Dean Stoneman produced a stunning performance to win the closest race of all time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The cancer survivor from Bishops Waltham won a dramatic Freedom 100 by just 0.0024 of a second at the famous Indy Oval - the closest margin of victory in the circuit's history.

Stoneman hit speeds of 195mph before the thrilling finish in front of more than 150,000 fans at the start of Indy 500 weekend.

The 25 year-old , who won the Indianapolis Grand Prix a fortnight ago, started from fifth but his number 27 Stellrecht Mazda was third by lap two.

On lap 6 the safety car was deployed after a crash and Stoneman used this as an opportunity to move up to second on the fast-moving 2.5 mile oval.

By lap eight the Andretti driver seized the opportunity to lead.

For the remaining 32 laps, Stoneman was in a class of his own.

He came under pressure on a number of occasions, but managed to claw the lead back and take control at speeds in excess of 195 mph.

With one lap to go another incident led to the safety car coming out, setting up a grandstand finish with one lap remaining.

As the green flag was waved the second-placed car of Ed Jones pulled alongside Stoneman, who was in no mood to relinquish the lead.

With the cars neck and neck Stoneman took a popular win by a fraction of a second,

Stoneman arrived in parc ferme to the delight of his Andretti team and with his emotions clear to see.

“Wow what a race! I knew we had a good car, my Andretti team has worked hard to give balance and good race pace," he said. 

"I always felt strong and had confidence to overtake early on. With the safety car coming out at the end it gave the others chance to get close and the race to the end was very close.

"This will go down as one on my best and most important victories of my career. Thanks to Andretti and Stellrecht this was a great team win.”