Mike Conway truly arrived in IndyCar racing last Sunday by scoring a convincing win for Andretti Autosport in the Long Beach Grand Prix. The former British F3 champion and Macau GP winner took the lead during the final round of pitstops and drove away from Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti to record his first IndyCar Series victory, beating Briscoe by six seconds. Will Power led the opening laps but was punted into a spin by Penske team-mate Hélio Castroneves. Power recovered to 10th but lost the championship lead to reigning champion Franchitti.

Conway started racing Indycars two years ago but was sidelined by a back-breaking accident on the final lap of last year’s Indy 500. He was out of action for the rest of the year before being signed to drive one of Michael Andretti’s four cars. Conway is a man of few words but a fierce racer who showed his stuff at Long Beach with a great drive through the field following a poor first pitstop while running third. The Brit locked his brakes and slid into his pit, losing time with a tyre change.

“From there it was a case of trying to pass as many cars as I could,” he said. “It was tough but we came out on tyres the car liked. On restarts it was awesome. The rest of the guys were struggling for grip and we were just charging through. It was nice to fight for the lead with Ryan and Dario.

“At the beginning I was just controlling the gap between Ryan and Will and saving fuel, and once we dropped back in the pack it was a fight to stay where we were. The restarts and the strategy worked out for us and we were on fire at the end. We were able to push by the guys and before I knew it I was in the lead.”

Conway said he had been fully motivated to recover from his accident. “Initially when I saw the injuries I had I wasn’t sure when I’d get back. Things like that can definitely stop your career, but I was determined to get back to fitness and back in the car. To win in my third race back is awesome and I can’t thank Michael enough for believing in me and the team for doing such a great job.”

Andretti said he had no doubts Conway would produce results. “Mike showed signs of brilliance last year at the beginning of the season. There was no question in my mind that he’d come back. I felt he was going to be hungrier than ever. The first time he got in a car with us he was up to speed in about four or five laps.

“Not only is Mike a great talent but he fits in with the other three drivers. We have great chemistry between the drivers and because of that I feel really good about the rest of this year. I think we’re going to be strong.”