Australian Will Power has nursed his IndyCar to an 11th placed finish at the Grand Prix of Alabama, won by Japan’s Takuma Sato.

Sato, the 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner, became the fifth driver to win after starting on the pole at Barber Motorsports Park and was in control most of the way.

Defending series champion New Zealand’s Scott Dixon earned his sixth runner-up finish in the race’s 10-year history.

Team Penske’s Power did all he could to get his car across the line, running out of fuel as he did so.

“Save save save, don’t worry about the guy behind you,” Power’s team boss Roger Penske told him about fuel with two laps to go.

Sato had a late issue of his own when he went into the grass and lost about a second off his lead at the road course.

e quickly gained it back over the final laps to win by 2.4 seconds, while Dixon held off third-placed Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.

Sato reclaimed the top spot on lap 58 of the 90-lap race after coming out of pit road. It was the 11th lead change, a record for the race.

Sato didn’t give it up again despite his precarious moment when he managed to manoeuver the No. 30 Honda through the grass and back onto the track.

Sato’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate, Graham Rahal, started second but ran into mechanical troubles.

Two-time defending champion Josef Newgarden worked his way up to fourth after starting 16th.

Newgarden leads the drivers’ championship on 125 points, 27 clear of Dixon with Sato third on 91 and Power ninth on 66 after three of the 17 races this season.