Ryan Hunter-Reay capped off a breakthrough twelve months by taking rookie honours in the Indianapolis 500 with sixth.

Battling his way up from 20th place on the grid, Hunter-Reay was embroiled in a thrilling fight with fellow rookie Hideki Mutoh for the honour of being the top 'first-year' driver.

Determined not to lose out to the Japanese driver, Hunter-Reay pulled past Mutoh at the first turn on lap 194 and surged home to a popular result for Bobby Rahal's eponymous RLR team.

“Hideki was blocking me and I can't tell you how angry I was,” he said. “But I was methodical and set him up, my spotters did a great job giving me information and we got the job done.

“There was no way I was going to finish this race with that kid in front of me! The Ethanol team did a fantastic job today. Each time I came in I seemed to get a spot or two, then we were able to get a couple on the track on each stint. It went right according to plan.”

Although his rookie status is skewed by the fact he competed in the IndyCar Series in 2007 – and came away with the Rookie of the Year title -, having not raced at Indianapolis before means he is eligible for honours.

Nonetheless, Hunter-Reay was delighted to prevail, particularly as the Indianapolis grid is swelled this year by the introduction of the Champ Car drivers.

“This is a great finish for us,” grinned Hunter-Reay. “This year, I think the Indy 500 Rookie-of-the-Year battle meant a lot more than it has in a while because the field was so strong with so many former Champ Car drivers coming over. This time last year I was walking the paddock in other series looking for a ride and today here I am in a press conference for being the top rookie at Indy. Wow.”