MOTORSPORT: Power explodes at Indy officials

Facing disciplinary action after a scathing outburst against IndyCar officials Will Power issues a humble apology, Marcos Ambrose's quest for his first  NAS CAR GAMES Sprint Cup win delayed a day, and big rallying news

Aussie closes on Franchitti in the wash-up
Australia's IndyCar championship challenger Will Power is in hot water in America after an outburst against the top race official in the series.
Power faces stiff discipline – at least a hefty fine - over his comments in the wake of a chaotic finish to the latest race at the one-mile (1.6km) oval at Loudon, New Hampshire, about 120km north of Boston.

However, Power has made a humble public apology after the race was classified prior to the last restart, giving him fifth place and narrowing the gap to leader Dario Franchitti – who didn't finish.

Meanwhile, NASCAR's Sprint Cup race at the Watkins Glen road course in upstate New York has been postponed until late tonight (Monday), Australian time, because of rain. Australia's Marcos Ambrose will start third in his Ford, outqualified by Kyle Busch in a Toyota and A.J. Allmendinger – Ambrose's Richard Petty Motorsports teammate.

The V8 Supercar Championship resumes next weekend at Ipswich's Queensland Raceway, then it's into the endurance season – and more on that during the week.

Australia's round of the World Rally Championship at its new Coffs Coast location in NSW is only a month away too, while there are interesting developments on the Australian Rally Championship front.

Next year's ARC will begin at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway with what organisers are calling a "spectacular and innovative event that will change the face of rallying in Australia and help to usher in an entirely new era for the sport".

Details of that event and next year's series are to be announced on August 30, with a promise of "exciting new rules for both two-wheel-drive unrestricted cars as well as the much-anticipated Australian SUV Rally Championship set to debut next year".

Already we are hearing of some exciting potential entries in the ARC – a Korean manufacturer as well as privateers in an Aston Martin and a Porsche Cayman. And the likely return of multiple champion driver Simon Evans.

IndyCar mayhem 'put a lot of guys in danger'
IndyCar's visit to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway at Loudon was the first major open-wheeler race at the short, flat oval since 1998 and it ended in fury, most notably from Will Power.

Racing stopped five laps short of the scheduled 225 laps and the results eventually were classified another five laps earlier.

Light rain fell with less than 20 laps left, causing the fifth caution of the race. As it resumed with eight laps to go, Danica Patrick spun and collected several other cars, including Power.

He was furious at the decision to restart when the track was still wet and made a two-finger gesture to race control after he got out his badly damaged Team Penske car.

The race was belatedly halted and officials reverted to the running order before that restart.

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay was credited with the win – his first for the year and third of his Indy career.

Spaniard Oriol Servia, who had overtaken American Hunter-Reay after the restart, was classified second, followed by New Zealander Scott Dixon, Canadian rookie James Hinchcliffe and Power, with Team Penske's other Australian, Ryan Briscoe, in eighth.

Franchitti had started on the pole position and dominated the race before he was wrecked by Japan's Takuma Sato after a restart on 1ap 119.

That has cut the Scotsman's lead over Power from 62 to 47 points, with five races to be run in the next two months – the first of them at Sonoma, California, on the last weekend of this month.

Patrick and Sato were classified sixth and seventh at New Hampshire when the results were taken back to before the final restart.

Power had been lapped by Franchitti after 56 laps and, in the farcical conclusion to the race, feared he would not be considered a finisher and therefore not narrow the Scotsman's series lead significantly after the Ganassi driver's exit from the race.

Power had leapt out his car, remonstrated with officials and continued to attack the decision as he arrived back in the paddock.

"I was begging them, begging them, please do not go green," Power said.

"So was everyone else - the track was in no condition to restart.

"To me it was disgraceful. It was a decision which put a lot of guys in danger.

"I just can't believe the decision - what are they doing up there?"
Power directed his anger most vehemently at competition chief Brian Barnhart, who had already been under fire this season.

"They cannot have this guy running the show," Power said.

"He makes such bad calls all the time. Shame on him."

However, late in the day Power issued an apology through Team Penske.

"First of all, I have to apologise for losing my temper after the accident that ended our race," he said.

"Regardless of what happened on the race track, my behavior was inexcusable and I apologise to our sponsors, the fans, the IZOD IndyCar Series officials and the Penske Racing organisation.

"I should not have behaved the way I did and I am sorry.

"It's definitely no excuse, but I was just very frustrated because our car ran so well and our team had worked so hard to put ourselves into a position to get a good finish and I thought it was just ridiculous to restart the race under the dangerous conditions that existed on the race track.

"I am just glad the officials decided to make the decision to revert the finishing order back to what it was before the final restart.

"I want to thank my team for their hard work today and, again, I'm sorry for the way our race ended and how I handled the situation."

Barnhart's side of the story was almost lost amid the fury.

"Our track observers said it was a raceable condition," he said.

"Obviously the attempted restart showed that wasn't the case, and we tore up some race cars.

"We can only make the decision about the information provided us."

Meanwhile, Sato accepted the blame for the incident that put Franchtti into the wall and out of the race.

"No excuses, my fault. I was too close to Dario - he was coming on but I should have given him more space," Sato said.

It was Franchitti's first non-finish since Kansas 2009.

"I didn't put a wheel wrong … [and] when you have a car that fast it's devastating."

Briscoe moved up a place to sixth in the championship while Hunter-Reay jumped five spots to eighth.

IndyCar championship standings after 13 of 18 rounds – 1. Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) 443 points, 2. Will Power (Penske) 396, 3. Scott Dixon (Ganassi) 370, 4. Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas) 308, 5. Tony Kanaan (KV) 295, 6. Ryan Briscoe (Penske) 277, 7. Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) 270, 8. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti) 261, 9. Graham Rahal (Gansassi) 240, 10. Takuma Sato (KV) 238.


Ambrose's big day awaits, then double duty
Marcos Ambrose has had to wait an extra day for that possible breakthrough victory in NASCAR's Sprint Cup at Watkins Glen and lamented during the weekend not getting to race in the second-tier Nationwide Series round there which he had won the past three years.

A deal could not be struck for Ambrose to do that at The Glen but he will drive in the Nationwide round next weekend on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, Canada – in a Ford Mustang.

Indeed he will do double duty – at two circuits. The Montreal race is on Saturday and the weekend's Sprint Cup race, in which he will revert to a Ford Fusion, is at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

Fellow Tasmanian Owen Kelly, another former V8 Supercar driver with a little Nationwide Series experience, will deputise for Ambrose in practice and qualifying at Montreal on Friday.

Ambrose has raced in Montreal every year since the city became part of the Nationwide Series in 2007 and has had some memorable clashes with American Robby Gordon, who also will be a starter again on Saturday.

The Aussie has been second and third – and unlucky not to win - on the circuit that hosts the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix.

"It's going to be a tough weekend racing in both events," Ambrose said.

"I'll practice and qualify in Michigan on Friday, race in Montreal Saturday (along with his Sprint Cup crew) and then fly back to Michigan for Sunday's Cup race."

Meanwhile, Ambrose admitted he "underdrove just a little bit" in qualifying at Watkins Glen, where he was nudged off the front row by Kyle Busch and A.J. Allmendinger.

"It was maybe a little bit too conservative … it could have been a little better," Ambrose said.

"It would have been great to be on the front row ... [but] we've got a great chance to win the race and I'm really happy with our race set-up.

"I've just got to make sure that we keep the fenders on it, look out for the brakes, and the rest will come to us."

Teammate Allmendinger's front row start is his fourth this season and he is six places ahead of Ambrose in the Cup standings – 17th versus 23rd.

"It's great to get in front of Marcos today (on the famous road course)," Californian Allmendinger said.

"He's the man here. So to put up a lap a little better than him is pretty cool. I still think he's going to be the guy to beat in the race though."

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