SAO PAULO (BDCi TV) – – James Hinchcliffe reached top podium Sunday in the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 by using power and finesse to overtake Takuma Sato in the last lap of one of the most exciting Indy races ever.
Hinchcliffe was as far back as 4th place with 9 laps to go, but kept a brisk pace in his number 27 Go Daddy car to pass Simon Pagenaud, 22 year-old Josef Newgarden and Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Sato.
“There’s no cooler way to win a race — in the last corner of the last lap,” said Hinchcliffe, who led the four Andretti Autosport cars finishing in the top 11. “Takuma was making that race car really wide and he was defending the inside pretty well, almost too well a couple times. He just out broke himself just a little bit and I was able to do a high-low (pass) and got the win.”
Hinchcliffe started his big run, passing Pagenaud in Lap 67 to be running third (2.7837 seconds behind Sato). On Lap 72, Hinchcliffe passed Newgarden in Turn 11 and was .2180 of a second behind Sato on Lap 73. Andretti and Servia slipped past Newgarden on the final lap just after Hinchcliffe’s winning move.
With the victory, Hinchcliffe moves to fourth (22 points back) in the 2013 IndyCar series championship. Sato takes a 12-point lead over Andretti in the championship standings heading into the 97th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 26.
Helio Castroneves, who led in points through three races, is third after placing 13th on the 2.536-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. Tony Kanaan, who led in several stretches, and Brasileira Ana Beatriz did not finish due to car mechanical failures.