Motorsport: Dixon vaults to series lead

New Zealander Scott Dixon timed his run to perfection in the AJ Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile to record an outstanding win over Australian Ryan Briscoe.

Dixon, the reigning IndyCar Series champion, vaulted to the championship series lead by four points over Briscoe and Target Chip Ganassi teammate Dario Franchitti, who are tied for second.

Danica Patrick's fourth-consecutive top-five finish today puts her in fourth place while Helio Castroneves fell three spots to fifth.

Dixon passed Briscoe for the lead 25 laps from the end and pulled away to his second win of the season and the 18th of his career.

Indianapolis 500 winner Castroneves crashed in qualifying and started last, finished two laps off the pace in 11th.

Motorsport website mvn.com reported that Dixon took the lead with just under 25 laps to go.

Briscoe was holding off Dixon for the lead, but down the backstretch on lap 201, the Australian was held up just enough by the lapped car of Tomas Scheckter to enable Dixon to catch him. Dixon finished the pass on the inside going into turn three.

"We had a lot of traffic and traffic was key to today, but we've come a long way, man," said Dixon told ABC afterwards. "From crashing two cars in four laps at this place in 2005, so I'm stoked that the Target car was so fast today. We had a great race with Dario Franchitti as well.

"It was just awesome. I'm just so happy to win at this place. It's so tough."

Briscoe led the most laps today, but he was forced to hold off Franchitti in the closing laps and settled for second place.

"I just got held up a little bit there, I think it was with (Tomas) Scheckter," Briscoe told ABC. "I tried to go down to the inside, then really had to slow it down because of understeer. Scott got a run on me and that was it.

"I could see Scott's car was just a little bit faster as the tires got old and he'd carry a bit more momentum through the corners and that's what was hurting me a little bit more with the traffic. But that's how I got Dario earlier on when he was leading."

Dixon finished the day quietly satisfied with his effort.

"It was a pretty good day for Team Target - we were dominant early on and the car was very good early on... it was the most fun I've had in a long time, to be honest," he said at the post-race press conference.

- NZPA