Will Power

Will Power
Will Power after winning 4 July 2010 IZOD IndyCar race at Watkins Glen.
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1981-03-01) 1 March 1981 Toowoomba, Australia
Related to	Bob Power (father)
2013 IndyCar Series
Debut season	2008
Current team	Team Penske
Car no.	12
Former teams	KV Racing Technology
Starts	76
Wins	16
Poles	25
Fastest laps	10
Best finish	2nd in 2010, 2011 & 2012

Will Power
Champ Car World Series
Years active	2005–2007
Teams	Walker Racing
Starts	30
Wins	3
Poles	7
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	4th in 2007
Previous series
1999–2000 2000–01 2002 2002 2003–04 2005 2005/2006	Queensland Formula Ford Australian Formula Ford Australian Formula 3 Australian Drivers' Champ. British Formula 3 World Series by Renault A1GP
Championship titles
2000 2002 2010 2011	Queensland Formula Ford Australian Drivers' Champ. Izod IndyCar Series Mario Andretti Road Course Champion Izod IndyCar Series Mario Andretti Road Course Champion
Awards
2006	Champ Car Rookie of the Year

William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.

Australian racing

Power, son of open wheel racer Bob Power, started his career in Queensland driving a Datsun 1200 at Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick as well as at Carnel Raceway, Stanthorpe. In 1999 Power began driving an ageing family owned Swift SC92F in the Queensland Formula Ford Championship, winning races in a sporadic campaign. In 2000 Power ran a full campaign leading to his first title in the Swift while simultaneously racing a late model Spectrum 07 on the Australian Formula Ford Championship, finishing a promising seventh. Still running a small family oriented team in 2001, Power upgraded to a Stealth RF95, a Western Australian modification of a 1995 Van Diemen. Power finished second in the series behind the factory supported Van Diemen driver, Will Davison.

After three years of Formula Ford racing, Power moved into Formula Holden, racing for the Graham Watson owned Ralt Australia team driving a Reynard 94D.Power swept all before him in Formula Holden, winning the title by over 50 points from Stewart McColl, claiming the 2002 Australian Drivers' Championship by winning 7 times and achieving 3 pole positions.

Mid-way through the 2002 season Power was given an opportunity to drive for the Bevan Carrick owned Cooltemp Racing Formula 3 team, driving a Dallara-Toyota as well in the Australian Formula 3 Championship. Despite missing the opening races Power missed out on winning the Formula 3 championship by only a handful of points to James Manderson.

Racing in Europe

Europe beckoned and in 2003 Power joined the British Formula 3 Championship racing initially for Diamond Racing, then later for Fortec Motorsport as tight funding prevented a full campaign. A second place at Thruxton demonstrated his ability and Power mounted a full campaign in 2004 with Alan Docking Racing but finished the season in ninth position with five podium finishes.

He tested a Minardi Formula One car in 2004 with his Australian Formula Ford and British Formula 3 rival Will Davison in Italy.

During 2005 he competed in the World Series by Renault for the Carlin Motorsport team, where he proved very competitive. During the course of the WSR championship he scored two race victories, with 4 trips to the podium in total and qualified his car on the front row five times. In addition to driving in the WSR, Power was also one of the featured drivers for the Australian team in the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix series. Power raced in the series opener at Brands Hatch and piloted Australia to a second place finish behind Team Brazil.

Champ Car

In late 2005 he joined Champ Car Team Australia at the Lexmark Indy 300 event at Surfers Paradise in Australia, which also resulted in his departure from the World Series by Renault championship even though that season was still in progress and Power ultimately ended seventh in the championship. In the Indy 300 Power ran strongly until being knocked off the track by team mate Alex Tagliani. After the Surfers Paradise event he signed a multi year contract to race for the team, which began immediately at the next Champ Car round in Mexico City after Tagliani's teammate Marcus Marshall was released for what was described as a "serious breach of contract".

Power drove full time for Team Australia in 2006. He performed well throughout the season with nine top ten finishes and strong qualifying results. At Mexico, the final round of the season, Power took his first podium finish in Champ Car. He won the "rookie of the year" award and finished in 6th place in the championship standings.

In his home race in 2006, at Surfers Paradise in Australia, he scored his first pole position of his career in Champ Cars, in front of his home crowd. However, contact from Paul Tracy in pit lane and then an ambitious overtaking move by Sébastien Bourdais resulted in a bent left steering arm, and he fell to the back, one lap down by the time the car was repaired, eventually finishing 12th.

On 8 April 2007, Power won his first Champ Car race at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, held in the streets of Las Vegas. He qualified on pole position and led most laps, becoming the first Australian driver to win in the series. On 8 July, at the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, with rain pouring down and visibility near zero when he got behind other cars, Will Power decided it was time to get aggressive. The Australian drove from fourth to first in 14 laps, finally splashing past rookie Ryan Dalziel to take the lead with 23 minutes to go, and went on to an easy victory.

To get to the lead, Power also had to pass three-time Champ Car World Series champion Sebastien Bourdais and rookie Neel Jani. Thanks to a series of late caution flags, he was able to go after each of them in turn. "I was close behind Sebastien and I knew he was quite tentative in the wet and I attacked him," Power said. "I got him on a restart. Then the next restart, I got Neel and the next restart, I got Dalziel. It's just about being aggressive at the right time and not hitting anyone". "I just drove so hard here because we've just had so much bad luck in the last few races," said Power, whose first Champ Car victory came in the 2007 opener in Las Vegas. "I didn't care; I just went hard. The car was good in the wet. It was good in the dry, and we stuck it to them." Power had podium finishes at Long Beach, Mont-Tremblant and Mexico City and pole positions at Houston, Edmonton, Surfers Paradise and Mexico City to place fourth in the final point standings in 2007.

IndyCar

The merger of Champ Car and the IRL left his future uncertain. Power's Walker Racing team announced they would not be making the switch from Champ Car to IRL due to lack of sponsorship. However, Power later signed with KV Racing Technology, to drive the No. 8 Aussie Vineyards—Team Australia car in 2008, continuing to work with Team Australia boss Craig Gore.

Power won the final Champ Car race at Long Beach in 2008, also giving Power his first IndyCar Series win. He scored two top-five finishes in IndyCar Series races, enough for 12th overall, outpointed by team-mate Oriol Servia. In the non-points event in Surfers' Paradise, Australia, Power won the pole position, but crashed out while leading the race.

Penske Racing announced on 13 January 2009 that for the 2009 IndyCar Series season, Power would replace Helio Castroneves at the helm of the No. 3 Team Penske Honda-Dallara while Castroneves attended to his federal tax evasion charges. Power drove the No. 3 Team Penske Honda-Dallara to a sixth-place finish in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the first race of the year. Following the GP St. Pete, Castroneves was acquitted of all tax evasion charges and returned to the team for the following race at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Roger Penske, two steps ahead as usual, came prepared for this scenario however, and had spare cars on hand for both St. Petersburg and Long Beach, employing the option beginning at Long Beach and continuing through 5 more races that season. Power's new car, the No. 12 Penske Racing Verizon Wireless Honda/Dallara was officially entered for the Long Beach Grand Prix late on Friday evening and all the setup data garnered from his two sessions in the No. 3 Dallara was successfully transferred over. Power stormed to a dominant pole position with the last-minute effort and ultimately finished 2nd to Dario Franchitti after leading 16 laps. Power was also entered in the same third car for the Indianapolis 500, in which he finished in fifth place after a pit crew gaffe on the final stop (while Power was running 2nd) cost him a shot at Castroneves for the victory. To reward Power for his efforts, he was retained by the team to drive in five more races in Toronto, Edmonton, Kentucky, Sonoma and Homestead. His team being crewed by Penske's Rolex Sports Car Series team, as Power's races were specifically scheduled on their RSCS off-weekends. Power's dreams and efforts came to fruition when he captured his first IndyCar race win driving the No. 12 Penske Trucking Dallara/Honda for Roger Penske in dominant fashion at the Rexall Edmonton Indy.

Power's season was brought to an abrupt close during practice for the 2009 Motorola Indy 300 in Sonoma however, as Nelson Philippe spun exiting Turn 3 and stalled in the middle of the racing groove. As turn 3 is a completely blind corner, taken at high speed while cresting a hill, oncoming drivers had no indication there was anything over the hill or any time to react once they got there. EJ Viso could barely avoid him, making light contact, but Power, following just behind Viso, had nowhere to go and crashed heavily into the stationary Frenchman. Both drivers were airlifted from the racetrack in short order. Power had two fractured vertebrae while Nelson Phillipe suffered a fractured ankle. Both drivers were concussed in the incident and were hospitalised. Both drivers' injuries would cause them to miss the rest of 2009 season.

On 19 Nov. 2009, Team Penske announced that Will Power would join the team full time for the 2010 season with sponsorship from Verizon Wireless. Power opened the season in dominant fashion, winning the first two races of the 2010 season at Brazil and St. Petersburg, making him the first IndyCar driver since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001 to win the first two events of the year. He went on to win from the pole at Watkins Glen, giving Roger Penske his first Izod IndyCar Series win at the historic track. Over the course of the season, Power scored five wins (all on road courses) and a record eight pole positions. Power's efforts were rewarded with triumph in the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship, winning the inaugural Mario Andretti Trophy as the road course champion for the 2010 IndyCar Series season.

During the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season he won 6 races; Barber Motorsports Park (Birmingham, AL), Sao Paulo (Brazil), the second doubleheader event at Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, TX), Edmonton City Center Airport (Alberta, Canada), Infineon Raceway (Sonoma, CA), and the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix (Baltimore, MD). However, his season was far from easy. At Toronto he and championship leader Dario Franchitti touched in Turn 3 while battling for 5th, resulting in a spin for Power, which put him midpack where he was hit by former team mate Alex Tagliani. Power was irate with both drivers, particularly Franchitti, who with some level of controversy was not penalised for the contact and won the race. With a few laps to go during the IndyCar Series' 225-mile return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, amid protests from drivers and teams to not restart because of wet track conditions, the race was restarted and Power caught in the ensuing melee started by a spinning Danica Patrick. An irate Power exited his vehicle and spoke with several officials, even consulting with his race strategist Tim Cindric before displaying the middle finger to IndyCar director of competition Brian Barnhart. Power's immortal obscene gesture was captured on live television and met with immense support from IZOD Indycar Series fans as well as support from members of several other team organisations in the paddock. Power's "Double Angry Birds" gesture however ended up landing him with a $30,000 fine, payable through public services to the league, although team owner Roger Penske said he would gladly pay the fine off. Power won the pole at the Kentucky Speedway and led the first 48 laps until he had contact with rookie Ana Beatriz as he exited his pit. The resulting damage relegated him to 19th place, while title rival Franchitti led the most laps, finished 2nd, and took an 18 point advantage. Power's season ended in a violent, high-speed 15 car crash at the final race of the season in Las Vegas that claimed the life of British driver Dan Wheldon. Wheldon, Power and 3 other drivers were taken to the hospital. He lost any chance of having the points championship after the wreck, due in part to his role in the accident (his car was damaged beyond repair) and also to the fact that the race was abandoned following the wreck. Power was later diagnosed with a compression fracture in his thoracic vertebrae and was expected to have surgery to correct the problem.

For the 2012 IndyCar Series season, Will Power returned to Team Penske to once again pilot the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dallara/Chevrolet with teammates Castroneves and Briscoe. The road and street course heavy 2012 schedule played into Power’s strength, making him one of the pre-season favorites to win the championship. After opening the season with a seventh place finish at Saint Petersburg, Power scored three consecutive victories at Barber Motorsports Park, the streets of Long Beach, and the streets of Sao Paulo to vault into the championship lead. Power held onto the points lead until the tenth of fifteen races, when rival driver Ryan Hunter-Reay scored his third of three consecutive wins to take over the lead. Power regained the lead and built a 36-point advantage with two races remaining after strong second place finishes at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, coupled with two misfortunate finishes by Hunter-Reay. The season’s penultimate race on the streets of Baltimore saw Power and Hunter-Reay choosing different strategies when rain began falling. Electing to remain on slick tires despite the wet conditions, Hunter-Reay gained the track position necessary to earn a much-needed win, while Power finished sixth. With the lead cut to 17 points entering the MAVTV 500 season finale on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Power was well positioned to earn his first championship. Those hopes took a huge hit when Power’s car spun and hit the wall on lap 55 of the 250-lap race. Despite heavy damage, Team Penske got Power’s car back on track long enough to gain an additional position, forcing Hunter-Reay to finish fifth or better to win the championship. Hunter-Reay ran outside of championship position for most of the race but finally moved into the top five with 21 laps remaining, eventually finish fourth. Hunter-Reay’s championship resulted in Will Power finishing second in the standings for the third consecutive season. Despite losing the overall championship, Power won for the third time the Mario Andretti Trophy as the 2012 road course champion.

Gallery

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  Power wins his eighth pole position of the 2010 season at the Infineon Raceway in August 2010.

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  Power at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.

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  Power at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.

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  Power at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.

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  Power at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2009.

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  Power at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2008.

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  Power's car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.

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  Power competing at Long Beach in 2009.

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  Power competing at Indianapolis in 2008.

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  Power competing at Indianapolis in 2008.

Motorsports career results

Overall stats

Series	Seasons	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Point Finishes (Non-podium)	Teams	Total Points	Championships	Best Finish (Championship)
Formula Ford	2	28	0	4	5	9	1	304	0	2nd (2001)
Formula Holden	1	11	5	7	3	0	1	197	1	1st (2002)
Australian F3	1	12	5	6	4	2	1	204	0	2nd (2002)
V8Supercar	2	4	0	0	0	3	2	82	0	46th (2002)
British F3	2	42	0	0	6	14	3	151	0	9th (2004)
World Series by Renault	1	15	3	2	2	4	1	64	0	7th (2005)
A1GP	1	2	0	0	1	1	1	16	0	13th (2005/06)
CCWS	3	30	4	2	4	24	1	492	0	4th (2007)
IndyCar	4	58	19	13	9	36	2	1698	0	2nd (2010 & 2011 & 2012)

Complete through 2011.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	DC	Points
2005	Carlin Motorsport	ZOL 1 DNS	ZOL 2 DNS	MON 1 12	VAL 1 3	VAL 2 14	LMS 1 4	LMS 2 1	BIL 1 2	BIL 2 1	OSC 1 Ret	OSC 2 14	DON 1 13	DON 2 Ret	EST 1 10	EST 2 12	MON 1	MON 2	7th	64

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2005–06	A1 Team Australia	GBR SPR 4	GBR FEA 2	GER SPR	GER FEA	POR SPR	POR FEA	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	UAE SPR	UAE FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	USA SPR	USA FEA	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	13th	51

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Champ Car

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
2005	Team Australia	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE	LBH	MTY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	EDM	SJO	DEN	MTL	LVS	SRF 15	MXC 10		22nd	17
2006	Team Australia	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE	LBH 9	HOU 7	MTY 11	MIL 11	POR 18	CLE 9	TOR 7	EDM 6	SJO 6	DEN 4	MTL 5	ROA 13	SRF 12	MXC 3	6th	213
2007	Team Australia	Panoz DP01	Cosworth XFE	LVG 1	LBH 3	HOU 11	POR 4	CLE 10	MTT 3	TOR 1	EDM Ret	SJO 4	ROA Ret	ZOL 4	ASN 14	SRF Ret	MXC 2	4th	262

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2008	KV Racing Technology	Dallara	Honda	HMS 25	STP 8	MOT1 DNP		KAN 27	INDY 13	MIL 14	TXS 13	IOW 9	RIR 25	WGL 15	NSH 11	MDO 4	EDM 22	KTY 26	SNM 25	DET 8	CHI 5	SRF2 22	12th	331
		Panoz DP01	Cosworth XFE				LBH1 1
2009	Team Penske	Dallara	Honda	STP 6	LBH 2	KAN	INDY 5	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	TOR 3	EDM 1	KTY 9	MDO	SNM DNS	CHI	MOT	HMS			19th	215
2010	Team Penske	Dallara	Honda	SAO 1	STP 1	ALA 4	LBH 3	KAN 12	INDY 8	TXS 14	IOW 5	WGL 1	TOR 1	EDM 2	MDO 2	SNM 1	CHI 16	KTY 8	MOT 3	HMS 25			2nd	597
2011	Team Penske	Dallara	Honda	STP 2	ALA 1	LBH 10	SAO 1	INDY 14	TXS1 3	TXS2 1	MIL 4	IOW 21	TOR 24	EDM 1	MDO 14	NHM 5	SNM 1	BAL 1	MOT 2	KTY 19	LVS C3		2nd	555
2012	Team Penske	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet	STP 7	ALA 1	LBH 1	SAO 1	INDY 28	DET 4	TXS 8	MIL 12	IOW 24	TOR 15	EDM 3	MDO 2	SNM 2	BAL 6	FON 24					2nd	465
2013	Team Penske	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet	STP 16	ALA 5	LBH 16	SAO 24	INDY	DET1	DET2	TXS	MIL	IOW	PEN	TOR1	TOR2	MDO	SNM	BAL	HOU1	HOU2	FON	15th*	77*

* Season still in progress

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

³ Cancelled due to death of Dan Wheldon.

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2008	Dallara	Honda	23	13	KV Racing
2009	Dallara	Honda	9	5	Team Penske
2010	Dallara	Honda	2	8	Team Penske
2011	Dallara	Honda	5	14	Team Penske
2012	Dallara	Chevrolet	5	28	Team Penske
2013	Dallara	Chevrolet	6		Team Penske

Complete V8 Supercar results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	Final Pos	Points
2002	Orrcon Racing	ADL	PHI	ECK	HDV	CAN	PTH	ORP	WIN	QLD 11	BAT 18	SUR	PUK	SAN																			46th	82
2010	Ford Performance Racing	YMC R1	YMC R2	BHR R3	BHR R4	ADE R5	ADE R6	HAM R7	HAM R8	QLD R9	QLD R10	WIN R11	WIN R12	HDV R13	HDV R14	TOW R15	TOW R16	PHI Q	PHI R17	BAT R18	SUR R19 Ret	SUR R20 13	SYM R21	SYM R22	SAN R23	SAN R24	SYD R25	SYD R26					NC	0 †
2012	Ford Performance Racing	ADE R1	ADE R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	PER R7	PER R8	PER R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	HDV R12	HDV R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	SMP R18	SMP R19	SAN Q	SAN R20	BAT R21	SUR R22 3	SUR R23 3	YMC R24	YMC R25	YMC R26	WIN R27	WIN R28	SYD R29	SYD R30	NC	0 †

† Not Eligible for points

External links

• Official Site
• IndyCar Driver Page

Sporting positions
Preceded by Rick Kelly	Winner of the Australian Drivers' Championship 2002	Succeeded by Daniel Gaunt
Preceded by Timo Glock	Champ Car Rookie of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Robert Doornbos
Preceded by Not Awarded	Winner of the IndyCar Series Mario Andretti Road Course Trophy 2010–2012	Succeeded by Incumbent