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Scott Dixon racing in the Indy Car Series - Source: Reuters -
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Dario Franchitti won the Honda Indy on the street course in
Toronto on Monday to snatch the Indycar series lead from New
Zealand driver Scott Dixon.
Target Chip Ganassi teammate Franchitti easily held off Penske
drivers Ryan Briscoe and Will Power on a late restart for his third
win of the season, with Dixon fourth in a solid drive on the
Edmonton circuit.
The New Zealander sits just two points behind Franchitti overall
and 13-points clear of third-placed Australian Briscoe after 10 of
17 rounds.
It capped a hectic week for Dixon, whose wife Emma gave birth to
their first child earlier in the week - daughter Poppy.
Starting from the pole, Franchitti was both lucky and good in
winning his third race of the season.
He easily took the lead at the start and led the first 23 laps as
chaos erupted behind him on the tricky 11-turn, 1.75-mile course.
It is bumpy and treacherous because its patched sections of
concrete become slicker and slicker with each lap.
Three drivers found early trouble. Power, Briscoe and Graham Rahal
were involved in separate collisions on the first lap.
Briscoe, Power and Rahal all pitted for tires, and Rahal replaced
the nose of his No. 02 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Honda.
Franchitti caught a huge break when he was allowed to pit under
caution while running in the top five on lap 58 because he was
already committed to the stop.
He also was allowed to resume his spot on the grid just ahead of
Paul Tracy, who had already made his final stop.
"I don't know what happened," Franchitti said. "I guess the timing
light showed I was ahead of Paul."
Tagliani then gave up the lead to pit during the caution, giving
the top spot to Helio Castroneves, but with fresher tires
Franchitti quickly moved back to the lead.
"He just looked like he was struggling," Franchitti said of
Castroneves.
"He looked like he didn't have any grip."
To view results for this race
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