Hinchcliffe pips Sato for Sao Paulo win

SAO PAULO (AFP) –

Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe of the Andretti Autosport team, poses after winning the Sao Paulo Indy 300 at the Sambadrome racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 5, 2013.

Canada’s James Hinchcliffe overtook Takuma Sato in the final turn Sunday to win the Sao Paulo Indy 300 on Sunday, denying the Japanese driver a second straight IndyCar triumph.

Hinchcliffe won by .3463sec, his second victory of the year after winning the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida.

American Marco Andretti nabbed the last spot on the podium finishing third ahead of Spain’s Oriol Servia.

“There’s no cooler way to win a race — in the last corner of the last lap,” said Hinchcliffe, who led the four Andretti Autosport cars finishing in the top 11.

“Takuma was making that race car really wide and he was defending the inside pretty well — almost too well a couple times. He just outbroke himself just a little bit and I was able to do a high-low (pass) and got the win.”

Sato, who became the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race with his triumph in Long Beach on April 21, will take a 13-point lead over Andretti in the IndyCar standings into the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26.

Brazilian Helio Castroneves, who led in points through three races, fell to third in the standings with a 13th-place finish.

Pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay finished 11th. Australia’s Will Power, who had won the previous three races in Brazil, had gained 12 places from his 22nd starting position before a fire in his car ended his day.