Pagenaud wins inaugural Indy Grand Prix

INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday by stretching his fuel to the finish on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Frenchman was one of several drivers to gamble on fuel strategy, and made it stick for the final 29 laps Saturday to earn his third career IndyCar victory. He took the lead when Oriol Servia had to stop with four laps remaining, and Pagenaud managed to make it to the finish despite having to keep one eye on his mirrors.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was second and Helio Castroneves third on his 39th birthday.

“Man I didn’t know what we were asking for, but we made fuel,” Pagenaud said in Victory Lane. “The fuel saving was amazing. It was nerve-wracking. I was worried about RHR coming back, and I didn’t know what Helio was doing here. I don’t like racing off throttle.”

Sebastien Bourdais and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top five.

James Hinchcliffe was taken from the track on a stretcher and transported to a hospital with an unspecified injury. A replay appeared to show he had been hit by debris from a car in front of him following a restart.

“I was actually next to him on track and all of a sudden debris went everywhere and he slowed up,” Hunter-Reay said about his Andretti Autosport teammate. “It was something that happened in front of him and he was hit, I don’t know, in the hand, in the head. At first I heard head, and now I hear hand.”

The race began with a violent wreck when pole-sitter Sebastian Saavedra stalled on the standing start.

He was hit by multiple cars, and debris struck Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard as he waved the green flag.

Formula One qualifying

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were in a class of their own again in qualifying for today’s Spanish Grand Prix in Montmelo, Spain, while struggling four-time champion Sebastian Vettel stalled and was demoted on the grid.

Hamilton edged teammate – and main rival – Nico Rosberg with a late lap of 1 minute, 25.232 seconds on the sunny and dry Barcelona-Catalunya circuit for his fourth pole of the Formula One season and 35th in his career.

Rosberg, the overall leader, came in second at 0.16 seconds behind.