franchitti in 1999.

It was Briscoe's third win of the year, having won previously on the Milwaukee Mile oval and the Mid-Ohio road course.

Briscoe, who celebrated by doing a series of doughnuts on the track during the warmdown lap, saw his near two-second lead over Dixon slip to as low as .7 seconds with a few laps left as he attempted to conserve fuel.

Dixon thought he had a chance to catch Briscoe over the final 10 laps.

"The traffic at the end made it exciting," said Dixon. "We were quicker in different spots. If he had made a mistake, we could have got him."

Hunter-Reay, who won here in 2003, has never been out of the top five at Surfers Paradise.

"It was a long day with those curbs," the American driver said. "Unfortunately, I got held up by (Alex) Tagliani for a good while ... but the guys did a great job in the pits to get us by him."

Danica Patrick stalled after trying to avoid an accident, and looked extremely agitated while gesturing to nearby track officials in the jump truck to get her engine started.

Patrick, who had a tough time qualifying and started at the back of the grid Sunday, finished 18th.

Despite some predictions of a major accident on the first-turn chicane involving the field of 24 -- the largest here since 2001 -- there was only a minor skirmish between Mario Moraes and fellow Brazilian Victor Meira.

This Surfers Paradise race was held for the first time under the Indy Racing League banner, and was a non-points event. The IRL and Champ Car World Series, which formerly staged the Surfers Paradise event, unified in February.

"It means almost a million points to me, to win my home race," said Briscoe.

Due to a scheduling conflict, the race is not on the IRL schedule for 2009, although talks are continuing in an effort to have it reinstated.

[Associated Press; By DENNIS PASSA]

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