Will Power made a triumphant return to the IndyCar Series with a win in the season-opening race in Brazil on Sunday.
In his first race since suffering a back injury last season at Infineon Raceway, Power returned to the IRL in successful fashion after he passed Ryan Hunter-Raey in the closing laps on the streets of São Paulo to win the Grand Prix of Brazil.
The race, which was forced to be stopped and ultimately shortened by torrential rains that hit the area, marked Indy Car racing's first in Brazil since the 2000 season.
Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, won by 1.8581 seconds over Hunter-Reay. Vitor Meira finished third, his first race since he suffered a season-ending back injury at Indianapolis in 2009.
"It was probably the most mixed up race that I have ever been in, but it created an opportunity for me to come back through the field and end up winning the race," Power said. "The improvements that they did to the track last night, were like night and day. Not a problem at all going down the frontstraight. I think it is just a really good day for racing. If you were fast you could pass, because there is such a good track layout here. I'm pretty sure it was an exciting race for the fans."
Power and Meira suffered 2009 season-ending injuries (Power in August, Meira in May), and both wound up on the podium in their first race back in the series.
"It couldn't be much better than that," Meira said. "I think Will (Power) can relate to it with a back injury and all that, it gets pretty uncertain at some times and having a team behind you making sure that the seat is availble, makes a big difference during the recovery. This is the start of the big thank you I have to give to A.J. (Foyt) and ABC Supply. I hope we get better. We overcame a lot here. Like Will said before, it was a mixed up race. I think whether you were able to keep your nose clean and were fast enough to make up position in all conditions, you could come out with a good result and that's what we did."
Raphael Matos finished fourth, a career best finish for the sophomore driver, and Dan Wheldon rounded out the top five.
Hunter-Reay had dominated most of the race in his first start with theAndretti Autosport team, but wasn't able to hold on for the win in the closing laps.
"It is great to have a race in Brazil," Hunter-Reay said. "The country and the fans are so passionate about racing. And that was a great show we put on. That's what we need on these street circuit and road courses is a lot of passing like that. We definitely have the tools to do it. We have two straightaways that were pretty long and provided pretty good passing zones. It was just great to get the IZOD car up on the podium in second place to start of the season."
The beginning of the race started with a scary crash.
The car of Mario Moraes wound up on top of Marco Andretti's car in the melee with the bottom of the machine sitting on Andretti's helmet for several minutes. After the safety crew was able to get the car off of Andretti, he did walk away from the accident.
"It was a disappointing day for me and the Panamericano-KV Racing Technology team," Moraes said. "The start was very dusty and drivers in front of me were braking early into Turn One. By the time I realized it was about 500 metres into the corner and when I applied the brakes I lost the rear and hit another car ending my race on the first lap."
The IZOD IndyCar Series now heads to St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 28th.
