MOTORSPORT: Power woe, but new darlings from the downs

As Will Power's IndyCar title defence falters, new open-wheeler stars have emerged from Toowoomba.

Jordan Lloyd and Will Brown, both from the same city on Queensland's Darling Downs that produced Power, shared the three race wins at the debut round of the Australian Formula 4 Championship at Townsville.

But Power has dropped from second to fifth in America's IndyCar series after he and fellow Australian Ryan Briscoe crashed into the outside wall together mid-race at the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin.

Power now trails series-leading Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya by 70 points with four rounds remaining, each worth a maximum of 54pt.

Brisbane-born New Zealander Scott Dixon is now second to Montoya, 56pt behind the Colombian. Brazilian Helio Castroneves, another Penske driver, and American Graham Rahal are tied for third place, one point ahead of Power.

"No question, it's tough [now]," Power said of his title defence.

"We just have to focus and move on to the next one [round 13]."

Two of the remaining races will be on ovals – the first of them next Saturday in Iowa. The other two rounds take place on road courses.

Briscoe, still deputising for injured Canadian James Hinchliffe in a Honda-powered car entered by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, had qualified on the front row at the one-mile (1.6km) Milwaukee oval. He was alongside American youngster, Josef Newgarden, who had claimed his first pole position after two race victories this season.

Briscoe battled Newgarden early but his car's jack did not engage on the first pitstop, dropping him from second to 18th.

However, the Sydneysider had worked his way back up to fifth when he spun on lap 131 of 250, collecting the Chevrolet-powered Penske of Power – winner at Milwaukee last year – in the process.

"I thought we were going to be able to race for the win," said Briscoe, who has shown incredible speed in the past two races but also crashed out in the previous round at Fontana Speedway in California.

The Milwaukee race was won by Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, who is to join Walkinshaw Racing for the V8 Supercar endurance races in Australia in September-October as Lee Holdsworth's co-driver.

A four-time open-wheeler champion in North America in the Champ Car days, before a brief stint in Formula 1, it was Bourdais' 34th victory in American-style racing – and his fifth on an oval track.

Bourdais drives in the US for the KV Racing of expatriate Australian entrepreneur Kevin Kalkhoven and former racer Jimmy Vasser. He led 118 laps – one more than in his previous oval victory, also at Milwaukee in 2006.

It was the ninth victory of the season for Chevrolet power, while Rahal was the best of the Honda-engined runners.

Castroneves had to start from the rear of the field because his car was not on the grid 10 minutes before the start but he finished within 2.5sec of Bourdais, who had begun from 11th.

Montoya, who had headed Power by 46 points after the previous 11 rounds, settled for fourth place at Milwaukee.

Briscoe and Power were classified 21st and 22nd of the 24 starters.

New open-wheeler stars come to the fore
Jordan Lloyd leads the new Australian Formula 4 Championship after the three races for the imported wings-and-slicks open-wheelers during the V8 Supercar Championship round in Townsville.

Will Brown made history as the victor in the first race, driving for AGI Sport, and wound up third overall for the weekend.

Lloyd won the other two races for Team BRM – one of them on Saturday after Victorian Thomas Randle of Dream Motorsport was given a 30-second post-race penalty for pitching Jimmy Vernon of AGI Sport into a spin and out of the race.

Lloyd was dealt his second 5sec penalty of the weekend in Sunday's final race, but that was reversed when video cleared him of having jumped the start.

Nick Rowe, who made a late dash from Karratha in Western Australia to boost the entry list for this inaugural F4 round to 13, was the weekend's runner-up – reward for his consistency with AGI Sport.

The 1.6-litre turbocharged F4 cars continue on the V8 Supercar calendar at Queensland Raceway at Ipswich on the first weekend of August.

Pictured: Will Power (white, #1), Ryan Briscoe (gold/black, #5), F4 podium left to right – Will Brown, Jordan Lloyd, Nick Rowe

Pictures courtesy of indycar.com and CAMS