Motorsport: Cunningham takes chequered flag

Auckland's Wade Cunningham took the chequered flag after dominating the race at the Indianapolis motor speedway.

Cunningham won the Indy Pro Series Freedom 100 in breathtaking fashion by regaining the lead from rookie Jay Howard in turn three with two laps remaining on the famed 4.02km oval.

Cunningham, the 2005 series champion, nudged ahead of Howard as they crossed the start-finish line side-by-side on lap 39 with one remaining.

They still raced side-by-side into turn two before Cunningham gained the advantage and won by .6889 of a second at the finish averaging a record 297.21 km/h per hour after leading at the start of every lap.

"From my experience earlier in the race, I knew my car was quicker accelerating and I could hang in the draft better than he could," Cunningham said.

"He could have made it very hard, but he went quite low. I had enough room on the outside in turn three and I just carried the momentum to the chequered flag."

The win keeps Cunningham's hops of defending his title alive.

After four of 12 rounds the 21-year-old lies in 14th place on 73 points with Howard leading the competition on 153 points.

Rounding out the New Zealand contingent was rookie Matthew Hamilton from Christchurch who finished 13th.

The next race is at Watkins Glen next week.

- NZPA