Will Power will be hoping the 2011 IndyCar title race mirrors the Castrol EDGE Rankings after getting the upper hand over chief rival Dario Franchitti this week.
Power took a comprehensive victory in the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix to cut his points deficit to Franchitti to just five points. Three rounds ago, the gap had been 62.
Franchitti finished fourth to limit the damage, but the threat a resurgent Power poses to his 2011 title ambitions was made clear as he dropped behind the Australian in the Rankings order – Power gaining two places to break into sixth, equaling his highest ever spot.
After the race Power was unequivocal in his overall goal, stating: "To me, second in the championship means nothing. I want to win."
Behind power, Newman/Haas' Oriol Servia equaled his best finish of the year in second to vault up the Rankings order, rising 14 places to 52nd.
Elsewhere there were massive gains as FIA GT1 marked the end of a long summer break with the first of back-to-back rounds in China.
Marc VDS Ford duo Maxime Martin (131) and Frederic Makowiecki (178) dominated the weekend, taking a clean sweep of pole positions and race wins to improve by a combined total of 50 places.
The biggest gainers in the series however were Hexis AMR's Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini, who rose a combined total of 115 places to sit 337th and 286th, respectively.
To see the full Castrol Rankings and the latest positions in the Race for 2011, please visit www.castroldriverrankings.com.