Australia’s Ryan Briscoe has described his 12th place finish at the legendary Indianapolis 500 as a great learning curve.

Briscoe, a late replacement for the injured James Hinchcliffe in the No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Honda, says while it was tough coming up against the sport’s best he will take a lot from the experience.

“It was good, it was a learning curve,” Briscoe said. “I was just learning all day long and moving forward.

“It’s tough going up against these guys that have been running all month long and getting a feel for these conditions.

“I’ve got some ideas up my sleeves now, if only I would have had a bit more time in the car.

“I think the potential is there. I’m really proud of the team. I’m proud of myself. I think we did pretty well.”

Melbourne’s James Davison finished 27th in the No. 19 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing after being involved in a three-car incident on pit lane.

“We came in for our pit stop there, and the car was working as well as it had been all race,” Davison said. “I think we just got sent right out into the path of Pippa (Mann) and contact was made that slammed my car into Tristan (Vautier’s) car our sister car.

“Tristan and I sustained damage that ended our race. Obviously, a crew member was hit and hurt and I’m just really hoping that he’s going to be ok.”

The race was won by Juan Pablo Montoya, who clinched his second Indy 500, by a margin of .1046 seconds ahead of teammate and Australian Will Power.

Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ Charlie Kimball finished third.