He celebrated his 27th...

He celebrated his 27th birthday in style – by winning the inaugural Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio on SundayIt was the in-form New Zealandч­er’s third consecutive victory, but Franchitti, once again, limited the damage to a 10-point loss by finishing second. That means the Scot still holds a 24-point lead over Dixon with five races remaining.

“It’s been very tough to try and close the gap as Dario has been consistently on the podium when we’ve won, and that’s frustrating,” said Dixon. “We’re doing as much as we can and applying as much pressure as possible. I’m closing the gap. Three races ago I was 65 points behind; now it’s 24. If I keep going at that rate, it will be good.”

After posting his 11th straight top-five finish, Franchitti admitted: “Scott’s doing one hell of a job. It’s clear we are going to need perfection from now onwards in order to win this championship.” Meanwhile, Dan Wheldon’s title hopes received another big blow. The Englishman could finish only 10th, and now finds himself 117 points adrift of Franч­chitti in fourth position overall. However, fellow countryman Darren Manning came home a season-high sixth.