Wheldon Triumph Puts Emberton on Indy Circuit

Dan Wheldon became the first British driver to win a round of the US Indy Racing League when he triumphed in the Indy Japan 300 race at the Motegi speedway near Tokyo vaulting into the series lead and marking himself out as a strong contender to win the Indianapolis 500 on May 30.

Wheldon, who led all but eight of the 200 laps on the banked oval track on Saturday, fought a race-long battle with his Andretti Green team-mate Tony Kanaan. He eventually brought his Dallara-Honda home only 1.4sec ahead of his Brazilian rival to take the championship lead with 123 points to Kanaan's 117.

"It was a fantastic day," said the 25-year-old from Emberton in Buckinghamshire.

Wheldon started kart racing in Britain before deciding that the US racing scene offered him a better chance of longterm success. His move across the Atlantic reaped immediate dividends in 1999 when he won the US formula Ford title, after which he graduated through the Indy Lights feeder series into the IRL at the end of 2002. He was IRL rookie of the year last season.