When Will Power made his U.S. open-wheel debut with Walker Racing in the penultimate round of the 2005 Champ Car season, it was as a third entry for the team alongside incumbents Alex Tagliani and Marcus Marshall.
For 2006, as Power replaced Marshall and joined Tagliani, Team Australia was able to capture Brandon Fry, from the redoubtable RuSPORT team to become Power’s race engineer for his first full season at this level, and the pair made strong progress. From the middle of the season, the Aussie rookie took over from Tag as the team’s ‘cutting edge’, closing out the year with pole at Surfers Paradise, his first podium finish at Mexico City, a well-deserved Rookie of the Year title and sixth in the championship.
