Australian Will Power was the star of IndyCar's opening show, taking an impressive victory in the Sao Paulo 300 just six months after sustaining career-threatening injuries in a crash.
Power looked as good as new, qualifying fifth on the grid and then showing tremendous heart in the race as he battled adversity for the win. The Penske driver cried in the cockpit on the cool-down lap as the memories of the dark days after his accident came streaming back to him.
“Lying in that hospital bed, I really wasn't sure what was going to happen – whether I'd be well enough, or if I would be fast again and all of the things that go through your head,” he said after the race.
Power fractured two vertebrae last August when he slammed into a stalled car that had spun just beyond the crest of a hill during practice for a race at the Infineon Raceway in California.
While the Australian ended the Sao Paulo street race on top, scoring a comeback win wasn't exactly easy. The team barely got him on track for qualifying after he missed morning practice due a gearbox problem. Then in the race, a first corner incident forced Power into the pit lane to change a cut tire and put him near the back of the field. After his long layoff, Power also needed to drive with heavily bandaged hands, which blistered quickly as he muscled his car around the 11-turn street circuit.
Despite the adversity, he steadily climbed up the leader board and when a yellow came out late in the race Power was second. All fuel bets were off in a six-lap sprint to the finish.
“Before that yellow we were all trying to save fuel. [After the caution] I just went for it and we battled it out,” he said.
Three laps from the finish, he passed Andretti driver Ryan Hunter-Reay for the lead and pulled away. Power crossed the line 1.858 seconds ahead of Hunter-Reay in an event that was red-flagged for heavy rain and then restarted after a short delay. It ended after 61 of a 75 scheduled laps due to a two-hour time limit imposed by series' officials.
Another driver on the comeback trail, Vitor Meira, crossed the line two spots behind Power in third. The A.J. Foyt Enterprises driver was injured in a frightening crash last May in the Indianapolis 500 when he came together with fellow Brazilian Raphael Matos late in the race and slammed into the wall at more than 320 km/h.
His car flipped backward and slid with its bottom against the wall for about 400 metres before coming to a stop. Like Power, Meira suffered two fractured vertebrae in his crash and missed the rest of the 2009 season.
“I think Will [Power] can relate to it with a back injury and all that, it gets pretty uncertain at some times and having a team behind you making sure that the seat is available makes a big difference during the recovery,” said Meira.
“I think whether you were able to keep your nose clean and were fast enough to make up positions in all conditions, you could come out with a good result and that's what we did.”
Half a world away in Bahrain, Felipe Massa's return to racing after a horrifying injury saw him take a strong second in the F1 season opener last Sunday.
In qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix last July, the Ferrari driver was struck in the helmet by a spring that had fallen off another car. A few centimetres to the right and Massa could have been killed. The blow from the one-kilogram spring knocked the Brazilian unconscious in the cockpit and caused him to crash headlong into a tire barrier. He emerged with multiple fractures of the skull and severe facial lacerations. His injuries were so severe that doctors put him into a medically induced coma to aid his early recovery.
“I am very happy and thanks to everybody who was supporting me in a difficult time at home, every country, I received incredible letters and nice messages which gave me even more motivation,” Massa said after finishing 16.099 seconds behind winner and Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
“It was also my best start of the season, finishing on the podium, second, in the first race. That is something I never did, so it is just a fantastic start.”
globedrive@globeandmail.com
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