“We had an up and down race day, but I am proud of myself for moving up in the positions at the end of the race," Patrick commented, "I was able to hold my own when we were on the wet tyres, and I think half the battle in races like these is just to stay out of the wrecks and to stay on the lead lap. We have some work to do - we need to fine tune our pit-stops and have to start putting it all together - or we are not going to win races.”

Aussie Power, meanwhile, recovered from the contact with Rahal, as well as a costly pit-stop strategy, to take his first top ten IndyCar finish, taking eighth after starting from second on the grid and spending much of the first half of the race dicing with the frontrunners.

“It was a pretty wild race because of the weather,” Power said, “and to come back and finish eighth was very good considering where we were at one point. I am very happy for the whole KV Racing Technology team and the Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia crew that we bought the car back in one piece for the second race in a row.”

Marty Roth did not start the race after damage to his car, suffered in the morning warm-up session, could not be repaired in time, while Ed Carpenter, Vitor Meira, Franck Perera, Townsend Bell and Ryan Briscoe all succumbed to accidents in the race, Meira, Perera and Bell all crashing out on lap 75.

“We had made all the right calls on tyres and pitting, but unfortunately I cost us a chance at a win,” Briscoe said, having led the race prior to his lap 57 accident, “I was trying to set up the #24 car, but I clipped the inside wall, which took us out of the race. It's a frustrating start to the season because we've had great cars with a chance to contend for the win in both races.”

Homestead winner Scott Dixon was unable to repeat his round one success, succumbing to left rear suspension problems on lap 75 and being classified 22nd in the final standings.

“I think everyone was having fun out there, but I can tell you it was tough figuring out who was on what strategy," the Kiwi, who loses his points lead to Castroneves, noted, “With the start in the wet and everything, there was a lot of jumbling around and different strategies playing out. In the end, the left rear suspension gave way and we had to come to pit lane. That was it.”

The points table will receive another shake-up in two weeks' time as the field splits for two separate events on the same day, giving Rahal the chance to record back-to back wins as the Champ Car teams journey to Long Beach for the final event in the Panoz DP01 chassis introduced to the CCWS last season. The IRL regulars, meanwhile, go east to Motegi, with both events counting for equal championship points.