Briscoe's delight after fending off Patrick challenge in Texas

Ryan Briscoe hopes his first win of the season in the Indycar series will prove to be the catalyst to kick-start his championship challenge. The Australian had endured a frustrating start to the season as he sat seventh in the title race following a best finish of only third in the opening four races, but he held off a strong challenge from the Andretti car of Danica Patrick to win at the Texas Motor Speedway.

"This is a huge win," said Briscoe in the post-race press conference. The victory moves him up to fifth place in the standings, 28 points off the top. "It has been a rough start. My two teammates [Will Power and Helio Castroneves] have won races this year. It is a great feeling to join them in the winning list. "Hopefully, we can get a few more victories this season." The 28-year-old was overtaken by Patrick as he exited the pitlane after his final pit-stop, but quickly restored his advantage and was able to pull away to win by 1.5 seconds, and he was relieved to see off the challenge of the American.

Talking about how he overtook her, he said: "If I didn't get her there, I'm not sure I would get her at all. I knew it was going to be an important time and that's why I was being aggressive. Marco Andretti was third, followed by Scott Dixon of New Zealand and Dario Franchitti, the Indianapolis 500 winner who had led early on before fading. Defending series champion Franchitti seized the points lead from Power, who finished 14th after he was forced to make an extra pit-stop after picking up track debris in his car.

The race was marred by a fiery crash involving Simona de Silvestro, Swiss driver, who was pulled from her burning car by an emergency worker after she had hit the wall on the oval circuit. She was treated for burns to her right hand in the infield medical care centre. "It was crazy. The fire was getting worse and worse," de Silvestro told reporters afterwards. "It just wouldn't go away. My hand is a little bit burned."

* Agencies