Will Power reckons he’s a better driver now but his approach won’t change as he leads going into the IndyCar championship decider for a third straight year.
Bidding to become the first Australian winner of the series, Power enters this weekend’s season finale in California with a narrow 17-point advantage over American Ryan Hunter-Reay after 14 races, more than 1700 laps and approximately 3000 miles of competition.
He lost out to Scotland’s Dario Franchitti in 2010 and 2011 and Power is pragmatic about his task as he prepares to face Hunter-Reay’s challenge at the two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval in Fontana.
“It’s going to be obviously a tough race, 500 miles. We just focus on the job that we have to do to execute on the day,” Power said.
“The rest will work itself out. Either we’ll be champion or we won’t.
“I think just naturally the more experience you get, the more knowledge you have about situations, how to react in certain situations, you probably become a better, more experienced driver.
“I would say I’ve improved for sure over the last two years, but I don’t think my approach is very different.”
Power got an early boost when Hunter-Reay crashed into the wall in practice on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), with the resulting change of engine meaning he’ll cop a 10-spot penalty on the starting grid.
However, that matters less on ovals where passing is easier and Hunter-Reay insisted it was not an issue.
While there are numerous scenarios which could result in either driver taking the title, the simplest formula for Power is to finish ahead of Hunter-Reay, but the Australian isn’t planning a safety first race.
“The approach is the same every weekend,” he said. “You go into the race to win it.”
Aside from the championship, the victor in Sunday’s (Monday AM AEST) race will also claim a $1 million bonus prize.
Victory is far from a given for Power despite his far superior overall IndyCar record compared to Hunter-Reay.
Very significantly, Hunter-Reay’s title challenge is based largely on his form on oval-style circuits and Fontana is one of only five ovals in the 15-race championship.
While Power’s sole oval victory was in Texas in June of 2011, Hunter-Reay has won four oval races in his career including back-to-back wins in Iowa and Milwaukee this season.
He has almost twice as many championship points from oval circuits this year as Power.
But the American doesn’t feel he goes into the final race with an edge.
“When it comes to one race, I don’t think there’s any advantage to it at all,” Hunter-Reay said.
“This is one race. I look at it from the standpoint, just like I looked at Baltimore (last start where Hunter-Reay won) – we have to win to get ourselves there.
“It’s pretty straightforward for me.”
