Will Power again became the favourite to take the IndyCar crown, but lost out at the finale once more, this time to Ryan Hunter-Reay. Mark Glendenning looks back and argues that racing was the real winner

After its tumultuous winter of 2011, the IndyCar Series reinvented itself for this year amid a cacophony of bangs and whimpers double-tracked with the growl of turbochargers.

Such was the scale of change that the new engine formula – normally-aspirated V8s giving way to V6 turbos – went mostly unremarked. Competition from other new developments, such as the return of engine manufacturers, the introduction of a new chassis for the first time in a decade, and an organisational overhaul proved too strong in the fight for column inches.

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