Will Power

The 2014 Indycar season ends here, in Fontana, with the last race in calendar, the last of three 500 miles races in this year.
Tony Kanaan finally finds his way back to the highest step of the podium, after a season of struggle and pain, in the only race where all the eyes are not so much on the race winner but mostly on the Champion.
Anyway, good boost of confidence for the good Brazilian in a race not less though and close than all the rest.

The weekend starts unfortunately in a way that we really don't want to see. The brilliant rookie Aleshin looses control of his car during practice, while following a very low and dangerous line around the Fontana oval, and crashes against the wall before getting hit by the unlucky Kimball who project him up in the fence. As a result, the young Russian will be hospitalize with multiple fractures, in stable condition but with a long recovery ahead.

On Saturday, the race unfolds itself as expected. Power, ahead in the Championship standing, starts from second last position and sets his race in "safe mode" keeping his distance from the pack and avoiding any risky situation, at least for the first half of the race. Castroneves, who has to bridge the gap of 51 points from Power, starts in pole position and has only one goal: win and hope to put enough cars between him and the Australian.
Pagenaud, the last contending for the 2014 throne, has problems since the beginning and he is out of reach of good points from the first laps of the race.

The race goes on smoothly for 176 laps (a record by itself) with Power picking up positions and with Castroneves performing strong, always in eye contact on the first positions. For the drivers not involved in the championship this is, after all, the last race of the season and everybody wants to leave Fontana with a good result for the fans, for the teams, for the sponsors and for the chance to live the next six months without any regrets.

It is Kanaan that goes home at the end of the day with one of the biggest smiles in the paddock after being the 11th winner in the season (another record).
Tears and smiles is what you can find inside the helmet of Will Power in the last laps of the race. It took four times for the Australian to finally end the season at the top of the standing. Well deserved after a season (actually five) that saw him being the most consistent driver out there.

Castroneves, after finding himself another time in second position in the championship at the end of the year, has smiles for everyone, knowing that, after all, this season has been exciting for him and c'mon, what are the odds of losing again the championship in the last race again next year?




So this was the end of the 2014 season. It's time to see what the next season will look like. New races, new drivers, new rules. One thing is undeniable: this is one of the most spectacular racing leagues around the world. We will wait until 2015 and we'll be ready to enjoy the show again. Together.