IndyCar pace setter wins third race of season, in Texas

Scott Dixon, winner of this year’s Indy 500, stretched his lead in the IndyCar championship with a split-second victory over Helio Castroneves at the Texas Speedway last weekend.

The picture is deceiving, as both cars were cruising at around 90mph when they crossed the start/finish line - a late crash involving Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay meant that the race ended under waved yellow flags; so Castroneves was not allowed to overtake Dixon.

Many disgruntled fans were seen leaving the Texas track even before Dixon took the chequered flag. This is a big problem for IndyCar; the series should not allow its races to finish under a yellow flag - it’s the second time in a week that a late crash has forced an IndyCar race to end like that. Ryan Briscoe won in Milwaukee under the same conditions; on that occasion Dixon was the frustrated driver stuck in second place.

More wet weather could hamper IndyCar’s showpiece

Wednesday’s practice session for this weekend’s Indy 500 was wiped out after heavy showers turned the track into a slippery oval of death. With more rain forecast for the next few days, teams are understandably concerned that a lack of track time will affect their chances in Sunday’s race.

Helio Castroneves, twice a winner in the big one at Indianapolis, admits that the situation sucks: “With only one day of track time under our belts, we’re not quite where we want to be with the car,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get some clear weather before Pole Day (Saturday) so we can fine-tune the qualifying trim. We had a productive day yesterday, but we certainly still have some work to do before qualifying.”

We rank the hottest racers and riders in the world of motorsport

1. Kimi Raikkonen (F1)
Drove what he claimed was his best race to win in Spain last weekend, and could have gone faster if necessary. Leads the F1 drivers’ championship and now looks totally at ease in his Ferrari. A worthy No.1 in our inaugural rankings.

2. Troy Bayliss (World Superbikes)
Continued his relentless charge towards a third Superbikes world title with back-to-back wins at Assen. The 39-year-old Aussie is now 70 points ahead of his nearest rival, an uprecedented lead at this stage of the season.