The Sydney-born Team Penske driver drove a faultless race, holding off New Zealander Scott Dixon and American Ryan Hunter-Reay to win an eventful 60-lap race that saw race favourite, fellow-Aussie Will Power, who had started on pole for a third successive year after dominating both practice and qualifying, crash out in the17th lap.
“The worst mistake of my career,” Power said of his crash. “I’m terribly disappointed. I just can’t seem to win at this place.”
The crash left Briscoe to single-handedly fly the flag for the Australians in what could well be the last time the IndyCars head Down Under. Briscoe held his composure, leading the majority of the race, despite fierce attention in the final laps from reigning series champion Dixon, who threatened to steal one away for the Kiwis in a Trans-Tasman rivalry.
“We kept it clean, didn’t make any mistakes and that was the key thing today,” Briscoe said. The 27-year-old, a former Formula One test driver for Toyota, has driven US open-wheelers for three of the past four years. After returning to the unified IndyCar series this season, he capped off an impressive year in Sunday’s non-championship race after a top five finish for the year in the IndyCar series.
V8Supercars
Ford driver Jamie Whincup capped off a remarkable month after his recent Bathurst victory, winning a game of survival to claim all three 27-lap V8 Supercar Challenge races to take overall honours and claim his maiden surfboard trophy from the iconic Queensland event and retain his slender championship lead.
The unforgiving nature of the street circuit brought about numerous caution periods, penalties and race carnage. Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom chased Whincup home in all three races to fill the minor positions on the podium.
