Power takes Penske's 200th IndyCar win at Indianapolis GP

Will Power charged to Penske's 200th Indy car victory and his first success of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season in Saturday's Indianapolis Grand Prix, beating Scott Dixon despite having to go lean on fuel in the closing stages.

After taking pole position on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's grand prix layout on Friday, Power was able to retain his advantage through the opening stages of the race, but was under early pressure from both Robert Wickens and Sebastien Bourdais.

Wickens was able to get the jump on Power shortly after the first round of pit stops as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports put the Canadian on an alternate strategy, fitting his car with the faster red-ringed tyres for the second stint.

Wickens pulled out a lead over Power, only for the Penske driver to whittle the gap down when he ran on reds following his second stop as the race leader struggled on the slower black tyres.

Power pulled an ambitious move around the outside of Wickens at Turn 1 to seize the lead with 34 laps to go, but found himself coming under pressure again when a full course caution was sparked following a stall for Penske teammate Josef Newgarden.

Power was able to hold onto the lead upon the restart, but had Chip Ganassi Racing's Dixon filling his mirrors through the closing stages, only to edge clear and eventually take the chequered flag 2.2 seconds clear for Penske's 200th Indy car victory as a number of drivers worked hard to save fuel in the final few laps.

"It's amazing. It just shows what sort of team that Penske is, and it's a real honor to drive for Roger [Penske]," said Power.

"We're given the equipment week in and week out to win, so I can't thank him enough for the opportunity he's given me. I had to save a lot of fuel at the end and go fast because I knew how good Dixon is at saving fuel and going fast. The Chevy had great fuel mileage.

"Man, I've never driven so hard for an entire race. I was 100 percent the whole time. Yeah, I'm exhausted. Every lap was like a qualifying lap."

Wickens held on for third place after a late fight with Bourdais, who was left to settle for fourth ahead of Andretti's Alexander Rossi.

Helio Castroneves finished sixth upon his IndyCar return to start the 'Month of May' at Indianapolis, beating James Hinchcliffe and Simon Pagenaud in seventh and eighth respectively. Graham Rahal took P9, while Takuma Sato completed the top 10.