Dixon sliced ahead of Power on lap 24, taking the benefit of his fresh set of alternate tyres, and went on to score a famous victory by managing his fuel saving to perfection.
Power started the race from the front row on his softer-compound rubber, and jumped ahead of poleman Felix Rosenqvist at the opening corner.
He extended a 6.5s lead only for Christian Rasmussen to cause the race’s sole caution and negate his advantage.
Dixon started eighth and thus only had one qualifying run on his alternate tyres, while Power used both his sets for extra push laps in the Fast Six session.
He felt that the tyre deficit was crucial to why he finished sixth, 15s behind Dixon, despite mirroring his pitstop strategy.
“We had an incredibly fast Verizon Chevy,” said Power. “Had a choice to take the yellow and take tyres and have massive fuel save and go hard [on tyre choice], but we made the most of what we had there.
“We didn't have any green [alternate] tyres to run in those fuel save stints, so we didn't have any defence against Dixon. Otherwise, it would have been fine to do exactly what he did.
“Disappointing with how far we started up, but still a top six. All you can do is maximise each day and move on to the next one.”
Source: Autosport