Dixon Gets Strong Finish In Opening CART Race

Courtesy of Car.co.nz Motorsport News

By: Lance Hastie www.car.co.nz

Starting from 14th on the grid, Dixon always had a battle on his hands, yet fate turned to favour Dixon allowing him an early jump on many of the opposition. Moving quickly to be inside the top 10, Dixon never looked back. Comfortably holding his position he conserved his team's resources looking for the break he need to get the clear air at the front of the field.

While there were minor tangles early on in the racing, it was a relatively incident free event, giving the drivers a good chance to get some hard racing in ahead of a long season.

"The start of the race was very good for us," said Dixon. "We picked up some positions at turn two on the first lap when some of the cars dove to the inside. Then at turn five Brack had an incident and made contact and we picked up some more spots, moving up to eighth position. The car was very consistent throughout the race and we made a good decision when we made an early pit stop to get out of some traffic. My crew did a great job on pit stops and we made up plenty of time, which helped us to stay up there in spots. I did have a problem with my brakes a little over half way through the race, so I wasn't able to push as hard as I wanted. We'll work on that and be in great shape going into Long Beach."

Winner of the race was Cristiano de Matta - second time winner, ahead of Dario Franchitti.

Dixon now sits 6th overall in the points classification before the next round at Long Beach, California on April 14th.

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