Lone G Force triumphs in a sea of Dallaras.

Scott Dixon's maiden IRL IndyCar race victory was not only a massive boost for Toyota in their first IRL event but it also gave the new generation of the Panoz G Force chassis a hard fought win against numerically superior competition.

Dixon's victory extends the run of success for the Georgia-based company, which has tasted victory in every year of IRL competition. The 22 year-old New Zealander and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Tomas Scheckter carried the Panoz G Force flag throughout the Toyota Indy 300 weekend against a field of 16 Italian built Dallara chassis.

In addition to the TCGR duo, Mo Nunn Racing and AJ Foyt Racing's Shigeaki Hattori also used the G Force chassis for the IRL IndyCar season opener at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval but Nunn's team were handicapped by trying to sort through some brand new aerodynamic parts and Hattori was hindered by a lack of testing and an early race crash.

After starting from position twelve on the grid, Dixon moved through the field and swift work by the Ganassi crew elevated him from second to first at the final round of pit stops on lap 148. From there on Dixon was untouchable as he led Marlboro Team Penske teammates Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves across the finishing line with half a second to spare.

"We sat back early and the other cars seemed to deteriorate a lot more than us and we were able to pick up a few spots," Dixon said.

"The car got better and better as the race progressed. It was really excellent on new tires with just a little bit of understeer.

"The last pit stop was really the key to the race but the guys got me out ahead of Gil and the Panoz G Force was strong enough to hold him off and come away with a victory."

The win by Dixon was the first victory by an Indy Racing League rookie since Juan Montoya took the 2000 Indy 500 - also with Target Chip Ganassi Racing and a Panoz G Force chassis.

"Those guys at the Panoz G Force factory, the guys oversees and Dr Panoz himself support us 100 percent and we support them in turn because partnerships are what Target Chip Ganassi Racing is all about," Team Managing Director, Mike Hull said.

"We have 15 races to go and those guys are humpin' really hard to give us a good product for all the tracks throughout the season."

Despite having the upper hand over Dallara during pre-season testing Dixon was the only G Force mounted runner amongst the top seven finishers with his teammate Scheckter fading to eighth after a strong run in the early stages of the 200-lap, 300-mile event. Nunn teammates Felipe Giaffone and Tora Takagi finished ninth and twelfth respectively with Hattori a recovering 18th.

"This is an outstanding win for us, because this was not the type of track where we expected a result like this," Panoz G Force, President, Tony Mastandrea said.

"It is a real credit to everybody on the design staff and the factory guys who actually built these cars.

"Our aim is to win the championship and the Indy 500 - this is a great start to the year."

The second round of the Championship at Phoenix later this month should see the G Force attack bolstered by Greg Ray's new Access Motorsports team, who have confirmed a G Force-Honda powered entry for the 1999 IRL Champion.

Rookie AJ Foyt IV, teammate to Hattori in his grandfather's legendary team, should also return from Dallara to G Force in time for the Purex Dial Indy 200 after two separate testing crashes forced the 18 year-old driver to switch chassis days before the opening race.