Kane Sprints to Victory; Long Haul Favors Servia

Pole-sitter Jonny Kane, an Irishman from Indianapolis, won the race--by a nose over Ben Collins, an Englishman from Indianapolis--but Spaniard Oriol Servia walked off with the big prize, the season championship, after finishing only 14th in Sunday’s PPG-Dayton Indy Lights 100-mile race at California Speedway.

Servia won because teammate Casey Mears of Bakersfield finished only one spot ahead of him, which meant that neither earned points. So Servia finished with the 130 he’d started with, and Mears with the 116 he’d had. Making the day, and the season, complete for owner Bob Dorricott was Philipp Peter of Monte Carlo, the team’s third driver, who finished 10th in the race but third in the standings with 101 points, giving Dorricott-Mears Racing a sweep in CART’s driver-development series.

As usual, the Lights produced a highly entertaining race on the high-speed two-mile track, racing three, sometimes four abreast, swapping the lead several times a lap.

At the end, it came down to a one-lap sprint between Kane and Collins as they came off a caution period at the start of the last lap. Collins closed at the end of the back straight but Kane swung low, shutting the door on Collins as he scored his first Lights victory and clinched the rookie-of-the-year title at an average speed of 129.902 mph. Didier Andre, a Frenchman from Indianapolis, finished third.

“I’m absolutely elated,” said an elated Kane. “This team [Kool Green] has never won before [in Indy Lights] and the boys worked so hard, they really deserve it.

“I had a pretty good start. I wanted to get a [drafting] train going but everyone decided to go for it. That made it a better race for the fans.”

Servia, a three-time winner who had started in the front row with Kane, dropped back quickly and never was a contender.

“It was the most frustrating race of my life, probably the most frustrating moment,” he said. “My engine went bad in low revs. . . . I saw people going by me but there was nothing I could do. I almost got out of the car. [But] I’m happy about the championship. It’s been a great year.”

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RESULTS

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No. Driver Country/City Laps 1. (1) Jonny Kane Northern Ireland 50 2. (4) Ben Collins England 50 3. (13) Didier Andre France 50 4. (16) Cory Witherill Santa Monica 50 5. (19) Mario Dominguez Mexico 50 6. (9) Tony Renna DeLand, Fla. 50 7. (7) Chris Menninga Pella, Iowa 50 8. (11) Airton Dare Brazil 50 9. (12) Rodolfo Lavin Mexico 50 10. (3) Philipp Peter Austria 50 11. (15) Geoff Boss Narragansett, R.I. 50 12. (18) Andy Boss Narragansett, R.I. 50 13. (8) Casey Mears Bakersfield 50 14. (2) Oriol Servia Spain 50 15. (14) Derek Higgins Ireland 49 16. (6) Scott Dixon New Zealand 48 17. (10) David Pook Long Beach 44 18. (17) Rolando Quintanilla Mexico 32 19. (5) Guy Smith, England England 24 20. (20) Felipe Giaffone Brazil 4

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All cars are Lola V6 with Dayton tires

Winner’s speed: 129.902 mph. Time of race: 46 minutes, 51.509 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.049 seconds.

Lap leaders: Kane 1,41,44-50; Servia 2-3; Smith 4,5-8,12-18,21; Dixon 5,9-11; Andre 19-20;22-40;42-43.

Final Driver Standings: 1, Oriol Servia, 130. 2, Casey Mears, 116. 3, Philipp Peter, 101. 4, Jonny Kane (R), , 89. 5, Scott Dixon, 88.