There will be two Australians lining up this weekend for the 100th running of the famed Indianapolis 500 race with Will Power starting from second place on the grid and Matthew Brabham further back in 27th.
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This will be the ninth start for Power at the famous track they call the brickyard and after finishing second last year he has a very good chance of going one better in what appears destined to be a very special anniversary race.
He will again be driving for the Roger Penske-owned team who over the years have won the race on an impressive 16 occasions since 1972 and with four drivers in the race could add another one to the list.
Power is the 2014 Indy Car championship series winner and in qualifying second was timed at an average speed over the four laps of the four kilometre rectangular course at 367km/h.
The 35-year-old has plenty of experience to draw on whereas 22-year-old Brabham, who is the grandson of the late, great Sir Jack Brabham, will go into the race as an Indianapolis 500 rookie having recorded a qualifying average of 361km/h.
His father Geoff had 10 starts in the 500 with a best result of fourth in 1983 while Sir Jack has been attributed with changing the face of Indy Car racing having arrived at the circuit in 1961 with a tiny 2.7 litre rear engine Cooper Climax up against the traditional front engine 4.3 litre dinosaurs.
The locals were quite amused to start with but when he finished in ninth place and they saw how fast the car was around the corners, they began to take notice.
After racing karts and Formula Ford in Australia, Matthew Brabham ventured to the US to further his career, winning the US Formula 2000 championship in 2012 with 13 wins from 16 starts and the following year won the Pro-Mazda championship.
This weekend will be only his second start in an Indy car which is totally different to anything he has previously raced.
All 33 cars in the race will have the same Italian designed and built Dallara chassis and a specified aerodynamic package which can be adjusted by the teams but they have a choice of using either a Chevrolet or Honda engine.
Both engines are 2.2 litre twin turbocharged V6 units developing 675 horsepower at 12,000 rpm and both Power and Brabham will be using the Chevrolet engine.
The Pirtek Team Murray effort for Brabham has been put together by well known Australian motor sport identity Brett “Crusher” Murray who played a significant role in the career of Launceston’s own former kart driver who ventured to the US, Marcos Ambrose.