Pagenaud claims Grand Prix of Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS: France´s Simon Pagenaud captured the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday, holding off runner-up Ryan Hunter-Reay for his third career victory in the IndyCar series.

Pagenaud beat 2012 IndyCar champ Hunter-Reay to the finish line by just 0.89 seconds after making his final pit stop with 28 laps left in the race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway´s 2.44-mile road course.

Brazil´s Helio Castroneves finished third, just 1.82 seconds behind Pagenaud in the 82-lap race.France´s Sebastien Bourdais and American Charlie Kimball rounded out the top-five.

Pagenaud, who drives for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports, gambled on fuel late in the race. He grabbed the lead with five laps remaining when leader Oriol Servia of Spain was forced off the track to get more fuel.

American Hunter-Reay last pitted at the same time as Pagenaud. Hunter-Reay won two weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park.Birthday boy Castroneves, who turned 39 on Saturday, had to pit with 10 laps left.

This was the first time the IndyCar Series competed on the 14-turn road layout at Indianapolis, where the classic 2.5 mile (4 km) oval course will be the scene of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

The start of the 25-car race included a spectacular crash involving pole sitter Sebastian Saavedra as well as rookies Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin. No one was injured.

Colombia´s Saavedra stalled in his grid position when the lights signalled the standing start.Most of the drivers were able to avoid hitting Saavedra, but Colombian Munoz rammed into the left rear of the pole sitter before Russia´s Aleshin slammed into the back of Saavedra.

Debris from the three cars littered the track, and some of it sailed into the pit area. All three drivers were able to climb out of their cars under their own power. (AFP)