Landmark win for Briscoe
Australia’s Ryan Briscoe scored a landmark win at Milwaukee in the USA overnight.
Briscoe rebounded from a troubled run in the classic Indianapolis 500, when he clashed with glamour girl Danica Patrick late in the race, to take a confident win on the Milwaukee Mile.
It was his first win in the Indy Racing League but the 300th for his legendary team owner, Roger Penske. And it also marked the 30th anniversary of the first win by another of Penske’s all-time champions, Rick Mears, who also scored his first major win on the Milwaukee Mile.
Briscoe only qualified 14th for the race in his Dallara-Honda and fell back to 14th during the opening laps after a slippery run through the first lap and an upset caused when Oriel Servia ducked into the pits.
But then he drove through the field and hit the front after 176 laps, before fending off New Zealander Scott Dixon - who won the Indy 500 - who finished second ahead of veteran Tony Kanaan.
“It’s been 30 years since Roger’s first IndyCar win,” Briscoe said. “I can’t tell you how important it is to me to get my first IndyCar victory for him in this race.”
The win comes in Briscoe’s first IRL season with Team Penske, following a near-fatal crash during his first attempt on the series with Chip Ganassi’s team in 2005.
He was forced to rebuild his career with a series of one-off starts through 2006, including a sensational run with the Holden Racing Team when he was the quickest qualifier at the Sandown 500 in a Commodore, before joining the Penske Porsche team in the USA last year.
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