IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

April 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Former F1, and IZOD IndyCar Series KV Racing Technologies team driver, Takuma Sato – AJ Foyt Racing … looking at data feedback after posting a P4 in qualifications for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

IZOD IndyCar Series Review At 3 Of 19 Scheduled Races For 2013

With 15.7894% of the season in the books, an early review of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) season seemed to be in order.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach helped to cement a couple of themes that seem to shaping up in this sophomore season of the Dallara DW12 racing platform, two engine manufacturer era of American open-wheel racing.

Takuma Sato and the AJ Foyt Racing team in winner’s circle at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: AJ Foyt Enterprises (2013)

First, congratulations to AJ Foyt Racing for helping to deliver a team effort role in Japanese, and former F1 driver, Takuma Sato’s first win in the top rung of world automobile racing. A fully honest win won racing starting from P4 at the drop of the green flag aided only by a flawless performance driving the Honda-powered DW12 on the track, and team work in the pits for tires and fuel.

By winning the third race of the season, Takuma Sato notches his first win in 52 IICS race starts. His previous best finish at Long Beach was P8. Image Credit: Chris Jones IICS (2013)

This excerpted and edited from Aljazeera -

Sato and Japan make mark on IndyCar
Aljazeera – Fri, Apr 26, 2013

Takuma Sato says joining AJ Foyt Racing put him in position to become the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race.

Sato returned to Japan on Friday to speak about his historic win last Sunday in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, just his third race with the team.

“Motorsports is a team sport and you can’t win without complete effort from the team,” Sato said at a news conference. “The thing about AJ Foyt Racing is that regardless of the conditions they provide the stability needed to win.”

The win at Long Beach came in Sato’s 52nd career start in IndyCar, but was the first for AJ Foyt Racing since Airton Dare won Kansas in 2002.
—-
IndyCar pulled out of Japan after the 2011 race, and Sato said he hopes his win at Long Beach will help return the series to his homeland. “People in Japan love IndyCar,” the 36-year-old Sato said. “I can’t bring it back myself but I hope in some small way the win in Long Beach will help bring it back. I want to race in the Indy Japan before my career is over.”

[Reference Here]

Helio Castroneves survives a Honda engine onslaught at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to lead all drivers in the points with his Penske Racing Chevy-powered DW12 after three races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

When the dust settled on the third race of the 2013 season, the top five drivers in the points for the IZOD IndyCar Series season championship are 1) Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves – Chevy – 99 points, 2) AJ Foyt Racing’s Takuma Sato – Honda – 93 points (the only race winner this season in the top five), 3) Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon – Honda – 89 points, 4) Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti – Chevy – 87 points, and 5) Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson – Honda – 81 points. To paraphrase Takuma Sato in what he stated in the interview above, these drivers through three races “regardless of the conditions they (the teams and drivers) provide the stability needed to win.”

The drivers of the podium take their victory lap to the cheers of the crowd – all three drivers were from teams that were not named Andretti, Ganassi, or Penske. Takuma Sato of AJ Foyt Racing – P1 (R), Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing- P2 (L), and Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing – P3 (C). Image Credit: John Cote IICS (2013)

The other observable major point is that the top five, which almost always is exclusively populated by three multiple car teams … and we know them all to well, have been broken up with the presence of two very competent drivers who drive for single car teams that have had trouble with consistency in previous years. That, and

Honda, after not showing so well in the first race of the season at St. Petersburg, Florida, has rebounded to the point that one could say that if you are driving for a team with a Honda engine, you may have a shot at an IICS Championship. Honda was able to occupy 9 of the top 15 positions at races end at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – which Honda and HPD consider their home track being that their main facility is located in Santa Clarita.

Some numbers to note from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season:

1 – Indy car race winners from Japan: Takuma Sato, who became the second first-time winner in three races.

2 – Consecutive fifth-place finishes at Long Beach for JR Hildebrand.

3 – Drivers who have finished in the top 10 in each of the first three IZOD IndyCar Series events: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Justin Wilson.

5 – Different teams represented in the top five in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

6 – Points separating the top two drivers, Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato, in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

7 – Different teams represented in the top 10 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

8 – Different drivers to score podium finishes in nine races.

12 – Positions gained by Graham Rahal in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, the biggest jump among drivers who competed.

13 – Drivers with at least one top-five finish in 2013.

18 – Points separating the top-five drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

20 – Drivers with at least one top-10 finish in 2013.

21 – Positions improved by Justin Wilson, the most positions gained by any driver. Wilson finished third. ["I think (the competition is) just so tense," said Justin Wilson, who charged from the 24th starting position to earn third place at Long Beach in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry. "There are so many drivers in this championship that are capable of winning races. When you do your lap in the car, you don't know when you come in if you're first or 25th.

"You can't afford to miss anything. You can't afford to have a bad result. The way this championship happens, when racers have had bad results, it opens it right up. I think it's going to be more intense and interesting as the season goes on."]

27 – Laps led by Dario Franchitti at Long Beach. Franchitti led a total of 11 laps on road/street courses in 2012.

50 – Laps led by Takuma Sato at Long Beach, the most laps he has led in any Indy car race. Sato’s previous high was 31 at Indianapolis in 2012.

199 – Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland. Kanaan is second to Jimmy Vasser’s 211 straight starts.

(ht: indycar staff)

Lastly, do not bother to try to break into the top five in the points unless your car (and in one case, including helmet) livery colors include Red, White, and Blue:

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Helio has Automobile Club of Southern California – “Triple A”,

 

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

TAKU sports the ABC Supply Americana motif,

 

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Dixie’s predominately Red with White lettering and logo Target car combined with his distinctive Blue lid,

 

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Marco with RC Cola,

 

Image Credit: Richard Dowdy IICS (2013)

Finally, who can imagine becoming more Red, White, and Blue than the Boy Scouts of America who wraps the DW12 of Justin Wilson!

 

Quite fitting for the ultimate professional open-wheel racing series in America to be led by such a thematically colorful, yet international contingent.

Next weekend is the running of the fourth straight road/street race of the season and the last race before the INDY 500, the world’s most famous ‘oval’ race track. The drivers become the boys and girls of Brazil (Helio’s home track) as they race at an event facility known in Sao Paulo for it’s Samba Festival held during pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival.

… notes from The EDJE

 

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Andretti Prediction In Baltimore Becomes Reality For Hunter-Reay In Fontana

September 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

After surviving a Lap 55 near miss take out by Will Power’s out of control #12 Penske Racing DW12, Ryan Hunter-Reay puts in a steady 250 Lap drive in the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway to win it all, run the table, and take home all of the chips. Welcome the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Champion, the A.J. Foyt Trophy honoree for most points scored in a season on oval courses, and first American born driver to become American open wheel racing champion since 2006. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Andretti Prediction In Baltimore Becomes Reality For Hunter-Reay In Fontana

With 36 points separating Ryan Hunter-Reay (RHR) from the championship points lead and two races to go left in the season, the Andretti Autosport driver wins on the temporary street circuit race promoted by the recently formed Andretti Sports Marketing … the Indy Grand Prix of Baltimore. This left RHR with a tall, but not impossible mountain to scale of 17 points to overcome in order to clinch the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship.

Immediately after Ryan crossed the finish line at the inner harbor track location, in a post race interview on NBCSC, team owner Michael Andretti came out with a strong prediction – “We are going to win the championship in Fontana at Auto Club Speedway.”

This isn’t the first time this motor culture legend, in his own time, came forth with a prediction that paid off – and Michael Andretti never was the kind of personality to boast.

Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport becomes the first American born driver to win a race in this 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2010)

This excerpted and edited from “… notes from The EDJE” -

Toyota GP of Long Beach: Owner Andretti Predicted Hunter-Reay Win
By Edmund Jenks – April 19, 2010

With the confidence that comes from being a multiple time race winner here at motorsports premiere temporary street course race at Long Beach, Michael Andretti predicted that his recently signed driver (a test for a few races to begin), Ryan Hunter-Reay, would win the race.

What makes this prediction almost astounding is that none of the cars had set a tire anywhere on Shoreline Drive and he made this prediction at a post induction ceremony interview on Thursday, April 15, 2010, where he, along with Danny Sullivan, were honored with an achievement medallion in the sidewalk along the Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame located in front, and the West side, of the Long beach Convention Center along Pine Avenue.

—-

Add the fact that in the post race interview in front of the gathered press, Ryan Hunter-Reay cited his previous Formula Atlantic (2002) and CCWS experience with his positive feelings for the track (which he considers his “home” track) at Long Beach … one could say Champ Car has never left … in this, the sophomore year for IndyCar at the famed streets in Long Beach … for at the end of the race it was P1, P2 , and P3 on the podium for former ChampCar World series experienced drivers!

[Reference Here]

The set up seemed insurmountable. Penske Racing’s Will Power, who had been here in this same position of having to finish off the year on an oval racing course ahead of his next leading points owner the previous two years, looked as though all he had to do was finish the race on the same lap as Ryan Hunter-Reay. He had all the confidence of being the only driver to ever hold the Mario Andretti Trophy for the most points scored on road/street courses … three years running.

For Ryan’s part, in order to have any chance at all, he needed to finish the race P6 or better to have any of the championship scenarios to play out. Further, RHR was tied in the points for the season championship trophy for most points scored on oval courses with KV Racing Technology’s  Tony Kanaan … so he also had to finish ahead of this competitor as well.

Again, the prediction by Michael Andretti, that his driver would win the IICS Championship at this final race, when the new DW12 chassis had never competed at this track and that no American open wheel races had been run at Auto Club Speedway since 2005 seemed astounding being that it came directly after the Baltimore win.

Andretti Autosport racing team came to the Auto Club Speedway track loaded for bear. In qualifications, the DW12′s go out for three laps with the final two laps (5 miles) total time used for formation to the grid (baring any penalty for engine changes – later). Michael’s son and third generation racing Andretti, Marco bested the next closest competitor, Penske’ Ryan Briscoe, to gain the championship point and the check by .2614 of a second. Hunter-Reay did not do so well. His time combined with the fact that most all of the top competitors changed to fresh engines for the 500 mile race, had him starting at the back of the grid at P22 with Will Power at P13.

The pre-race odds for the top five drivers to win the race were published (in the newsroom) as follows – Will Power – 2/1, Ryan Hunter-Reay 5/2, Scott Dixon 7/2, Ryan Briscoe 5/1, and Dario Franchitti at 6/1 odds.

All Will had to do was basically stay on the same lap and dog/stalk RHR around the track, have clean pit stops, and finish the race. The start of the race saw Will Power struggle with the handling of his car and eventually, Ryan and Will were running with each other. After about a fifth (of the laps in the race … not the bottle), Will Power responded to calls from his team over the radio in his ear to pass RHR. On Lap 55 in turn #2, Will dropped down low and according to his view, caught a seam in the pavement that got his car loose and he spun up into the safer barrier wall, just missing the #28 of Ryan Hunter-Reay – WOW!

Ryan Hunter-Reay pulls into pit box #25, takes off his helmet and is first greeted by a member of his team … believe it Ryan, you are the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Champion! Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

This excerpted and edited from IndyCar - 

Drama, intrigue, excitement: Hunter-Reay grabs title

By Dave Lewandowski – Published: Sep 16, 2012 @ 12:01 AM

For the third consecutive year, contact in the season finale altered the title aspirations of the Aussie. The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car “caught a seam” in Turn 2 of the 2-mile oval, spun and made contact with the SAFER Barrier while running 12th — a few car lengths ahead of Hunter-Reay’s No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car.

 —-

Click it: Box score | Hunter-Reay signs two-year extension

Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti relayed to a surprised Hunter-Reay, who 18 hours signed a two-year contract extension, that he had to finish sixth to claim his first series championship by one point.

But wait. In this season of surprises, ultra-tight competition and high drama, all three collectively focused on the Team Penske garage as the crew converged to repair the Dallara chassis and collect 11 more laps to finish 24th and ahead of the retired car of E.J. Viso.

That’s exactly what transpired, forcing Hunter-Reay to finish at least fifth. Crews from rival teams cheered as the No. 12 entry was wheeled onto pit lane.

“It’s fantastic,” said Power, who quickly changed back into his firesuit.

But as Power maintained throughout this three-race duel with Hunter-Reay, “You can on focus on what you can control.” So he watched the remainder of the race unfold from the team transporter, hoping that others would occupy the top five positions.

That went by the wayside as Alex Tagliani’s engine expired with 20 laps left and then Tony Kanaan’s car made contact with the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier on Lap 241. That created a red flag, with the restart on Lap 244. 

Hunter-Reay was running third on the restart, lost two positions, but the 31-year-old Floridian regained one spot when Takuma Sato’s car crashed on the final lap. The difference in over 15 events on the most diverse set of racetracks in motorsports was three points over Power.

[Reference Here]

Driving legend, team owner, sports marketing operations magnet, and excellent prognosticator, Michael Andretti as he congratulates Ed Carpenter on his first win as a driver/owner of the Fuzzy’s Vodka #20 DW12 Chevy-powered Dallara at the post race press conference at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

At the post race press conference, Michael was reminded about this penchant he seems to have to predict and then deliver on the prediction. Michael bristled at the suggestion that he might like to take this ‘talent’ to Las Vegas with the attitude of a person who never gambles and frowns upon it.

This is a funny reaction to attribute to a past open wheel driving legend who would gamble on the track and, for the most part, win (or as on that 1998 Mid-Ohio day when he flipped head long into the run off at the end of the straight) or survive! Now, as an owner, expands his operation through the formation of Andretti Sports Marketing to include promoting the Milwaukee Mile (which his driver won) and picking up the Grand Prix of Baltimore (oh yes, that’s right, his driver won the race the team Andretti operation was promoting for the first time this year as well).

All anyone can know, with this kind of track record, if one hears Michael Andretti blurt out a prediction of an outcome, and the Andretti Autosport operation has a hand in controlling some of the variables … TAKE THAT BET … the odds are good for a Michael Andretti predicted outcome!

… notes from The EDJE

 

** Article first published as Andretti Prediction In Baltimore Becomes Reality For Hunter-Reay In Fontana on Technorati **

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Ryan Hunter-Reay Has The Most To Gain And Lose At IICS Final

September 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay pose next to the trophy they will be fighting on the track for at the Auto Club Speedway on Saturday night. The MAVTV 500 is scheduled to go GREEN Flag at 8:45 p.m. (ET) and be broadcast on cable on NBC Sports Network. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2012)

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay Has The Most To Gain And Lose At IICS Final

Most people who have been following the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) know that this last race of the season will see one of two drivers crowned champion between Penske Racing’s Will Power and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay. Only 17 points separate these two drivers and the margin of victory begins to get shaped with qualifications on Friday with one valuable point up for grabs.

What seems to be getting lost in the shuffle is another championship trophy awarded in this very same series … the A.J. Foyt Trophy for being the driver to accumulate the most points during the season on oval racing circuits.

The IZOD IndyCar Series awards three trophies – the overall championship, the Mario Andretti Trophy for the highest points total on road/street courses, and the A.J. Foyt Trophy for most points total on oval racing courses.

This trophy is still up for grabs and the current points achieved is tied between two drivers – Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and KV Racing Technology’s Tony Kanaan.

What’s pretty amazing about this is that this contest isn’t even being focused upon by the IICS, or most of the major writing outlets.

For example, today has a special media event being held by the IICS at the very end of Route 66 (the Marisol Restaurant located on the end of the Santa Monica pier … over the Pacific Ocean) to have the media be able to interview the drivers who are racing for the championship but the one name that is absent is Tony Kanaan.

Tony has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship season. He is getting no respect.

Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay pose next to the trophy they will be fighting on the track for at the Auto Club Speedway on Saturday night. Unless something strange happens that would not allow these drivers to finish the race, the winning of this championship trophy is between these two competitors. The MAVTV 500 is scheduled to go GREEN Flag at 8:45 p.m. (ET) and be broadcast on cable on NBC Sports Network. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2012)

This excerpted and edited from Paddock Talk - 

Tied atop the standings for the Oval Track Championship are Hunter-Reay and KV Racing Technology driver and former Series Champion (2004) Tony Kanaan. James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport, is sitting in third position in the Oval Track Championship standings.

“Having a 500-mile race as the season finale is a great way to close out the IndyCar season,” concluded Berube. “It requires a significant effort from everyone involved; the race teams and drivers, Firestone tires, Sunoco fuels, the Somatro safety team and countless others that make the race a show of skill, strategy and grit. It is also good practice for another piece of unfinished business – that other 500-mile race in May.”

Chevrolet clinched the Series Manufacturers’ Championship following the 13th race of the season at Sonoma Raceway. That same weekend, Power was crowned the Road Course Champion for the third consecutive season.

Saturday night’s 250-lap/500-mile race will be the first appearance for IndyCar at the Fontana, California track since 2005. Chevrolet competed previously in Indy-style competition as an engine manufacturer in 1986-93 and 2002-05 with V-8 engines, winning 105 races which included two victories at Auto Club Speedway, 2002 and 2003. The wins powered Chevrolet to six driver champions, and included seven Indianapolis 500 victories.

The IndyCar season finale is scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m. PT (8:45 p.m. ET) Saturday night with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network.

The live radio coverage will air on the IMS Radio Network on SiriusXM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at www.indy.car.com.
[Reference Here]

The person that has the most to gain … and lose may well be Ryan Hunter-Reay. For Hunter-Reay’s part, he needs to finish P6 or better (assuming he doesn’t win the pole or lead the most laps) and finish ahead of Tony Kanaan just to get into his championship scenarios.

By winning and having Will Power place at least 10 (uncertain) places behind him, Ryan wins the 2012 IICS championship and the A.J. Foyt Trophy. Any scenario that has Tony Kanaan finishing ahead of Ryan, he is out on the oval championship.

For Will Power’s part, a finish somewhere between P10 and P15 maybe just fine. This is not a win-or-go-home scenario for Power. It’s a finish-moderately-well-or-go-home one, which seems like a far more certain proposition for a driver whose forte is Road/Street courses.

Notes:

The IZOD IndyCar Series returns to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. this week for the final race of the season, the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships.

Four drivers are still mathematically in the hunt to capture the series title. For the seventh consecutive season, the final race will decide the IndyCar Championship.

From L to R – Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Scott Dixon as they pose for the media photo’s next to the trophy these drivers have a shot at winning Saturday night. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Will Power holds down the top spot, 17 points ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay, while Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves and Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon are 52 and 53 points back respectively. Although Power has led heading into the final race of the season the past two years, he has yet to capture the championship.

This is the 11th Indy race at Auto Club Speedway and the first since 2005, when Dario Franchitti captured the checkered flag. The CART and Champ Car held six Indy car races at Auto Club Speedway from 1997-2002. PacWest Racing’s Mauricio Gugelmin won the pole (and the fastest world qualifying lap speed – later eclipsed by Gil deFerran at this same track) for the first Indy car race at Auto Club Speedway in 1997. PacWest teammate Mark Blundell won the race … and still holds the record for the world fastest lap recorded during a race. Franchitti (2005) is the only driver to win at Auto Club Speedway from the pole position.

KV Racing Technology’s (KVRT) Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 196th consecutive Indy car start, dating to Portland in 2001. KVRT team owner, Jimmy Vasser holds the all-time record of 211.

The 2013 IndyCar season is set to begin March 24 in Florida for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Helio Castroneves is the defending race winner.
[ht: Kansas City Star]

… notes from The EDJE

** Article first published as Ryan Hunter-Reay Has The Most To Gain And Lose At IICS Final on Technorati **

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GoPro INDY Grand Prix Tweet-By-Tweet (LIVE)

August 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves holds a fan Q&A at the Winner’s Circle stage during pre-race activities here at the GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma. Image Credit: Lauren Bohlander via Twitter @LaurenBohlander

GoPro INDY Grand Prix Tweet-By-Tweet (LIVE)

A lot has changed with the IndyCar Series event at Sonoma raceway: new cars, new engine manufacturers, new track layout, new race sponsor, new race distance … but please do not these facts cloud your impression of familiarity.

Penske Racing and Penske affiliates fill the first two rows of the grid on the track here at Sears Point north of San Francisco. Penske Racing’s Will Power (P1- IICS Season Points) captured pole and he will line up next to teammate Ryan Briscoe followed by Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing’s Sébastien Bourdais, Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves (P3 – IICS Season Points), and Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon (P4 – IICS Season Points). Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay (P2 – IICS Season Points) will start from the seventh position on the grid.

The following live entries will be a combination of Tweets from Twitter and comments from the author … welcome to the 13th race of this 15 race IZOD IndyCar Series 2012 season -

 

 

Amy @OpenWheelMom
Race Day! Race Day! Race Day! #GoProGP #IndyCar

Bash Beard @SpeedFreakBash
It’s rollout time at @RaceSonoma. The #IndyCar machines and gear are heading to the pits, and the masses are heading to the prerace stage.

Fox Sports 1230 WMML @WMML1230
#IndyCar Racing will air live starting approximately 4:05PM here on FOX Sports Radio 1230.

BRANDed Management @BRANDed
Tune-in for today’s @IndyCar @GoPro race @RaceSonoma. Race at 4pm EDT on @NBCSN #GoProGP #IndyCar

RACER @RACERmag
Saturday notebook from #GoProGP – Racer.com bit.ly/PQQQBa #IndyCar #PirelliWC

Right now we have the Patriots Airshow … a private jet team that emulates what the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angles do. Pretty cool stuff. The crowd seems light with only about an hour before the Green Flag drops

IMS Productions @IMSProductions
Our followers are awesome! Who out there is ready for the #IndyCar #GoProGP @RaceSonoma?? Let’s hear your predictions!!

Will Power, Will Power, Will Power, Will Power, Will Power, Will Power, Will Power, Will Power …

jErEM!@H 15k™ @pistons15
#32 Kendall Hunter in a #49ers #IndyCar instagr.am/p/Ozblx_NysO/

Carl Carson @indyhockey77
@12WillPower is going to put on a clinic at Sonoma! #GoProGP #IndyCar2012

Patrick @TwinCheckers
I pick @tagliani @BHA to win #GoProGP!!! #TeamPositivity

Ryan @mad_mahler
I’ll second that one RT @TOMotorsports: Good-luck to @tagliani and @Hinchtown in today’s @IndyCar #GoProGP

Timothy Weyand @RockChef2
Just saw a T-shirt for sale that said To dumb for opera, to smart for NASCAR. I’m offended and amused! #RaceSonoma #IndyCar

Stacie St. John @Indybrat13
Time to scream my head off. #GoProGP @IndyCar @RaceSonoma

Ash (アシュー) @racingAsh
Yes! It’s almost race time at @RaceSonoma. Broadcast just started on @NBCSN. #GoProGP #IndyCar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Driver intros about to start!! #GoProGP #indycar2012

Megan K Bickel @megankbickel
#GoProGP time!! Love race days! #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic @f1fanatic_co_uk
Just three races left in the #IndyCar season and there’s a very close four-way title fight: bit.ly/NPdKGY

Josh Kelly @bigpapaj2384
I hope @12WillPower blows a motor in the first 10 laps!! Power sucks. #IndyCar

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
RT @TylerClary: Thanks for the two-seater ride @ariejr! pic.twitter.com/d44r8gVO #IndyCar

Rhett Umphress @rhettumphress
Since 2010, pole sitter Will Power has led 144 of 150 laps with two wins at Sonoma #IndyCar

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
Resultados de Ryan Hunter-Reay en Sonoma (desde 2007): 18, 18, 19, 8, 10 #IndyCar

In English? … This speaks for itself

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Points leader @12WillPower ! #GoProGP #indycar2012 pic.twitter.com/8ubvHk9M

Leonardo Guina @LeoGuina
A IndyCar fez 7 races em Sonoma, Tony Kanaan venceu a primeira (2007), Helinho venceu em 08′ Power venceu 10′ e 11′ e larga da Pole #IndyCar

NASCAR Wonka @NASCAR_Wonka
I agree with Helio – the most prized possession of any racer would certainly be a #DWTS trophy. #IndyCar #GoProGP

Pastor George Luther @PastorG16
Heavenly Father please keep the Drivers, crews & fans safe-We ask this in Christ’s name, Amen #indycar2012 @FollowAndretti @IndyCar #GoProGP

Boogity, Boogity, Boogity … Let’s Go Racin’ … OOPS! wrong series, no fenders

El auto del pole position está listo para la carrera. Caption and Image Credit: Bruno Tarulli via Twitter @BrunoTarulli34

GoPro® @GoPro
And they’re off! Big ups to @XGames Gold Medalist @stevemccann for waving the green flag to get us started. ow.ly/i/SCYK #GoProGP

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
Drivers to your cars! #GoProIndy #IndyCar

Diana Pol @DianaPol1
#indycar Sonoma live straks op RTL 7 :-)

Courtney Boggs @CourtneyBoggs_
Wouldn’t be race day without a fly over… #GoProGP @JMIteam pic.twitter.com/CVkGS1Pf

The command – Mayor Kevin Johnson – Ladies and Gentlemen … START YOUR ENGINES

Michael Duning @MikeDuning
Looking forward to this @IndyCar race at Sonoma #GoProGP — My race winner pick: @scottdixon9

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN … The GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma race begins

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Tagliani picks of Pagenaud and Hunter-Reay but Dixon is tipped into a spin at the first hairpin. #IndyCar

Kev @ElusiveKev
Nice and racy early on. Nice dirt kicking up from Tags. #IndyCar #GoProGP

Helio Castroneves is issued a drive through penalty for avoidable contact

LAP3 of 85 – TAKU is off track in the dirt – local YELLOW

T.S. Clayton @TSClayton9919
Sato’s off course? You don’t say. #GoProGP #indycar #indycar2012

SeaBass is still in P3 – All the cars in the field are tracking single file

LAP 6 of 85 – Will Power currently has a near 2 second lead on the field – Dixon P14, Castroneves P21

TAGS up to P5 from P8 … TK is the biggest mover … up to P10 from P16

LAP 10 of 85 – Rubens Barrichello up from P11 to P7

Mr. Lehr @SLehr81
Power leads by 3.5 secs #Indycar

KV Racing Technology @kvracing
11 laps completed, Barrichello P7, Kanaan P10 and Viso P13 #GoProGP #indycar2012

Andrew J. Dixon @thereal_NOX
Looked more like blocking by @scottdixon9 than unavoidable contact by @h3lio. #goprogp

Mandy Valentine @Indy_Mode
Agreed! #IndyCar #GoProGP RT @rkid84: “@kylelewis1: I can’t wait until Simona doesn’t have a lotus.” hear hear

LAP 15 of 85 – TAKU is out of the race – Scott Dixon comes in to pit road … sticker REDS – spins a little on cold tires

Helio in the pits with the same strategy as Dixon

Curt Cavin @curtcavin
Should there be a caution soon, Dixon and Helio would be 1-2. #IndyCar

Shane Rogers @upshifted
If you’re mid pack and further back with pace, now is the time to pit. And hope for a pits closed yellow. #indycar #GoProGP

木代 峰雄 @kishiro26
#INDYCAR 佐藤琢磨 コースアウトしたら エンジントラブルで リタイア 残念です。 早起きして観てたのにねぇ……φ(．．) #gaora #indyjp #takumasato

Steve Wittich @stevewittich
Is affecting your enjoyment of watching? NOT MINE!!!!!!! @pressdog: @andhesonit crowd numbers are NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. #IndyCar #GoProGP

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Cars are starting to take their first pits. Saavedra, Kimball and Hinchcliffe among them. #GoProGP #indycar2012

Ash (アシュー) @racingAsh
Oh boy. Lap traffic for Power. #GoProGP #IndyCar

This is lapped traffic with cold tires … very tricky – PITS

Power in and Power out on scuffed REDS – comes out with RHR giving him blending problems

Simon Pagenaud inherits the lead on the pit stop cycles

LAP 20 of 85

WOW Bourdais and Andretti are dicing strong before and after turn #7

RHR is in the lead now with the pit stop cycles – gets ready to pit – cycle complete for first pit stops of the race

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
22 laps completed top 3: @12WillPower @Ryan_Briscoe @BourdaisOnTrack #GoProGP #indycar

Top 10 in the order – Power, Briscoe, Bourdais, Franchitti (closing), TAGS, RHR, Dixon (up from P14), Barrichello, Kanaan, and Pagenaud

BradyWestdyke @BWESTDYKE
63 laps to go at @RaceSonoma #indycar #indycar2012 #GoProGP

Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson leading Servia and Pagenaud through the “Bus Stop” section of corners on the back side of the race track at Sears Point. The GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma was the first time the new formula open wheel DW12 cars appeared in competition at this venue. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Race with Insulin @racewithinsulin
Moving up the field nicely… Currently 18th on lap 23 of 85. #IndyCar #GoProGP -PLR

Albert MacKrell @AMacKrell
Brilliant move by Scott Dixon to stop early and then drive the wheels off the car. #GoProGP #indycar2012

Announcers are talking “NO CAUTIONS” and and saying that this may bring one except that they have been talking this way for the last three races

LAP 25 of 85 – Power has a 4.5 second lead on Briscoe

Great dicing going on between Franchitti and Bourdais for SeaBass’ P3 in Carosel and up to turn #7

Anne Proffit @AnneProffit
@12WillPower taking 26 Indy cars to class #goprogp #indycar2012

Ash (アシュー) @racingAsh
Nice. @RyanHunterReay @FollowAndretti into the 1:19s on Lap 24, joining Dixon, Power & Briscoe w/ best laps under 1:20. #GoProGP #IndyCar

LAP 30 of 85 – This is Will Power’s 100th race in IndyCar and it shows … looking for Pole, Most laps and, of course, the win

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
Through the field 1-5: @12WillPower @Ryan_Briscoe @BourdaisOnTrack @dariofranchitti @tagliani #GoProGP #IndyCar

Giu Canbera @Giu_Canbera
BORING RACE at @RaceSonoma @IndyCar #GoProGP . Laguna Seca >> Infineon ..blehhh

Mr. Lehr @SLehr81
32 laps. 0 cautions. Yawn! #IndyCar

Gregory D. Howe @wood_brothers21
I wouldn’t think there would be any shops within the paddock, not that there would be anyone in there now. #IndyCar

E.M.H @elmondohummus
So close to a blog shoutout: Marco with #MoreFrontWing… alas, they said something else. :( #indycar

LAP 35 of 85 – This “Through The Field” segment is about the only thing the announcers can do to keep interest in another NON-YELLOW race

5.5 seconds is the lead that Will Power has over P2 Ryan Briscoe

Michael Williamson @michaelw2000
No penalty for Servia. Hinchcliffe on pit road. #IndyCar #GoProGP

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Car No. 27 of Hinchcliffe sitting in the pits. #GoProGP #indycar2012

Hinchtown is out of the car – his day is over – oil line knocked off when Servia spun Hinch around on turn 11

Woodsie @WoodsiesGarage
Hinchcliffe now officially out of the race as we’re a few laps from halfway. Helio makes a stop in the meantime. Lead now 6.93s #IndyCar

David Williams @DaveWilliamsVMM
Drive Through for Sebastián Saavedra #GoProGP #IndyCar

Speeding in pit lane for Sebastián Saavedra

BradyWestdyke @BWESTDYKE
45 laps to go. #IndyCar2012 #GoProGP #IndyCar

Pit stops are beginning with Will Power 5.8 seconds over Ryan Briscoe

Long pit stop for Marco – Briscoe in for pits – RHR has lead – RHR out in the middle of race between Dixon and Bourdais

Ash (アシュー) @racingAsh
WOW! Dixon & RHR! #GoProGP #IndyCar

Michael Williamson @michaelw2000
Dixon is all over the track and damaged his wing hitting Hunter-Reay! #GoProGP #IndyCar

Wing initially damaged with mix up with Graham Rahal … fails with mix up on RHR

LAP 45 of 85 – Top 10 are Power, Briscoe, Bourdais, RHR, Franchitti, Dixon, TAGS, Barichello, Pagenaud, and Rahal

The folks that complain they are bored with this race are NOT watching the action through out the field … or listening to a feed without announcers with passion

209 consecutive GREEN Flag laps t\from Toronto ’till now – Marco Andretti’s car gives up the chase

Dan Brown @19danbrown
I still maintain that the 360-degree on board cameras used in #IndyCar should be used for all open-wheel racing on tv #F1

LAP 50 of 85 – Ruling on Marco – will not get a penalty for engine change by pulling in early … otherwise he would have stayed out until it blew up spreading oil all over their track – Dixon is all out of Push-To-Pass

T.S. Clayton @TSClayton9919
Damn, this @NBCSports crew is so much better than that horrible ABC garbage. #GoProGP #AlwaysBadCoverage

Cooper W @Cynon44
Marco Andretti intentionally blowing the engine so he doesn’t have to take a penalty for the next race. Sneaky. #LoopholeInTheRules #IndyCar

17 cars on the lead lap with Will Power ahead of Ryan Briscoe by 7.45 seconds – Power is walking away with this bad boy

Matt Henderson @MHenderson17
Carcass is a funny word… RT @johncobb40: Is #IndyCar ever going to throw a caution for that tire carcass?

LAP 55 of 85 – Dixon is dropping down the field … now P8

TCGR @TCGRTeams
Lap 57/85 @dariofranchitti p5 @scottdixon9 p8 and scheduled to pit in three laps @RaceSonoma #indycar2012

Dixon pit in – Will Power gets 2 points for leading the most laps of this race … CHECK, two down and one to go

Drive through penalty on Car #9 – runs over a hose and ends up having one of his worst days

Race with Insulin @racewithinsulin
Moved up another spot, to P11. Mitch: “Good job, you can catch Kanaan, or we’ll get him in the pits.” #IndyCar #GoProGP -PLR

Kev @ElusiveKev
You would have thought Dixon had encountered a black cat instead of a air hose with his race today. #IndyCar #GoProGP

Tyler Clary interviewed by Robin Miller and messes up the type of stroke the Olympic Gold medal is for

Tony DiZinno @tonydizinno now
Robin and breast stroke… make your own joke from there. Gotta love him. #GoProGP

dominetta vitali @dominovitali
#IndyCar commentator: “race car drivers don’t work hard, and chase women.” really? :P #IndyCar2012 #GoProGP

Ross Bynum @therossbynum
Someone throw one of Ashley Judd’s ugly, floppy, gigantic hats on the track. I guarantee it’ll bring out a caution. #IndyCar #GoProGP

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
RHR hits the pits on Lap 62. Was running 4th. #IndyCar #GoProGP

Big accident while Will Power happened to be in the pits – benefits from Newgarden and Sebastien Bourdais colliding between turns 8 and 9 – Bourdais loses control after dice after turn 7

Ryan Briscoe studies data on iPad handed to him while in the pits between qualification sessions at the GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

LAP 65 of 85 – Will Power was held up on pit road giving the lead to Ryan Briscoe on lap traffic

YELLOW Flag – on LAP 66 – Top 5 Briscoe, Power, RHR, Franchitti, and TAGS – This may be a long YELLOW Flag due to tire barrier getting wiped out – Smart driving by Briscoe – Helio Castroneves has moved up to P9 after being dropped by penalty back to P25

LAP70 of 85 – 220 consecutive laps under GREEN Flag before this full course caution – Everyone to the refrigerators – P2P has been instrumental and Ryan Briscoe has a bunch more P2P left than Will Power

NASCAR Wonka @NASCAR_Wonka
Will Power on the radio: you guys in the pits need a push-to-hurry-the-hell-up button. #IndyCar #GoProGP

TJ @Tjamily
The older & wiser I get & the more indycar the more I realize that sadly indycar officials just don’t get how to run a good series. #indycar

Mark Johnson @MarkJ19960
Big crash @RaceSonoma with 19 laps to go. @RyanHunterReay is now P3. #IndyCar yfrog.us/c87u8lwhlcxcpj…

LAP 72 of 85 – Field reset with the drive through order go out with cars one lap down – RHR in P3 … Dario and TAGS are going to be pushing RHR very hard – Penske being interviewed and he says he will not entertain any team orders … Will Power ought to make a deal

LAP 74 – GREEN Flag Restart – RHR was push/touching the rear of Briscoe’s car – get through turn 2 fine

YELLOW Flag – TAGS goes in too deep and taps RHR, spins him and his car stalls – RHR stalls car dumping the clutch

TAGS will receive a drive through penalty for avoidable contact/aggressive driving into the corner

Feaux Barfield @FeauxBarfield
Whoever is in charge of packing Tagliani’s chutes needs to go visit one of the #NHRA neighbors in Brownsville #GoProGP #IndyCar @RaceSonoma

LAP 76 – GREEN Flag Restart – pretty clean – EJ Viso spins around on Turn 7 – RHR touches and spins Viso – Drive Through penalyr for RHR

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
#IndyCar Briscoe sigue adelante… Power quiere el primer lugar.

Ru Barrichello 2012 @Barrichello2012
“@kvracing: Back to green, 8 laps remain, Barrichello P4, Kanaan P9 and Viso P15 #GoProGP”

j.bear @jbananafish
Bringing an #IndyCar virgin to #GoProGP. One of my best moves to date. #PoppedThatCherry

LAP 80 of 85 – Top ten are Briscoe, Power, Franchitti, Barrichello, Rahal, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Hildebrand, Kanaan, and Wilson

Steph@MoreFrontWing @99forever
Feels a bit now like avoidable contact has just become the default for a soon in that corner… #goprogp

Eric Smith @Ericsportsguru
sports-at-work.com/IndyCar-news/i… article about @Ryan_Briscoe on Friday. Correct prediction. @RaceSonoma #GoProGP

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
2 laps to go! #IndyCar #GoProGP

Mac McCormick III @KF4LMT
Yes RT @tonydizinno Anyone else want to see @rubarrichello on the podium if Will/Dario channel some 2011 moments? #GoProGP #IndyCar

Adrià Keselowski ;D @aridxon
White flag for Briscoe! #IndyCar

Team Chevy @TeamChevy
Congrats @Ryan_Briscoe & @penskeracing taking the #GoProGP win at @RaceSonoma! #TeamChevyProud #indycar2012

NOTE: Chevrolet clinched the Manufacturers’ Championship as Ryan Briscoe won the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Chevrolet supplied 15 of 27 engines to the starters in the 85-lap race on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course. It has won nine of the 13 IZOD IndyCar Series races.

“We congratulate Chevrolet on clinching the 2012 Manufacturers’ Championship,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, INDYCAR. “In a year that saw the debut of a new car, the return of engine competition and some of the fiercest racing this sport has seen in decades, our hats are off to Chevrolet, its teams and drivers on a job well done.”
[Reference Here]

All hail! Ryan Briscoe celebrates win at the GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Panther Racing @PantherRacing
Checkered flag!! @JRHildebrand finishes 8th!! #indycar2012 #goprogp

Chris D @chrisd1974
great #indycar race #sonoma

GahdenGremlins.com @gahdengremlins
BURN BABY BURN BRISCOE INFERNO #indycar

TCGR @TCGRTeams
Checkered flag @dariofranchitti p3 @scottdixon9 p13 @RaceSonoma #indycar2012

Ross Bynum @therossbynum
Yay! Briscoe wins! @RB_Mrs is a good luck charm! #IndyCar #GoProGP

Tom Bradley @brndout35
Checkered flag! @Ryan_Briscoe wins the #GoProGP of Sonoma! #indycar2012 — IZOD IndyCar Series (@IndyCar)

Melissa McDonald @MelissaM88
WINNER: Ryan Briscoe! @RaceSonoma #IndyCar #GoProGP

Lewis Dalgarno @lewisdalgarno
I’m guessing Ryan Briscoe will tell us all his radio broke #indycar

IMS Productions @IMSProductions
Congratulations to @Ryan_Briscoe on his win at the #IndyCar #GoProGP of @RaceSonoma!!!

Bobbi S @Sportschickca
@Ryan_Briscoe will win a penalty riddled #Sonoma ….@12WillPower and Franchitti will complete podium. Congrats guys!! #IndyCar

Ricardo Cardoso @ricardo_engsoft
E Ryan Briscoe vence a #IndyCar2012 #GoProGP #SonomaGP

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
Congrats to @Ryan_Briscoe on his win #IndyCar #GoProGP

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
It’s a @penskeracing 1-2! @Ryan_Briscoe Wins the 2012 #GoProGP at @RaceSonoma! #IndyCar

Michael Williamson @michaelw2000
Ryan Briscoe wins the #IndyCar #GoProGP @RaceSonoma @GoPro @IndyCar Power comes in 2nd and Franchitti in 3rd!

Karl Barth @KarlBarthJr
Yeah!!! Congrats @Ryan_Briscoe & @RB_Mrs on the win!!!! #indycar

nascarcasm @nascarcasm
@RB_Mrs And NOW you can relax! Congratulations! #IndyCar

SSR IndyCar Team @SandSRacing
Congratulations @Ryan_Briscoe, @penskeracing & @TeamChevy on Winning the #GoProGP @RaceSonoma!! #TeamChevyProud #IndyCar2012

Wendy @wendyphil413
Great race by @Ryan_Briscoe!!! Winner at Sonoma! #IndyCar

anthony rock @trock48j
@RB_Mrs Your man did a great job avoiding things today, not much different from Bristol at the end! #IndyCar

View slideshow: GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma tweet-by-tweet

Podium ceremony in the winner’s circle at the GoPro INDY Grand Prix of Sonoma (L to R – P2 – Will Power, P1 – Ryan Briscoe, P3 – Dario Franchitti). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Official Results – GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

Official – Results Pos. – Driver – Laps – Running / Reason Out

1     Ryan Briscoe     85     Running
2     Will Power     85     Running
3     Dario Franchitti     85     Running
4     Rubens Barrichello     85     Running
5     Graham Rahal     85     Running
6     Helio Castroneves     85     Running
7     Simon Pagenaud     85     Running
8     JR Hildebrand     85     Running
9     Alex Tagliani     85     Running
10     Tony Kanaan     84     Running
11     Justin Wilson     84     Running
12     James Jakes     84     Running
13     Scott Dixon     84     Running
14     Mike Conway     84     Running
15     Sebastian Saavedra     84     Running
16     EJ Viso     84     Running
17     Simona de Silvestro     84     Running
18     Ryan Hunter-Reay     84     Running
19     Oriol Servia     84     Running
20     Ed Carpenter     84     Running
21     Charlie Kimball     82     Running
22     Sebastien Bourdais     63     Contact
23     Josef Newgarden     62     Contact
24     Katherine Legge     48     Mechanical
25     Marco Andretti     45     Mechanical
26     James Hinchcliffe     34     Mechanical
27     Takuma Sato     2     Mechanical

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Tale Of Two Mid Ohio’s – How Will Power Secures Championship Chances

August 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon saved fuel when he needed, kept the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car out of harm’s way and took advantage of every opportunity. And his pit crew performed admirably, too. All told, it led to Dixon winning the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the fourth time in the past six years. His 29th victory tied Rick Mears for 10th all time. Image Credit: IICS (2012)

 

The Tale Of Two Mid Ohio’s – How Will Power Secures Championship Chances

Last Sunday showed how one’s fortunes on the track can translate into championship winning drives. Every race at the end of a season carries greater significance in competitive season championship races for the simple fact that EVERY POINT COUNTS.

Last year at Mid Ohio, Will Power was on his way to try and secure his first championship after having a couple of good races on which he was able to tighen up the points differential between him and his chief rival, Dario Franchitti. But last year, one would argue, was the one race on which he lost the championship for a second time to the driver from Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

This excerpted and edited from “… notes from The EDJE” –

No Magic For Power In Round 11 Of 17 At Mid-Ohio
By Edmund Jenks – Monday, August 8, 2011

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Round 11 of 17 delivered a fatal blow to Will Power’s chances at getting his first IndyCar Series (ICS) season championship. The Verizon Penske Racing Dallara driver, who was on track to get the ICS championship last year up until the final race of the season when Dario Franchitti was able to eclipse Power’s season points total, was looking to climb back into the challenge at 38 points behind and a perfect track for his talents, was caught out twice in pit stop strategy by full course cautions.

“We were making great fuel mileage and we were going to go a lap or two longer than the leaders on the second stop, which would have put us in great position to challenge for the race lead in the last stint,” said Power of the Lap 58 incident involving contact between the cars of Graham Rahal and Danica Patrick. “Basically, today we suffered for doing a great job of driving a smart race. We just got caught out by that last yellow flag.”

This dropped Power to P16 and allowed Target Chip Ganassi team-mates to duke it out for the win with Scott Dixon passing Dario Franchitti on a restart to eventually take the win.

It may have been doubtful if Will Power had anything for the Scott Dixon Dallara because of how well the driver and car had been hooked up all weekend long (fastest Lap – 1:09.1271 / 76), but to finish so far down in the order with a competitive car (set 2nd fastest lap late in the race – 1:09.2376 / 85), placed a stake through the heart (a loss of 24 points against Franchitti – at 62 points behind) of Will Power’s chances for a ICS season championship. In fact, with the points Scott Dixon gained with his win (he is now just 29 points behind Power with six races left), Will Power may not even become a repeat “bridesmaid” (runner-up) at season’s end in 2011.

[Reference Here]

This brings us to Mid Ohio 2012, Round 12 of 15, where Will Power is in contest for the championship for a third year in a row and he enters this late season road course race much as he did last year. Power was displaced by Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Penske Racing team mate Helio Castroneves by 26 points and 3 points respectively.

As Power put it just after the first practice on Friday as the weekend began, “This new DW12 Indy car feels great here – lot’s more power and more downforce – you can really get after a lap. We’re bloody determined to get the pole here tomorrow. I think the entire Verizon 12 Chevy Team is very happy with today and the results. The weather is going to change a lot over the next day or so. It was good to get a fast clean lap and get confidence going into tomorrow. For the rest of the year we need to win poles and win races if we are going to win the Championship, it’s pretty simple. We need to run well and fast to make up ground in the points race.”

The Penske team delivered the best of all results providing that Will Power did not win the race. By securing the pole position in the Firestone Fast Six on Saturday, running the most laps during the race, and finishing P2 behind last year’s race winning driver, Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon (who, by winning, became the 10th most successful driver in IndyCar history), Will was able to come away with the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship points lead by 5 points.

Though Power was a little unhappy settling for second, he ultimately was pleased with the result, which put him back in the points lead. “These are such tight pit boxes here and (Dixon) had a clean in. We had a tight in so some of that was me getting in,” he said the pit road exchange. “It’s hard for the fuel to get in clean because he has to step back from my front wing to swing in. Still it’s a very good points day. We’re happy to get the Verizon car on the podium. We’ll keep chasing after it, we’ll get a win here soon and keep going after that championship.” Image Credit: IICS (2012)

This excerpted and edited from Pressdog –

Welcome to Mid-Ohio. Holy confusion! We got the NBC Sports Network team calling the race but it’s on ABC. Here’s the deal: ABC had the time slot, but not the people to do the race what with NASCAR Nationwide in Iowa and NASCAR Cup in Pocono. NBC Sports Network had the team to do the race but not the air time since the Olympics is taking up every second of their air. So .. BANG, the two worked together.
—-
Pursuant to Rule 15.6.1, Cars 3 and 98 penalized 10 grid spots. Pursuant to Rule 14.14.6.4.1, Car 3 will start on Primary Tires. (Rule 14.14.6.4.1 says: “Within 30 minutes of the completion of final practice, an Entrant must declare via instant message system to INDYCAR which compound it intends to use at the start of the Race. Failure to comply will result in the Entrant being allocated the compound by INDYCAR.”)

Chassis: D=Dallara | Engine: C=Chevy, H=Honda, L=Lotus | Tire: F=Firestone

Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis and Wally Dallenbach Jr. in the booth. Pit pees are Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and Marty Snider. Let’s light this candle.

 

We’re … GREEN.

Festival of Three Wide into the first few turns. Nobody get bashed! We’re through cleanly. The Circus Clowns are visibly upset that they didn’t get to make an appearance.

Wilson has slight contact with Barichello and goes off, but keeps it fired and whips it around and back under way. Lot of dirt-tracky sliding out there. Simona De Silvestro and her pigged out Lotus even get some love for navigating the slick-ish track well.

Lap 3 — Servia may be toast. He’s being worked on. Replay of Wilson popping into Rubens and then going ass around. One of them racing deals. JoeNew is up four positions and Conway also up four positions in the first three laps.

Kevin tells us JoeNew has never raced here before, ever, but liked the track after the first practices.

Lap 5 — Bourdais goes to the power to pass and inhales RHR. Jon gives a viewing-enhancing explanation. The deal is, IndyCar put a five second delay on Power to Pass for this race. When a driver hits the button, the other teams won’t know he’s on the Power to Pass until it actually activates, at which time it will be too late for the car in front to use P2P to defend. That’s the thinking, anyway. Worked like a charm for Bourdais on RHR.

Lot of overtaking in the early going, especially for Mid-Ohio. Extreme amounts of overtaking for Mid-Ohio.

Marty says RHR says something is wrong with his car and he’s being inhaled. Marty says he’s also in fuel saving mode. Jon said the drivers can’t go full rich here because of … wait for it … fuel strategy. YAY!

Lap 6 — Bourdais is on the button (Power to Pass) again and round the outside of JoeNew. CLEAR. More televised overtaking.

Lap 7 — Wilson overtakes Viso. Wilson has driven from P24 to P18 in about five laps after his spin.

Lap 7 — Pitting starting. Cars that are going on a three pit-stop strategy will start pitting now. Those on a two pit stop strategy will pit around lap 28. This race is going to be about comparing and contrasting the one-stoppers versus the two-stoppers.

Lap 9 — Helio pits to ditch primary tires and go to alternates. Alternates are allegedly more grippy but don’t last as long as primary tires. Replays of a pit guy almost getting his foot run over by another car coming in due to the tiny pit stalls.

Lap 10 — Power, Dario, Pagenaud, Dixon, Bourdais, Newgarden, RHR, Marco, Briscoe, Rubens.

Lap 11 — Kevin says Graham Rahal wants to get a deal done for 2013 in the next couple weeks. Rahal has sponsor cash and is shopping it around to teams, I guess. Not real fond of being one of the Ganassi Death Star Satellite teams, allegedly.

Lap 13 — Viso got a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit lane. Bob says Sato got one two but the race summary says NO. No penalty listed for Sato.

Lap 15 — Festival of lock step sets in here. Pagenaud working on Dario for P2. Marty says Dario says his front tires are shit (paraphrasing).

Justin Wilson in. Right rear tire changer has issues! Major long stop. JWill not happy. The right rear must be beeeeyotch to get on this car because we’ve had about five right rear tire change issues so far this year alone.

I see a Ferris Wheel in the background. Crowd driver!* (*Denotes sarcasm and/or chagrin)

Lap 18 — Ed Carpenter is up six spots … (all due to pit stops in front of him).

Replay of Rubens under Marco … CLEAR. Jon says Dario is on the button! Has used 25 seconds of his 100 allotment. Bog hits us with the points-as-they-run info for the first time today. WITH ONLY THREE RACES LEF.

Lap 20 — Power, Dario, Pagenaud, Dixon, Bourdais, Newgarden, RHR, Briscoe, Rubens, Marco.

Lap 21 — Simona pits. Sticker blacks. Wally says a three-stopper is good strategy to keep fresher tires on the car as well, something I had not thought about. Viewing enhanced.

Power is 3.1 seconds ahead. Driving with his feet while eating a Vegemite sandwich.

More lock stepping here.

Lap 26 — JoeNew is P6. Pits and gets primaries. Was as high as P5. The two-stoppers will start to pit now.

Power may have dialed it back because he’s lost two seconds Dario.

Lap 27 — Dario pits with Pagenaud and others. Power, Dixon and Bourdais stay out.

Lap 28 — Power, Dixon and Bourdais pit. Power and Dixon come back out P1 and P2. Bourdais back out in P4 behind Hinch who is a three-stopper. Dario slouches to P6.

Festival of three wide as cars overtake struggling Briscoe.

Lap 32 — TK overtakes Bourdais. Bourdais stayed out until the leaders pit and TK is a three-stopper, so TK will have to pit soon.

Three Stop vs. Two Stop has evolved into The Big Story. If it stays green the whole way, the three-stoppers are screwed.

Lap 34 — Dixon is pressing Power. Eyebrows raised. Is power “saving fuel?” Hmmm. Both may be saving fuel. Jon said both are “racing to a fuel number.” Go about your business; nothing to see her except exhibition fuel saving driving.

Lap 35 — Power, Dixon, Bourdais, Dario, Pagenaud, Tagliani, RHR, Briscoe, JR, Newgarden.

Lap 38 — Bourdais hanging around in third. Dario moved up to P4 when cars in front of him made pit stops.

Rahal overtakes Sato … for P18. Briscoe and Newgarden fight for P8.

Lap 41 — Wilson has another crap pit stop. Loses SEVEN spots in the pits.

Still no yellows. Back-to-back yellowless IndyCar races? Last happened in 1987.

Lap 44 — Panther claims — via Twitter — that Briscoe is throwing a block party for JR. They have reported same to the authorities.

Lap 51 — John raises the possibility that people lie on their radio and to the media about if they have enough fuel to make it. Nooooo. I’m SHOCKED* (*I am actually not shocked.)

Marty says RHR has no power. RHR is slowing down. Misfiring. Engine is a festival of shit. RHR is getting inhaled by everyone.

Lap 57 — Power, Dixon, Bourdais and Dario (P1-4) all pit together. This could be the race … Dixon out first. Dixon bests Power out. P1. P1. Second race in a row the ultimate pass for what should be the win happened on pitting. This time it was actually in the pits. Bourdais back out in P3. Replays. Dixon Fueler had a fraction of a second harder time getting in there.

Lap 57 — Jon calls it “definitely a defining moment” of the race. True.

Lap 59 — Dario bashes into the back of JR as he was trying to overtake. Dario swung out and hit is wing on the rear wheel guards. Will have to pit for a new nose.

Lap 60 –Dixon, Power, Bourdais, Bagenaud, Dixon, Hinch, JR, Newgarden, TK, Tag.

Lap 61 — RHR into the gravel, gives it the dirt track slide and keeps it going. Back onto the rack. No yellow. Impressive job there.

Bourdais also did some off-roading. Actually cooked a corner and let Pagenaud under him on Lap 61.

Bell says it’s easy when you are used to judging passes based on how close you are to the rear gear box to forget the wheel guard things which stick back another foot until you pull out to pass and clip them.

Replay of RHR. Tapped by Sato and went into the dirt track mode.

Lap 64 — Marty says RHR’s engine’s fuel injectors are injecting too much fuel, making it misfire, etc.

Dario gets a new wing and is back out. Jay Penske gets air. JAY PENSKE. When Jay gets air you know we got some time on our hands. Next they will talk to Sarah Fisher, right before the sun freezes and drops from the sky.

Lap 73 — Dixon is three seconds up. Will win barring air strike or horrid fuel calculations.

Kevin says Pagenaud’s people are not sure if he can make it on fuel.

Lap 75 — Dixon, Power, Pag, Bourdais, Hinch, JR, TK, Jakes, Marco, Briscoe.

Lap 76 — RHR pits. Pull the engine cover. Can’t fix it easily. Send him back out. He limps around until there’s no more positions to lose then comes in and calls it a race. Jon makes a good observation that by doing that he can claim the engine issue cost him a DNF and won’t have to pay a 10-grid-spot penalty to replace it because it technically blew during the race.

Lock step. Dixon told to conserve just in case.

Lap 81 — Dixon, Power, Pag, Bourdais, Hinch, TK, Maco, Briscoe, JR, Tag.

White flag. Dixon wins. Dixon, Power, Pagenaud, Bourdais, Hinch.

Wow. Last half of that race, not stirring. Just gotta be up front with you. Wasn’t putrid, by any means. There was some overtaking well back in the pack and Bourdais choked away P3, but other than that … The race was caution free, first time IndyCar had back-to-back zero-yellow races since 1987 per IndyCar PR.

Again, pretty classic road course stuff. Fuel saving, some overtaking in the pack (amazing for Mid-Ohio), strategy (two-stop vs. three-stop). A lot of people would hold this race up as “proper road racing.” Whether or not you dig that is a matter of personal choice and preference, for sure.

IZOD IndyCar Series – Honda Indy 200 – LEXINGTON, Ohio

Results Sunday of the Honda Indy 200 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
3. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (6) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
5. (15) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running

6. (18) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
7. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
8. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
9. (12) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
10. (14) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

11. (21) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (9) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (17) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (24) Giorgio Pantano, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
15. (13) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running

16. (23) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
17. (2) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
18. (11) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
19. (20) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
20. (19) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running

21. (16) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
22. (25) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 84, Running
23. (22) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 83, Running
24. (7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 79, Mechanical
25. (10) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Chevy, 78, Running

Race Statistics

Winners average speed: 115.379

Time of Race: 01:39:48.5083

Margin of victory: 3.4619

Cautions: 0

Lead changes: 2

Lap Leaders:

Power 1 – 57

Hinchcliffe 58 – 59

Dixon 60 – 85

Point Standings: Power 379, Hunter-Reay 374 (-5), Castroneves 353 (-21), Dixon 351 (-23), Hinchcliffe 316 (-58), Pagenaud 311 (-63), Kanaan 307, Franchitti 271, Briscoe 267, Rahal 256.

Results and lap chart courtesy of IndyCar PR.

That’s it for Mid-Ohio. Tune in again in three weeks for the race at Sonoma. Aug. 26 at 4:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.

[Reference Here]

With only three races left, two road/street courses (Sonoma and Baltimore) and one super speedway oval (Fontana) will this be Will Power’s year? As Will said himself at Mid Ohio, “For the rest of the year we need to win poles and win races if we are going to win the Championship, it’s pretty simple.”

Going into Mid Ohio 26 points behind and coming out of Mid Ohio with a 5 point lead, the magic is back in the hopes for Power’s first championship after being the bridesmaid for two consecutive years.

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Firestone 550 At 1.5-Mile Texas Motor Speedway, Tweet-By-Tweet

June 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Justin Wilson driving the red & white Sonny’s BBQ Honda-powered DW12 side-by-side with the Go Daddy Chevrolet-powered DW12 of James Hinchcliffe under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night. Image Credit: AP

Firestone 550 At 1.5-Mile Texas Motor Speedway, Tweet-By-Tweet

Welcome to the second oval and seventh race of the sixteen race 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS). This race was looked at with an added amount of anticipation filled with concerns surrounding racing on a tight 1.5-mile oval racetrack since the last race of the 2011 season.

In the wake of the circumstances that ended up ending Dan Wheldon’s race career and life at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, short race tracks with catch-fencing that had its poles exposed to the direction of the track, tracks that were purpose-built for closed bodied NASCAR style door-to-door pack racing combined with the high-stakes/speed open-wheel series were deemed too dangerous to have on the schedule.

It came to the surprise of many team owners and drivers alike that having a race on the 2012 schedule at Texas was incautious and ill-advised since this track carried many of the construct characteristics of Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It was felt by series management the new Dallara DW12, with its purpose designed anti-interlocking bodywork and rear wheel guards, that just a change in the specifications of a rear-wing wickerbill would bring the cars into a safer configuration than the old Dallara DP09’s run in the previous years of the series. This would have the effect of reducing the downforce on the cars and reduce the possibility of the drivers having to race in a pack and thus reducing the level of contact incidents.

Concerns aside, here is how the drivers will be lining up to take the CHECKERED Flag after qualifications – overview excerpted and edited from Tony DiZinno at Racer.com:

Alex Tagliani claimed pole position for the fifth race of the IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Canadian achieved an average of 215.691mph across his two qualifying laps at the wheel of the Bryan Herta Autosport entry to put himself just ahead of Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti. The average difference between the pair in terms of lap time was 0.0102 seconds.

“Since we got back together with Honda, we flew under the radar,” said Tagliani, whose team started the season using Lotus engines. “I think we’re there. It’s looking good for the rest of the year. Since Indy, we’re really strong.”

Graham Rahal was third-fastest ahead of fellow Ganassi driver Scott Dixon, with Penske’s Will Power heading the Chevrolet runners in fifth. The Australian had been in contention for pole position with his first lap of 216.041mph, but lost out badly on his second lap when he hit the hard limiter.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                Speed

1.  Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Honda        215.691

2.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda      215.646

3.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda      215.554

4.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda      215.331

5.  Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevy       215.116

 

6.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevy     214.920

7.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevy           214.701

8.  Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda         214.458

9.  Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevy     214.424

10.  Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda        214.196

 

11.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt DW12-Honda      214.082

12.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevy       214.060

13.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy  213.957

14.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevy           213.949

15.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevy     213.927

 

16.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevy           213.444

17.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevy       213.402

18.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda      212.833

19.  Justin Wilson        Coyne DW12-Honda        212.136

20.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevy    211.643

 

21.  James Jakes          Coyne DW12-Honda        211.245

22.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Chevy       210.543

23.  Simona de Silvestro  HWM DW12-Lotus          204.066

24.  JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevy      202.596

25.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher DW12-Honda

Four drivers will receive a 10 position grid line up penalty for engine changes – AJ Foyt Racing’s Mike Conway, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Takuma Sato, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden, and HVM Racing’s Simona de Silvestro.

The following entries are entered in a “live blog” form of journaling using a combination of direct entries and 140 character (or less) entries – known as “Tweets” – found on the social media communications web portal TWITTER:

Autosportradio.com @Autosportradio
RT @JennaFryer: New #IndyCar bulletin: A rear wing wicker up to a maximum of 1/8” height and full span may be used.

IndyCar Garage @IndyCarGarage
@99forever crowd looks very similar to last and will still be the 2nd highest Attended oval all yr. At least 70k strong here #IndyCar

Stephen M. @sbmellen
Wow, look at all the empty #IndyCar seats in Texas. Disappointing. @willbuxton @PeterDWindsor @circuitamericas

Jeff Roberts @ENGPHOTO
#AJFoytJr: Boys and girls start your engines. #Firestone550 #IndyCar

HVM’s Simona de Silvestro – No fuel pressure on the 10 position Lotus/Judd – new engine – will miss the start of the race – same problem for Rubens Barrichello

James Black @16AndGeorgetown 27s
“We have one update finally [from Lotus/Judd] and then something like this happens, which is annoying,” says Simona de Silvestro. DNS from fuel pressure issue

rg @rg_here
Green green green! #Indycar

Alex Tagliani is able to make his pole position to work – first four begin to pull away from Power in P5 (Dixon, Franchitti, and Rahal)

Four Hondas cover the front of the field followed by six Chevys

Curt Cavin @curtcavin
I think we can see there’s separation of cars. #indycar BTW: There hasn’t been pack racing here for some time.

Andy @Gabbahey122475
Good shit by @curtcavin . Read it! RT @curtcavin: A rare column. #indycar tinyurl.com/d757hgd

As predicted on Motorsports Unplugged Radio this morning, Ganassi would be hard to beat but as a team, Andretti Autosport, if they hook-up could control the race.

LAP 20 of 228 – Top 10 – TAGS, Dixon, Rahal, Power, Andretti, RHR, Hinchtown, Kanaan, Briscoe, and Pagenaud.

Trouble with Tagliani and he drops to P4 at around 207mph – Dixon assumes the lead

LAP 31 YELLOW Flag - Charlie Kimball smacks the wall in a single car incident – racing hard with EJ Viso

This helps Franchitti get back on the lead lap after unplanned pitstop for adjustments put him one lap down

THE PACER MANIAC @TheSandman21 48s
Yeah, #indycar just had a crash while @NBCSN was on break… Think its time to go back to the race guys…

Commercials breed cautions

LAP 35 – Has the top 10 be Dixon, Rahal, Power, Andretti, Tagliani, Hinchcliffe, Kanaan, RHR, Briscoe, and Pagenaud – all cars comeinto the pits – it’s crazy down there

In the pits, TK gets wing damage – Power back in the pits with right rear tire problems – Pagenaud overshoots pit – TK back for a new nose and front wing – Franchitti back in for suspension adjustment

LAP 40 – Restart – GREEN Flag

Top five shuffled – Dixon, Rahal, Hinchcliffe, Andretti, and Briscoe

Tagliani looking racy again in P7 – Sato passes TAGS for P6

Pagenaud serves a pitstop penalty for speeding in the pits

LAP 49 – Kanaan is hooked up – nose change had him at the back on same lap as leaders at P21 has moved back up to P13

The Firestone tires last really good for 10 laps then they go away

IndyCar Garage @IndyCarGarage
The aero changes have eliminated pack racing , no question #IndyCar

LAP 58 – Dixon and Rahal are together within 1 sec. and the two are almost 6 seconds ahead of the field

YELLOW Flag – Takuma Sato hits the outside then the inside walls

LAP 66 of 228 – RHR in the pits for engine problems – everyone else except Franchitti in the pits for tires

JR Hildebrand started P23 and has worked his way up to P4 on this last pitstop

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
83-Kimball blames 5-Viso for taking air off his car and causing it to crash. Calls Viso “completely unpredictable.” #IndyCar #Firestone550

aka_robyn @aka_robyn
Well, now that Barrichello and Sato are both out, who do I root for… Justin Wilson! #IndyCar

Curt Cavin @curtcavin
.@edcarpenter20 from 12th (I think) to fifth on the stop. #indycar

Restart LAP73 of 228 – Field is Dixon, Rahal, Hinch, JR, Ed Carpenter, Wilson, Marco, TK, and Suprize … Servia!

It’s official, Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport out of the car and out of the race … not good for points – out with an injector issue

The DW12s seem to be involved in a bit of “pack racing” as most cars are holding station

All the DW12s like riding on the bottom

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Robin Miller just passed along Ed’s complaints/apology to the fans, then goes: “Doesn’t look boring from here.” #IndyCar #Firestone550

Oriol Srevia is bitten with a fuel pump problem so he joins the FP club with de Silvestro, and Barrichello

Helio Castroneves is finding success at the top of the track along with Justin Wilson … both are moving up – Wilson overtakes Helio for P5 and Helio on P6 – both are coming up on Ed Carpenter

LAP 100 of 228 – it’s Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Rahal (who almost loses it), oops Wilson then Rahal, Carpenter, Castroneves, TK, EJ Viso … yeah, he’s still shiny side up, Marco, and Power

We are now running laps at 197mph because this is the longest GREEN Flag session in the race at over 43 laps

Wilson takes over P2 from Hinchcliffe and now sets sail for Dixon who is ahead of him by .888 seconds

Marco’s car is not working … Hinchcliffe is also in and the Andretti Autosport teams are at a loss as to why their cars are going off

Marco is out of the car!

LAP 120 and 108 LAPS remain  - Pitstops on GREEN Flag and the order begins to shuffle

Justin Wilson assumes the lead as Dixon and many others come into the pits – Helio has four pitstops but still in the hunt – Marco Andretti’s car is back out on the track

Wilson gets ready to come in – in the pits – for pitstop number three – good stop

LAP 130 of 228 – field set with Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Carpenter, Power (looking strong), Wilson, Castroneves, WOW-EJ Viso, Briscoe, and OOPS!

YELLOW Flag for #5 KVRT’s EJ Viso – go figger! The car just stopped so the body work is … OMG! intact!

Scott Dixon come into the pits originally by himself … then followed by P6 Power on back after only 15 laps on the tires

Helio gets balked by Newgarden who stops in Helio’s pit – loses places

Breakthrough Racing @breakthruracing
RT @curtcavin: No contact between Helio and Newgarden. I think Newgarden was in his way. He nearly lost a lap. #indycar

EJ Viso in interview – the electronics went off and the car stopped – I want to thank the team for a competitive car

LAP 138 – Restart – GREEN Flag – Hinch leads the field but Dixon in P4 starts to move along with the Penske cars of Power and Briscoe just behind

LAP 142 - Dixon takes the lead from Hinch, Power all over Hinch and Briscoe and takes over P2

LAP 146 – Briscoe and Kanaan are now taking their shots at the Andretti Autosport Go Daddy car, Both get by on now LAP 149

LAP 150 – Top 9 has Dixon, Power, Briscoe, Kanaan, Hinchtown, Carpenter, Wilson, JR, and Rahal – TIRES … a fresh set of Firestone TIRES just may decide who wins in the end … pitstop timing and TIRES

Scott Dixon has been the class of the field – Kanaan is the only non-Penske/Ganassi car to have anything for the field so far

LAP 162 - Hinchcliffe  comes in on a GREEN Flag – Ed Carpenter is expected to be next

We are now 32 laps on the tires and are going around at 203mph – new tires go 213mph

LAP 170 - Will Power gets past Dixon for the lead –  Dixon had to check up on another lapped car

YELLOW Flag - Scott Dixon hits the wall and brings out the fourth caution of the race – spun because of dirty air – WICKERBILLS kill moving the mushroom off of the track and helps to cause single car spins

NOTE: PENSKE Racing occupy three of the top four positions

LAP 177 – pitstops are over – teams calculate to stay on the same tires to the end but they will be just hanging on at the end

Top 10 in the field is Power, Briscoe, Kanaan, Castroneves, Wilson, Rahal, Hildebrand, Hinchcliffe, Pagenaud, and Carpenter

Interview with Dixon (paraphrased) – traffic really unsettles the car so one has to work with the weight jacker and keep chasing the set-up. Power passed me and then the car just got away

LAP 184 of 228 – Restart – GREEN Flag

Briscoe and Power side-by-side and Kanaan gets cut out – Castroneves giving problems with Kanaan

Kanaan, again, has a hurt front wing and he comes in for a second replacement with Barrichello’s wing

LAP 190 – its Power, Briscoe, Castroneves, Rahal, and Wilson at the top

Wilson and Dale Coyne Racing is the only team with a new set of sticker Blacks in the pits

Will Power gets a BLACK Flag penalty for blocking [on Kanaan] and has to drive through – field now Briscoe, Rahal, Castroneves, Wilson, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand, Pagenaud, Will Power a lap down, Tagliani, and Jakes

LAP 200 – Rahal passes Briscoe and now Wilson shags Briscoe all at the same time that Power tries to get his lap back … on the track – he gets shut out

Hinchtown passes Castroneves while Marco Andretti who is six laps down clogs Helio’s line

Rahal, Briscoe, and Wilson are the strength of the field all within 100′s of each other on lap times

LAP 210 of 228 – Top three cars are with 2.5 seconds of each other at 206mph – Rahal is using the middle groove and washing up and down in the corners to maintain speed – Graham Rahal is looking strong for these last now 15 laps

Wilson is getting racy and takes the position from Briscoe – P2

Justin Wilson is about 2.5 seconds behind Graham Rahal and tracking him down

LAP 218 of 228 – Ten laps to go – Ganassi Racing’s Rahal in a strong lead – tires may go away but right now Rahal is going 2mph per lap faster than P2 Wilson

LAP 222 – encounters lapped traffic but Wilson is back up to 212mph but may not have enough race left to catch him

Two laps remain – Rahal scraps the wall – car slows  – Dale Coyne Racing’s Wilson passes Rahal – now on his WHITE Flag lap – Got a break on lap 226

CHECKERED Flag

Justin Wilson’s Sonny’s BBQ Honda-powered DW12 is viewed as not being able to win on ovals takes the Firestone550 with a steady drive

Finishing top 10 – Wilson, Rahal, Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand, Pagenaud (last on lead lap), Castroneves, Power, Pole-Sitter Tagliani, and James Jakes

The top 10 was bookended by the Brits!

10 gallon hats off to Justin Wilson and the Dale Coyne Racing Sonny’s BBQ sponsored, Honda-Powered, wickerbilled DW12

Colin Warnock @justin_wilsonPR
RT @SkyIndyCar Huge congratulations to @justin_wilson everyone at Sky IndyCar so happy for him. #ovalexpertnow #indycar

Heather Thomas Leo @HeatherTLeo
“@CrashGladys: A BBQ car wins in Texas – how appropriate!!! #indycar @TXMotorSpeedway @IndyCar @IndyCarPR Congrats @justin_wilson!!!”

Christopher C. Dyson @ChrisDyson16
Will and Tony were pretty gracious, all things considered.

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
2-Briscoe: “It was tough out there tonight, and it was exactly what we asked for. No complaints.” #IndyCar #Firestone550

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE
Pageneaud has 100 points over Rubens and Newgarden – Honest question, is the rookie of the year battle in #IndyCar already over? #Firestone550

Bill Zahren @pressdog
Too bad we had the freak out about “pack racing” at Texas months before we had anything but supposition to go on.

Allen Wedge @AllenWedge
Will Power “that was the best racing I have ever had at an oval”

Female Racing News @FemaleRacing
Totes agree Will Power.. great racing!!!

GEICO Racing 11 @GEICORacing11
Checkered flag waves here @TXMotorSpeedway & @TonyKanaan is relegated to a disappointing 11th place finish. Tough night. #Firestone550

Mario Andretti @MarioAndretti
Congratulations @justin_wilson and @DaleCoyneRacing. Great job!

Allen Wedge @AllenWedge
Seriously, I don’t care about aerokits anymore, This new package has given us 5 great races so far this year! #indycar

Tony DiZinno @tonydizinno
Bummed to miss end of #IndyCar race. Congrats @justin_wilson that’s awesome!

Panther Racing @PantherRacing
.@JRHildebrand: “The setup is still an engineering project, but as a driver it’s super nice to have a lot more input into what’s going on.”

Pippa Mann @PippaMann
Really hope #Indycar goes back to Texas next year after the race today!! #WhetherImJustAFanOrADriver And that says a lot!!!

Holly Wheldon @hollywheldon
@GrahamRahal Great job today Graham xxx

Gustavo Yacaman @GustavoYacaman
Agree with @TonyKanaan 100% stupid moves like that are simple dangerous at those speeds.

SpeedFreaks @SpeedFreaks
@AJDinger @justin_wilson Soooo true!!! Justin is winning the coolest hardware in 2012! #Rolex24 & #Firestone550 Watches, Cowboy hats & guns!

Nytewynd18 @Nytewynd18
@RyanLewisRacing @alex_lloyd @cjeffduncan I agree with Hinch, I’d rather worry about the cars being in one piece than worry about the driver

Panther Racing @PantherRacing
A stellar fifth-place finish by @JRHildebrand and the @PantherRacing crew after being a lap down TWICE and starting 23rd. Impressive.

Erica Gordon @erica_g
Soooo #IndyCar racing is pretty awesome. Can’t wait til @MKE_IndyFest next weekend! #IndyFest

OFFICIAL BOX SCORE (PDF)

OFFICIAL RESULTS – FIRESTONE 550

Pos.       Driver   Laps       Running / Reason Out

1              Justin Wilson                     228         Running

2              Graham Rahal                    228         Running

3              Ryan Briscoe                      228         Running

4              James Hinchcliffe            228         Running

5              J.R. Hildebrand                                 228         Running

 

6              Simon Pagenaud              228         Running

7              Helio Castroneves           227         Running

8              Will Power                         227         Running

9              Alex Tagliani                      227         Running

10           James Jakes                       227         Running

 

11           Tony Kanaan                      227         Running

12           Ed Carpenter                     227         Running

13           Josef Newgarden            226         Running

14           Dario Franchitti                                225         Running

15           Katherine Legge               224         Running

 

16           Mike Conway                    224         Running

17           Marco Andretti                                 222         Running

18           Scott Dixon                         173         Contact

19           E.J. Viso                               129         Mechanical

20           Oriol Servia                        89           Mechanical

 

21           Ryan Hunter-Reay           66           Mechanical

22           Takuma Sato                      63           Contact

23           Charlie Kimball                                 29           Contact

24           Rubens Barrichello         0              DNS

25           Simona de Silvestro       0              DNS

Allen Wedge @AllenWedge
IndyCar fans need to send HUGE thank you to @NBCSN went commercial free for final 30ish laps, and ran late to get us proper interviews

Tony @PopOffValve
I think @justin_wilson won because I had barbecued pork ribs for dinner. #yeahiwillgowiththat

Tony @PopOffValve
Going to sign off and savor this race evening. Kudos to @IndyCar, @RBINDYCAR, @justin_wilson, and @eddiegossage.

… notes from The EDJE

** Article first published as Firestone 550 At 1.5-Mile Texas Motor Speedway, Tweet-By-Tweet on Technorati  **

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle

April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Three in a row at Sao Paulo! Congrats @12WillPower! #saopauloindy twitpic.com/9fau1g - Image Credit Penske Racing via TWEET

A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle 

The morning of the fourth round in the IZOD IndyCar Series in Sao Paulo, Brazil started in having the DW12 IndyCars warm-up in light showers with the drivers finding dryer areas of the track to run and post the best times. When this happens in Sao Paulo, people begin to understand why this part of Brazil is known as the “Land Of Drizzle”.

The start time was moved up about 15 minutes in order to account for the weather on the Anhembi temporary street circuit (the fourth street/road race course of the 2012 season), which has turned sunny, with the starting grid of the 26 car field to reflect this starting order:

Event: Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Round 4

Track: Sao Paulo Street Circuit 2.536 mile(s)

Report: Starting Line Up IZOD IndyCar Series – Tire Designation for Race April 29, 2012


SP — Car — Driver — Name — C/E/T — Start Tire

1 12 Power, Will D/C/F Alternate

2 10 Franchitti, Dario D/H/F Alternate

3 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F Alternate

4 27 Hinchcliffe, James D/C/F Alternate

5 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/C/F Primary

6 38 Rahal, Graham D/H/F Alternate

 

7 14 Conway, Mike D/H/F Alternate

8 67 Newgarden, Josef (R) D/H/F Alternate

9 2 Briscoe, Ryan D/C/F Alternate

10 26 Andretti, Marco D/C/F Primary

11 11 Kanaan, Tony D/C/F Alternate

12 8 Barrichello, Rubens D/C/F Alternate

 

13 5 Viso, EJ D/C/F Alternate

14 4 Hildebrand, JR D/C/F Primary

15 83 Kimball, Charlie D/H/F Alternate

16 77 Pagenaud, Simon (R) D/H/F Primary

17 19 Jakes, James D/H/F Primary

18 3 Castroneves, Helio D/C/F Primary

19 25 Beatriz, Ana D/C/F Primary

20 20 Carpenter, Ed D/C/F Alternate

 

21 78 de Silvestro, Simona D/L/F Primary

22 7 Bourdais, Sebastien D/L/F Primary

23 22 Servia, Oriol D/L/F Primary

24 6 Legge, Katherine (R) D/L/F Primary

25 15 Sato, Takuma D/H/F Primary

26 18 Wilson, Justin D/H/F Primary

(R) Rookie

 

Pursuant to Rule 14.14.6.4.1, Cars 4, 6, 7, 18 & 19 will start on Primary Tires.

(ht: IICS PDF Report)

NOTES: Qualifying lap times for the No. 18 Sonny’s BBQ car have been voided by INDYCAR following post-race technical inspection. Pursuant to Rule 14.4.13.3 of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook: As requested by INDYCAR each Car must run either the cameras or dummy equipment as supplied by BSI/INDYCAR.

Justin Wilson, who had qualified sixth in the Dale Coyne Racing car, will start from the rear.

Not exactly what you want to see between warmup and race, 2nd engine change in 12 hours! Ayayay! Our guys working hard. Image Credit: Oriol Servia via TWEET

Unapproved engine changes, which incur 10-grid spot penalties, were made to the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car of Takuma Sato (did not participate in qualifying), the No. 7 Dragon Racing car of Sebastien Bourdais (qualified 19th), the No. 22 Lotus DRR car of Oriol Servia (qualified 24th) and the No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing car of Katherine Legge (carried over from Long Beach; qualified 25th).

 

GREEN Flag starts the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 -

Everyone gets off to a great start with Will Power maintaining the first position. On the first lap, Newgarden and Hinchcliffe battle hard with Newgarden taking the position.

End of the first lap saw Conway taking the position from Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti staying tight on Will Power’s wing.

The long, nearly one-mile straight-away featured on this circuit really lets these new DW12′s stretch their legs, so much so that during qualifications, Will Power, who won the two previous races here, set a new track record with a lap of 1 minute, 21.4045 seconds at about 3 minutes left in the Firestone Fast Six qualifications round.

At Lap 4 of 75 – The engine wars have been invigorated with the change to the turbo design on the Honda engines – the top six positions are Power-Chevy, Franchitti-Honda, Dixon-Honda, Newgarden-Honda, Rahal-Honda, and Conway-Honda!

Lap 7 of 75 – AJ Foyt’s Mike Conway is all over Sarah Fisher Racing’s Josef Newgarden to try at taking away the spot as KVRT’s Tony Kanaan passes team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Announcement Note: Bryan Herta Autosport stayed behind from the race in order to prepare for the INDY500. The team has left the Lotus Legion and will be running the Honda engine the rest of the season.

Pit Stops begin on Lap 10 of 75. Pagenaud is in early and has an adjustment to his front wing for more downforce.

Takuma Sato came into the pits too hot and incurs a drive through penalty … needs a third wing replacement for the weekend.

Lap 13 of 75 – Justin Wilson is one of the big movers starting at the back of the field at P26 up to P18 – Drizzles are beginning to fall so those who waited may be able to have one less stop for rain tires.

Marco Andretti in the pits from P14 and takes on Firestone Reds – drops to P25.

TWEET – The EDJE @theedje -18 laps. 3 commercial breaks. 1 pre-taped segment. Missed passing and pits tops. Awful.

Lap 20 of 75 has Power leading the field by 3.2 seconds ahead of Franchitti, Rahal, Conway, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe, Viso, Barrichello, Carpenter, and the Lotus Dragon Racing of Bourdais.

The Lotus and team-mate to Bourdais at Dragon Racing, Katherine Legge, slaps the wall and damages the right rear of the car.

A wet spot has Ryan Briscoe bringing out the Yellow Flag while under pressure from Rahal.

Full Course Yellow Lap 23 of 75 – Castroneves at P8 is listed as the biggest mover up 10 positions from his start.

TWEET – Formula 1 @F1grid – Sonny’s BBQ car has a gearbox clogged with cornbread problem. #IndyCar

TWEET – F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive – Under caution it’s Power, Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Conway, Rahal, Pagenaud, Castroneves, Newgarden and Barrichello. #IndyCar

Lap 25 of 75 – Ryan Briscoe’s DW12 is on the flatbed truck and is out of the race – storm clouds are gathering with the winds stepping up a notch.

A two stop strategy seems out of the question given the potential of rain and the timing mix of yellows the race is having.

GREEN Flag – Lap 26 of 75 Side-By-Side – Franchitti spins in turn #1 as he was tapped by Mike Conway – Franchitti’s car is dead – Full Course Caution!

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay was strong again (as he was in Round 3 in Long Beach) and kept toward to top of the running order all day during this very entertaining race. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

The shake-out has Power leading RHR, Dixon, Castroneves, Barrichello, Kanaan, Viso, Hildebrand, Hinchcliffe, and Sato round out the top 10. The cheers are going up around the track as the three favorite sons in the race are Helio-P4, Rubens-P5, and TK-P6 in the top 10.

Franchitti is able to get restarted, gets checked out in the pits, and rejoins the field.

Side-By-Side restart Lap 29 of 75 – Everyone gets through Turn 1 but several cars 4-6 collect themselves in Turn 3.de Silvestro taps Newgarden and causes a blockage – two cars are damaged and in the pits – Newgarden and Jakes.

Newgarden rejoins the race – the DW12 is a much stronger and resilient chassis and aero-package. Simona de Silvestro stalled on track.

Top six positions are Power, RHR, Dixon, Kanaan, Barrichello, and Viso. A favorite daughter Ana Beatriz occupies P7.

GREEN Flag on Lap 33 of 75. Everyone through Turn 1, 2, and 3. RHR is all over the back of Power but the string of cars seems stable.

TWEET – Donna Lingley @MissLingley – Finally, we’re racing again. Double file restarts on street circuits don’t work. #IndyCar

TWEET – Brian J. Wiggins @brian_wiggins – Aussie, American, New Zealander, Brazilian, Brazilian. #Diverse #IndyCar

Lap 37 – SeaBass goes off in the run-off area and needs assistance – a rough day for Lotus Dragon Racing.

Lap 38 – Crossed Flags signify that this race is official … no matter what happens from now on, if the race is stopped, it counts.

Franchitti is on a charge as Franchitti passed Castroneves for P8. KVRT cars are P4, P5 and P6 (TK, Rubens, and Viso).

Lap 40 of 75 – Top 10 are Power (leading all laps) by 1.6 seconds over Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Kanaan, Rubens, Viso, Beatriz, Franchitti, Helio, and Sato with the biggest move of the day up 15 positions!

Tony Kanaan goes to the pits (last stop) so everyone moves up one. Franchitti giving fits to Beatriz and loosess a couple of positions. Castroneves has damage to his front wing but continues on after passing fellow country-person, Beatriz.

Lap 45 of 75 … 30 laps to go:

TWEET – Allen Wedge @AllenWedge – ALmost all of the field is throwing down their fastest laps of the race right now #indycar

Franchitti has moved up plus 16 after restarting from the back of the field. Dario now running at P8. Team-mate Scott Dixon in the pits for his assumed last stop.

Dreyer and Reinblod’s Lotus driven by Servia in for final pit-stop, comes out at P17 … will be running Chevy for the rest of the season.

TWEET – AJFoytRacing @AJFoytRacing – How come Franchitti can improve 10 spots under yellow by ducking into pits before green & no one notices? #saopauloindy #indycar

Sounds like … sour grapes?

TWEET – F1 Paddock @Formula1Paddock – Rubens Barrichello up to 5th now! #IndyCar

TWEET – Bruno Tarulli @BrunoTarulli34 – 50 vueltas cumplidas en Brasil! #IndyCar

Twenty Laps to go – Power by 2.6 seconds over RHR, Franchitti (oh, yes), Castroneves, and Sato. Pit-stops by leaders and Power has a great stop – Power on cold tires as Dixon takes the position away from Power in Turn 11.

Franchitti – good stop … does Dixon need to come in?

Hichcliffe and Hildebrand battle with Manica taking the position. Ed Carpenter is running strong in P5 – very good.

Everyone is waiting on Dixon to see if he needs to come in.

15 laps to go and Castroneves goes off into runoff area and drops from lead to P7. The pit-stops continue as the order continues to change.

TWEET – Donna Lingley @MissLingley – Hmmmm, Brazilian tv director cuts away from Helio making a mistake. Helio is Brazilian. Useless! #IndyCar

TWEET – Magnificent Geoffrey @MagnificentGeof – Credit to the TV director, the coverage of this race has been outstanding(ly questionable) #IndyCar

TWEET – Christopher Estrada @estradawriting – Less than 20 laps to go here at #SaoPauloIndy. 9-Dixon leads 12-Power, 28-HunterReay, 5-Viso and 10-Franchitti. #IndyCar #SaoPauloIndy

Viso in the Pits – Good stop. Dixon has a 2.8 second lead but … needs a splash of fuel?!

Great track action all race long – just great racing all around. Rahal takes P12 away from the Fuzzy’s car of Ed Carpenter – big difference between Reds and Primary compound tires.

Josef Newgarden was racy throughout the event but his day came to an end when he got mixed up in a late race multi-car incident. Pictured here, he is followed by Brazilians Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

TWEET – Ross Bynum @therossbynum – Newgarden with fastest lap in race so far…wow. #IndyCar #SaoPauloIndy @SFHRindy @SarahFisher

Lap 60 of 75 has Dixon by 3.1 seconds over Power, RHR, Dario, Helio, Rubens, Sato, Manica, Conway, and JR Hildebrand.

Carpenter spins – Full course caution – Pits currently closed – All cars on Lap 63 track behind caution car – Pits OPEN!

TWEET – Danielle Asphall @DannieAsphall – Man, I’m a ball of nerves right now. #IndyCar #saopauloindy

Scott Dixon in … fuel … and out in P13 which sets up a RESTART with Power, RHR, Dario Franchitti, and Helio Castroneves on the front two rows – WOW!!!!!

TWEET – F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive – Looks like a disaster for Dixon – he gambled on staying out but his lead has been destroyed now. #IndyCar

TWEET – IndyCar Mom @IndyCarMom – I have to say how bad I want @rubarrichello to win so we can gain some #F1 fans. #callmedesparate #willbegforfans #iloveindycar #IndyCar

TWEET – Tim Moran @golic_2004 – Another car hits the wall. Looks like Newgarden… Caution #Indycar

This is the 12th consecutive race that Power has led. Newgarden pulls into the pits – broken, out of the race.

TWEET  – Ivan Renko @Ivan_Renko – Is the IZOD #IndyCar Series called “Formula Indy” in Brazil? I kinda like it.

Lap 67 of 75 RESTART – GREEN  Flag – Side-By-Side – A bunch of cars get balled up in turn 2 – a ton of chassis are just a mess – Full Course Caution!!!

Eight cars involved – Conway hits the wall in Turn 2 as he runs out of room – A call for all of the flatbeds in Sao Paulo to come to the track is put out – RED ALERT In Red Corner!

TWEET  – Tom Rowell @senorsoupe – That restart is why we love banzai Takuma Sato! He seemed to use the force just to get his car slow enough to get through turn 1 #indycar

New top 10 are Power, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Franchitti, Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand, Kimball, Viso, and Barrichello.

The "Formula IndyCars" get all piled up when Mike Conway runs out of room running on the outside of turn 2 and crunches the wall. One car after another had their nose cones collect under the car in front of them until eight cars were stopped and unable to continue. Image Credit: Sini Salminen via TWEET

TWEET – Sini Salminen @SiniF1 – RT @lightmasf1: ooooops! #IndyCar twitpic.com/9fagpq

Lap 71 of 75 – TWEET – Chris Tansley @ChrisTansley – Does the safety car have enough fuel? #Indycar

TWEET  – Austin Brauser @austinbrauser – What are the odds? An 8 car pile up and EJ Viso is not involved! #indycar #saopauloindy

Lap 72 RESTART – GREEN Flag Side-By-Side – Sambadrome turn 1 everyone safely through – Power out positions RHR!

Sato in the mix – tracking RHR – Castroneves being chased by Dario Franchitti. Chevy, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Honda in top five!

2 Laps to go – Will Power looks strong and may only be beaten if he makes a mistake – no drizzles, clear track, Paul Blevin waves the White Flag!

TWEET – Dan Takyi @D4NT4KY1 – Final lap now! Sato will be third! Sadly Rubens is only 10th after being 3rd at one stage #IndyCar

Helio Castroneves was the highest placing driver of the hometown contingent at P4. He was able to hold off Dario Franchitti and survive a practice crash and a couple of on-track incidents to come back to P2 in season championship points. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

Checkered Flag – Will Power Three-Peats the Sambadrome!!! Wins third race on the season – Dixon, nearest in points, drops positions.

TWEET – IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar – It’s @12WillPower again! AAR’s Hunter-Reay and RLR’s Sato finish on podium, Sato’s first one! #saopauloindy #indycar2012

TWEET – Matt White @MattW1986 – Good recovery from @dariofranchitti to 5th #indycar

TWEET  – Dave Furst @DaveFurst – If it’s a non-oval, its Will Power. It’ll be interesting to see how the #IndyCar dynamic changes during the month of May. #Indy500

TWEET – lookingspiffy @lookingspiffy – Good stuff from the #BrazilianMafia today. Most vexed by that last restart, though. #IndyCar

Will Power jumps off of the front nose of his Verizon Team Penske #12 – in interview says he is happy that it did not really rain on the race all day.

Ryan Hunter-Reay – “Will runs such a clean race. I tried to jump him but he was able to keep the position on the restart.”

TAKU – “We had a nice race, really – I’m really excited for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Fantastic. We finally got a good result going into Indianapolis.”

Helio Castroneves started in P20 and ends up P4 as the highest placing Brazilian! “In the end, Takuma made a kamikaze move and was able to hold until the end.

The Twitter, the people were supporting me saying nice things.”

Oriol Servia (#22 – for the last time – Lotus DRR): “We almost didn’t make the start of the race. The guys did an amazing job. They were working until the last second putting the engine together and we didn’t think that we were going to make it. Somehow we picked up the best result of the year and we’ll take it.”

Sebastien Bourdais (#7 – Lotus Dragon Racing): “You just need to look at the splits from the race: We have three fastest sectors (corners only : Turns 1 & 2, then T5 and T6) but it is not enough when we get in a pack of cars for a restart or a straight fight. We could have finished in the top 10 if we had not been collected in a multi-car incident that put us a lap down, but that’s racing.”

TWEET – NBC Sports @NBCSports – Will Power earns his third consecutive #indycar win, taking the Sao Paolo 300. See the stats here: scores.nbcsports.msnbc.com/nascar/leaderb… @IndyCar

IZOD IndyCar Series YouTube Race Highlights>>

Engine Wars Update: Chevy, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Chevy, Honda Chevy, and Chevy … Lotus just misses out of a top 10 finish with Wix Filter Dreyer and Reibold Racing’s Oriol Srevia posting up at P11 in this team’s last race for Lotus this season (will be using Chevrolet-power in their DW12 for the balance of the season). The next closest running Lotus-powered DW12 was McAfee Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at P18.

It is now on to the season’s first oval race at the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing” with the month of May’s INDY500!

… notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as “A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle” at Technorati **

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Sao Paulo Indy 300 Round 4 Qualifications Notes

April 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The 2.536-mile, 11-turn street circuit for the Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle is challenging for drivers and teams. It features the longest straightaway on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule at nearly a mile, which is a prime overtaking zone. Image Credit: IICS

Sao Paulo Indy 300 Round 4 Qualifications Notes

[ALERT: @curtcavin: Word to all #indycar Sunday Broadcast TV watchers: Start time is being moved up 30 minutes. Green flag now about 11:10 a.m. EDT.]

Why does IICS management insist on placing the most competitive drivers in the same group (1 or 2) during the initial rounds of “Knock-Out” qualifications?

Group 1 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300

Rank        Car    Driver    Engine    Diff.    BL    LL    Gap    TL    BL#
1    25 Ana Beatriz    Chevy Logo    0    1:26.0364    1:26.0364    0    1    1
2    12 Will Power    Chevy Logo    0.0000    0    0    0    0    0
3    9 Scott Dixon    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
4    27 James Hinchcliffe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
5    18 Justin Wilson    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
6    77 Simon Pagenaud    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
7    26 Marco Andretti    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
8    8 Rubens Barrichello    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
9    4 JR Hildebrand    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
10    11 Tony Kanaan    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
11    78 Simona de Silvestro    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
12    7 Sebastien Bourdais    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
13    6 Katherine Legge    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0

This situation happens more often than not and in Sao Paulo … Group 1 has the drivers that graced the podium at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Power, Pagenaud, and Hinchcliffe), Dixon, and Barrichello – but also all three of the last remaining Lotus Legion cars of Bourdais, Legge, and de Silvestro.

Group 1 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Top 6 Transfer Drivers To Round 2

Power, Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Wilson, Kanaan, Andretti advance to next round. Pagenaud, Barrichello, and all Lotus Legion – OUT.

Group 2 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300

Rank        Car    Driver    Engine    Diff.    BL    LL    Gap    TL    BL#
1        10 Dario Franchitti    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
2        28 Ryan Hunter-Reay    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
3        2 Ryan Briscoe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
4        14 Mike Conway    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
5        67 Josef Newgarden    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
6        5 EJ Viso    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
7        3 Helio Castroneves    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
8        38 Graham Rahal    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
9        19 James Jakes    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
10        83 Charlie Kimball    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
11        15 Takuma Sato    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
12        22 Oriol Servia    Lotus Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
13        20 Ed Carpenter    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0

With Group 2 it shows Oriol Servia still running a Lotus engine but this is a dead-man walking since they will run a different yet to be determined engine for the rest of the season. Takuma Sato is late to show up on the track having to penalized 10 places on an engine change. Newgarden may be the biggest news if he transfers – either that or it maybe those of the most established drivers not being able to join the Top 6 out of this Group 2.

Group 2 Qualifications – Event: Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Top 6 Transfer Drivers To Round 2

Castroneves OUT / Taku never takes a lap – Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Newgarden, Conway, Briscoe and Rahal advance to Round 2.

Round 2 – 12 cars are able to post times with the top 6 able to compete for the Firestone Fast 6.

Qualifying – Round 2 for the Sao Paulo Indy 300 at the Sao Paulo Street Circuit

Rank        Car    Driver    Engine    Diff.    BL    LL    Gap    TL    BL#
1        2 Ryan Briscoe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
2        9 Scott Dixon    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
3        10 Dario Franchitti    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
4        11 Tony Kanaan    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
5        12 Will Power    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
6        14 Mike Conway    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
7        26 Marco Andretti    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
8        27 James Hinchcliffe    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
9        28 Ryan Hunter-Reay    Chevy Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
10        18 Justin Wilson    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
11        38 Graham Rahal    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0
12        67 Josef Newgarden    Honda Logo    0    0    0    0    0    0

The engine wars for Round 2 show that 6 Hona and 6 Chevy are able to take the Checkered Flag. The tires seem to have reduced inflation as the cars are showing a lot of sidewall flex through the corners. With less than 2 minutes left Power sits at P7 – oops, P2, Hinchcliffe catches P1 knocking Power to P3, 40 seconds remain … RHR gets to P6. Kanaan at P12, seconds remain and Checkered Flag flies – Power finishes at P1, Hinch at P2, Dixon, Franchitti, Wilson, and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Kanaan, Rahal, Conway, Briscoe, Andretti … and Newgarden OUT.

The Firestone Fast 6 starts – Power, Hinchcliffe, Dixon, Franchitti, Wilson, Hunter-Reay. TWEET – IndyCarPR | Power’s lap of 1:21.2718 is fastest lap recorded at #SaoPauloIndy. #ItsANewTrackRecord – GREEN Flag!

Three Chevy and three Honda engines represent the FF6 so no real news except the Lotus is still nowhere to be found.

Team Penske – Power, Andretti Autosport – RHR & Manica, Target Chip Ganassi – Dario & Dixon, and breaking the template … Dale Coyne Racing – Justin Wilson are the teams represented in the FF6.

Scott Dixon does not turn in a time and runs off the track causing a local Yellow Flag.

2 minutes remain: Power, Franchitti, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay (RHR), Wilson, and Dixon. Dixon and RHR improve dropping Wilson.

Checkered Flag – Will Power, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Justin Wilson finish off the Firestone Fast Six.

Tweet - IndyCar .@12WillPower with the check! Will he win his 3rd race? Find out at 11 a.m. ET on @NBCSN! #saopauloindy #indycar2012 pic.twitter.com/gQMePmgq

Chevy, Honda, Honda Chevy, Chevy, and Honda for the Firestone Fast Six.

Pos — Driver — Team/Car — Time — Gap

1. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevy 1m21.4045s
2. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m21.4485s + 0.0440s
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m21.8545s + 0.4500s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m21.9956s + 0.5911s
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m22.2408s + 0.8363s
6. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 1m22.2681s + 0.8636s

7. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m23.0972s Round 2
8. Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 1m22.7082s Round 2
9. Josef Newgarden Fisher DW12-Honda 1m22.7301s Round 2
10. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevy 1m22.4404s Round 2
11. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m22.8320s Round 2
12. Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevy 1m23.1766s Round 2

13. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevy 1m22.1404s Group 2
14. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda 1m22.1973s Group 2
15. James Jakes Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 1m22.3840s Group 2
16. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevy 1m22.3939s Group 1
17. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevy 1m22.4143s Group 2
18. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevy 1m22.4321s Group 1
19. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt DW12-Honda 1m22.4354s Group 1
20. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevy 1m22.9424s Group 2

21. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon DW12-Lotus 1m23.1331s Group 1
22. Ana Beatriz Andretti DW12-Chevy 1m23.2692s Group 1
23. Oriol Servia Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus 1m23.4509s Group 2
24. Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus 1m23.6762s Group 1
25. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Lotus 1m24.6042s Group 1
26. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda Group 2
(final grid ht: autosport.com)

Photo Caption In Home Page Display Banner: A hard hit for Helio Castroneves on the exit of turn 2 after jumping across the kerbing into a concrete wall put paid to the Brazilian racer’s participation just 20 minutes into the the hour-long second practice session in Brazil ahead of the Sao Paulo Indy 300. Castroneves managed to do heavy damage to his front wing and suspension, and it took the race officials some ten minutes to collect up the pieces before running could resume. The incident was the second red flag stoppage of the session, after an early brief pause following Castroneves’ Penske team mate Ryan Briscoe going for a spin on the exit of turn 11. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett

… notes from The EDJE

Filed Under: Featured Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Saint Petersburg – Let The New Era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Begin!

March 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Official event name: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Location: Albert Whitted Airport - St. Petersburg, Florida, United States - Course: Temporary airport & street circuit 1.806 mi / 2.906 km - Distance: 105 laps, 189.630 mi / 305.130 km - Twitter HASHTAG: #gpstpete - Caption and Image Credit: Wikipedia

Saint Petersburg – Let The New Era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Begin! – UPDATED w/Qualifications & Race Results

Let the new era of unified American Open-Wheel Racing (#aowr) begin with the temporary street course Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg. This year, 2012, will go down as the first year that American open-wheel racing is truly unified since there are no excuses that were first raised when the merger happened suddenly at the beginning of the 2008 season. Everyone will be competing on new Dallara DW12 equipment, with a choice of three new turbo-charged 2.2 liter engines, on tracks that are the most favored by fans of both series.

The season will favor street/road courses as opposed to NASCAR styled ovals and the oval tracks featured in this truly unified season are, for the most part, ones made famous through the sport of open-wheel automobile racing.

Five oval venues out of sixteen races are on the schedule and appear as follows:

The first oval race on the schedule is the grand-daddy of them all, The greatest specticle on all of autosport, the Indianapolis 500 – May 27, 11:00AM ET – ABC Sports.

Next will be the high-banked, super high-speed Firestone 500 at the Texas Speedway. This track holds a string of closest finishes in open-wheel racing. Broadcast set for the night of June 9, 8:00PM ET – NBC Sports.

Third comes the Milwaukee IndyFest, West Allis, WI – run on the famed flat four-cornered bull-ring of a track near the Wisconsin fairgrounds. This race venue was saved by the Andretti family primarily because of the history this track holds as a contrast to all other oval tracks ever run. This track was originally a flat dirt track that transformed itself into a concrete ring that challenges drivers with close quarters and the challenge of virtually no banking. Broadcast set for June 16, 1:00pm ET – ABC Sports.

The Iowa Corn 250, Newton, IA – represents a hold over from the Indianapolis Racing League days and gives a nod to the corn based Ethanol fuel that powers these 2.2 liter turbo-charged Chevrolet, Honda, and Lotus engines of this modern era season. In order to spice things up, this race will be run at night under the lights as they do in Texas. Broadcast set for June 23, 8:00PM ET – NBC Sports.

The last oval race of the season happens to be the final race of this 16 race benchmark of the modern era in American Open-Wheel Racing. This track holds the speed records for racing of any kind on a closed course for both qualifying and at race lap speeds. Yes, the venue is the Auto Club Speedway (formally, California Speedway) at Fontana, California.

On October 28, 2000, during CART qualifying, Gil de Ferran set the track record for fastest lap at 241.426 mph (388.537 km/h), breaking the record (240.942 mph) set by former F1 driver, Maurício Gugelmin (PacWest Racing) who went even faster — 242.333 mph, to be precise — in practice. Mark Blundell, also a former F1 driver (PacWest Racing – Gugelmin’s teammate), was originally credited with the fastest “at race lap” speed record with a lap at 237.000+ (lap time unknown). Wikipedia shows that Greg Moore actually set fastest lap during the race on lap 80 with a time of 30.900 sec. over the 2.029 mile D-shaped oval (awaiting email clarification from Auto Club Speedway). All of these times are suspect as official by the FIA due the measurement of the track at being slightly longer than exactly 2.0 miles, but the recorded speeds recorded are factual.

What is not in dispute, however, is that the 2003 IndyCar race held at Fontana (the Auto Club Speedway) was the fastest closed-circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph(333.306 km/h) over 400 miles (640 km) by Sam Hornish Jr. The 2012 race broadcast is set for a dusky night-time ending, September 15, 8PM ET – NBC Sports.

KV Racing Technology's driver Rubens Barrichello gives the new DW12 Chevrolet powered Dallara a spin at Sebring after signing a one-year agreement to run a full year in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Here Rubens is being followed on the track by fellow ex-pat F1 driver, Takuma Sato, driving the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. Image Credit: LAT via IZOD IndyCar Series

This weekend features a temporary street course e set up in the Florida city of Saint Petersburg first run under ChampCar (CCWS) sanctioning in 2003. After a one year break in order to regroup, the event was resumed with the sanctioning of the Indy Racing League (IRL) from 2005 to the 2007 and continued uninterrupted after the merger of CCWS and IRL as today’s IndyCar beginning in 2008 through to today.

Past winners of the Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg event are as follows: Paul Tracy (2003), Dan Wheldon (2005), Helio Castroneves (2006 and 2007), Graham Rahal (2008), Ryan Briscoe (2009), Will Power (2010) and Dario Franchitti (2011), Team Penske is the most successful with 4 wins … track speed record is held by Sebastien Bourdais (McDonalds/Newman-Haas), set competing in ChampCar (2003) when he qualified for the pole, besting Paul Tracy (Players/Forsythe) with the time of 1:00.928 as his Lola-Cosworth turned an average of 106.472 mph.

A field of 26 drivers — listed below — are expected to take to the track for the race set to start Sunday, March 25, 12:30PM ET broadcasted to national network TV audience by ABC Sports.

Car# | Driver (R – Rookie) | Hometown | Sponsor Car Name | Engine (Chevrolet/Honda/Lotus) | Team Entrant
2 Ryan Briscoe Sydney, Australia IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet Team Penske

3 Helio Castroneves Sao Paulo, Brazil Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet Team Penske

4 JR Hildebrand Sausalito, Calif. National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet Panther Racing

5 E.J. Viso Caracas, Venezuela Citgo – PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet KV Racing Technology

6 Katherine Legge (R) Guildford, England TrueCar Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus Lotus-Dragon Racing

7 Sebastien Bourdais Le Mans, France Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus Lotus-Dragon Racing

8 Rubens Barrichello (R) Sao Paulo, Brazil BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet KV Racing Technology

9 Scott Dixon Auckland, New Zealand Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing

10 Dario Franchitti Edinburgh, Scotland Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing

11 Tony Kanaan Salvador, Brazil GEICO/Mouser Electronics KVRT Chevrolet KV Racing Technology

12 Will Power Toowoomba, Australia Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet Team Penske

14 Mike Conway Bromley, England ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda A.J. Foyt Enterprises

15 Takuma Sato Tokyo Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan

18 Justin Wilson Sheffield, England Sonny’s BBQ Honda Dale Coyne Racing

19 James Jakes Leeds, England Boy Scouts of America Honda Dale Coyne Racing

20 Ed Carpenter Indianapolis Fuzzy’s Vodka / Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet Ed Carpenter Racing

22 Oriol Servia Pals, Spain Lotus-DRR Lotus Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

26 Marco Andretti Nazareth, Pa. Team RC Cola Chevrolet Andretti Autosport

27 James Hinchcliffe Toronto Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Andretti Autosport

28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet Andretti Autosport

38 Graham Rahal New Albany, Ohio Service Central Honda Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing

67 Josef Newgarden (R) Hendersonville, Tenn. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing

77 Simon Pagenaud (R) Poitiers, France Kingdom/Schmidt-Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports

78 Simona de Silvestro Thun, Switzerland Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus Lotus-HVM Racing

83 CharLinklie Kimball Camarillo, Calif. Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing

98 Alex Tagliani Lachenaie, Canada Team Barracuda-BHA Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian

—-

First Practice Laps At #GPSTPETE

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon set first ever mark in an event for the new DW12 formula as he was fastest in the first official practice session of 2012, leading Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe by 0.4784 seconds.

Briscoe’s teammate, Will Power, ran third, posting a lap of 1:03.57 around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course.

Dario Franchitti served as a bookend for the Penske duo, placing fourth with a lap of 1:03.60 seconds.

Schmidt Hamilton Racing’s Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top 5, turning a 1:03.64-second lap in hot, humid conditions.

Honda engined-cars placed 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th, with Chevrolet runners occupying the rest of the top 10 slots.

The fastest Lotus-engined car was Oriol Servia’s DRR entry in 19th with a lap of 1:04.29.

The session was mostly trouble-free, barring Charlie Kimball’s nose-first crash at Turn 10 with less than five minutes remaining in the session.

With so little rubber down, times are expected to drop throughout the weekend.

Practice 1 for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg at the St Petersburg Street Circuit:

Rank | Driver | Diff. | Best Lap
1 Scott Dixon 0 1:03.0406
2 Ryan Briscoe 0.4784 1:03.5190
3 Will Power 0.5341 1:03.5747
4 Dario Franchitti 0.5607 1:03.6013
5 Simon Pagenaud 0.6011 1:03.6417
6 Justin Wilson 0.6298 1:03.6704
7 Marco Andretti 0.7522 1:03.7928
8 Mike Conway 0.7927 1:03.8333
9 Graham Rahal 0.8116 1:03.8522
10 Helio Castroneves 0.8322 1:03.8728
11 Josef Newgarden 0.8366 1:03.8772
12 EJ Viso 0.8736 1:03.9142
13 James Jakes 0.9228 1:03.9634
14 JR Hildebrand 1.0508 1:04.0914
15 Takuma Sato 1.0666 1:04.1072
16 James Hinchcliffe 1.0673 1:04.1079
17 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1.0833 1:04.1239
18 Tony Kanaan 1.0998 1:04.1404
19 Oriol Servia 1.2540 1:04.2946
20 Alex Tagliani 1.3455 1:04.3861
21 Sebastien Bourdais 1.4468 1:04.4874
22 Charlie Kimball 1.6226 1:04.6632
23 Simona de Silvestro 1.8741 1:04.9147
24 Rubens Barrichello 2.6275 1:05.6681
25 Ed Carpenter 2.9904 1:06.0310
26 Katherine Legge 4.2925 1:07.3331
[Reference Here]

UPDATE: Power Tops Second St. Pete Practice

Team Penske’s Will Power nearly matched his pole speed from last year in only the second practice session of the weekend, leading Briscoe and Franchitti.

The top 20 cars all ran fastest laps in the 1:02 bracket, with first through 20th separated by just .978 seconds.

Practice 2 for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg at the St Petersburg Street Circuit:

Rank | Driver | Diff. | Best Lap

1 Will Power 0 1:02.0077 1:06.1375
2 Ryan Briscoe 0.0854 1:02.0931
3 Dario Franchitti 0.2155 1:02.2232
4 Graham Rahal 0.2847 1:02.2924
5 Scott Dixon 0.3040 1:02.3117
6 Helio Castroneves 0.3113 1:02.3190
7 James Hinchcliffe 0.4555 1:02.4632
8 Tony Kanaan 0.4737 1:02.4814
9 Ryan Hunter-Reay 0.5224 1:02.5301
10 Mike Conway 0.5260 1:02.5337
11 Marco Andretti 0.5547 1:02.5624
12 Simon Pagenaud 0.5920 1:02.5997
13 JR Hildebrand 0.7606 1:02.7683
14 Josef Newgarden 0.7761 1:02.7838
15 Justin Wilson 0.8838 1:02.8915
16 Simona de Silvestro 0.9059 1:02.9136
17 James Jakes 0.9075 1:02.9152
18 Takuma Sato 0.9517 1:02.9594
19 Sebastien Bourdais 0.9701 1:02.9778
20 EJ Viso 0.9780 1:02.9857
21 Charlie Kimball 1.0827 1:03.0904
22 Alex Tagliani 1.1735 1:03.1812
23 Rubens Barrichello 1.3213 1:03.3290
24 Oriol Servia 1.3458 1:03.3535
25 Ed Carpenter 2.5954 1:04.6031
26 Katherine Legge 2.7515 1:04.7592
[Reference Here]

UPDATE – Qualifications Highlights:

Will Power breaks his own track record by 0.2305 (old mark = 1:01.6026). Teammate Ryan Briscoe nails down P2 by breaking Will Power’s old mark as well.

The top five positions on the grid are held by Chevrolet powered DW12′s with seven of the top ten grid positions being filled by the new era engine supplier over longtime supplier and race sponsor, Honda.

A less than competitive showing by the cars powered by the Lotus/Judd effort with the highest placing driver of the “Lotus Legion” (highlighted in BOLD below), being one of the most consistent performing drivers of the series, Oriol Servia.

Probably the biggest surprise of this first qualification session of the new formula 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season is that even though cars fielded by Target Chip Ganassi Racing did very well in practice, the highest placing car from the Ganassi stable was Scott Dixon in P7 – none made it into the Firestone Fast Six qualifications round.

Team Penske had 3 cars, Andretti Autosport had 3 cars – 2 in the Firestone Fast Six round, Ganassi had only 2 cars, Kingdom/Schmidt-Hamilton had it’s one car effort place P6 in the Firestone Fast Six, and KV Racing Technology with only one car rounding out the top ten positions on the grid.

FIRESTONE FAST SIX VIDEO HERE>>

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                      Time        Gap
1.  Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevrolet         1:01.3721s
2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevrolet         1:01.5357s  + 0.1636s
3.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       1:01.9321s  + 0.5600s
4.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       1:01.9701s  + 0.5980s
5.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevrolet         1:01.9987s  + 0.6266s
6.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt-Hamilton DW12-Honda   1:02.1095s  + 0.7374s

7.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda            1:01.7636s  Top 12
8.  Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       1:01.7895s  Top 12
9.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevrolet             1:01.8699s  Top 12
10.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda            1:01.9570s  Top 12
11.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda            1:02.0233s  Top 12
12.  Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda               1:02.5084s  Top 12

13.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevrolet             1:02.5146s  Group 1
14.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevrolet             1:02.2009s  Group 2
15.  Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda              1:02.6015s  Group 1
16.  Justin Wilson        Dale Coyne DW12-Honda         1:02.2538s  Group 2
17.  Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Lotus              1:02.6506s  Group 1
18.  JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevrolet        1:02.4426s  Group 2
19.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Hartman DW12-Honda     1:02.7155s  Group 1
20.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne DW12-Honda         1:02.5271s  Group 2
21.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus                1:02.8218s  Group 1
22.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda            1:03.0437s  Group 2
23.  Oriol Servia         Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus  1:02.8771s  Group 1
24.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet      1:03.3591s  Group 2
25.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Lotus             1:03.6048s  Group 1
26.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon DW12-Lotus             1:05.6858s  Group 2

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves ends year long winless drought on the streets of St. Petersburg. Helio celebrates win by climbing a fence and honoring the memory of Dan Wheldon along the newly christened Dan Wheldon Way at turn #10 at the track. Image Credit: Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg

 

This excerpted and edited from the Tampa Bay Times –

How the 2012 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg unfolded
By Joey Knight, Times Staff Writer – Monday, March 26, 2012

On Lap 73, Castroneves gets far outside, breaks as deeply as he can and passes Dixon on Turn 1 for second. “It was awesome because the car (stuck), and I was like, ‘Yesss!’ ” said Castroneves, who soon after passes Hildebrand.

By Lap 80, Castroneves’ lead on Dixon grows to more than five seconds. Hunter-Reay, in third, falls seven seconds behind Castroneves as his crew implores him to conserve fuel. E.J. Viso, on the brink of dehydration following an overnight bout of food poisoning, is fifth — seven places ahead of his starting spot — 93 laps into the race before a final pit stop ultimately drops him to eighth. His lead edging closer to insurmountable, Castroneves drives conservatively on the last dozen or so laps and wins by 5.5292 seconds.
[Reference Here]

How the field of 26 DW12′s finished in their first race:

Pos | Driver | Team/Car | Time/Gap
1. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevrolet 1h59m50.9863s
2. Scott Dixon Ganassi DW12-Honda + 5.5292s
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevrolet + 7.5824s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti DW12-Chevrolet + 10.6526s
5. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevrolet + 11.7854s
6. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt-Hamilton DW12-Honda + 31.2623s
7. Will Power Penske DW12-Chevrolet + 34.6582s
8. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevrolet + 35.5943s
9. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda + 43.1425s
10. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne DW12-Honda + 44.3141s
11. Josef Newgarden Fisher Hartman DW12-Honda + 44.8275s
12. Graham Rahal Ganassi DW12-Honda + 45.1080s
13. Dario Franchitti Ganassi DW12-Honda + 45.8468s
14. Marco Andretti Andretti DW12-Chevrolet + 1 lap
15. Alex Tagliani Herta DW12-Lotus + 1 lap
16. Oriol Servia Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus + 1 lap
17. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevrolet + 2 laps
18. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet + 2 laps

Did not finish:

JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevrolet 96 laps
Mike Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 75 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dragon DW12-Lotus 73 laps
Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda 73 laps
Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Lotus 59 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM DW12-Lotus 22 laps
Tony Kanaan KV DW12-Chevrolet 21 laps
James Jakes Dale Coyne DW12-Honda 19 laps

Most of the problems of cars not finishing had to do with electrical gremlins on a car most engineers are still trying to figure out.

So, the new era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (#indycar) has begun at the Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg (#gpstpete) — Twitter #hashtags included!

… notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as Saint Petersburg – Let The New Era 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Begin! on Technorati **

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Willpower Of Will Power Vaults Driver To Championship Lead At Motegi

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Verizon Penske Racing’s Will Power as he accepts his second consecutive Mario Andretti “King Of The Road” trophy for racking up the most championship points on a road/street circuit during the course of an IZOD IndyCar Series season. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

The Willpower Of Will Power Vaults Driver To Championship Lead At Motegi

It was just a few short races ago when all looked as if the IZOD IndyCar Series championship was coming down to a one-man race to re-crown Dario Franchitti as its best driver for a fourth time … third time in a row.

Penske Racing’s Will Power lost the title on the last race of the season last year after leading the points race most of the year … but was unable to maintain the lead when ever he had to race on an oval track.

Nearly out of reach of a surging series points leader Dario Franchitti a little over a month ago, Power not only has erased a 62-point deficit in only four races (New Hampshire – oval, Sonoma – road, Baltimore – street, and Motegi – road/normally oval), he used his focus and will power to vault to the top spot by 11 points with two oval races to go (Kentucky and the season closer at Las Vegas).

Say what one will, but the season for Will Power comes down to one thing, has he learned to win on an oval enough to out pace his chief nemesis, Dario Franchitti?

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon as he leads Will Power through the track overpass section on the road course at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

This excerpted and edited from Sports Illustrated -

Not so fast: Dixon makes it 3-way race for title
(AP)

Just when it looked like Dario Franchitti and Will Power would run away from the field in the race for the IndyCar championship, Scott Dixon got back in the mix with a win at the Indy Japan 300.

Dixon’s victory in the last IndyCar event to be held in Japan moved the Target Chip Ganassi driver to within 59 points of Power with two races to go.
—-
Power and Franchitti (48 points ahead) still have a large advantage, but Dixon, who won the championship in 2003 and 2008, isn’t about to concede anything just yet.

“Dario and Will have both had strong seasons, but we have been creeping up and staying within striking distance,” Dixon said. “I think sometimes that gets overlooked. We want this to be a three-horse race for sure.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a driver came from third place to win the championship with two races to go. Sam Hornish Jr. was third with two races left in 2002 and went on to win the championship, winning the last two events.

Dixon is hoping for a similar scenario this year.

“Hopefully everyone will continue to focus on those other two and we can sneak in under the radar and get to the front in these final two races,” Dixon said. “The Target cars have been strong on ovals this season and we’re looking forward to finishing 2011 on a high note.”
—-
While Dixon’s win in Japan kept his title hopes alive, it was who finished second and eighth at Motegi that threw the championship race wide open.

Franchitti went into the race with a slim five-point lead over Power. But a poor qualifying effort put the No. 10 Ganassi Racing Dallara on the fifth row. The Scotsman’s chances of holding onto the points lead took a major hit when he made contact with the right-rear of Ryan Briscoe’s Team Penske car entering Turn 1 on the 26th lap.

Race officials levied an avoidable contact penalty on the reigning series champion, sending him to the rear of the field before he worked his way back to finish eighth.

“It was a stupid move on my part,” said Franchitti. “I did a lot of hard work to get from ninth to fifth, and I’d been saving fuel the whole first stint. I thought there was a gap and Ryan was going wide on the entry and that was that.”

Power, who started from the front row, couldn’t catch Dixon but was able to do the next best thing by finishing ahead of Franchitti.

“I just need to keep finishing in front of (Franchitti) the rest of the way and we’ll be fine,” Power said. “We’ll keep chipping away like we have been.”

The last two races of the season are on 1.5-mile ovals. Franchitti has two wins on ovals this season compared to one for Power. But the Australian driver, who is bidding for his first championship, is confident about his chances at the last two tracks.

“Ovals, that’s what I enjoy the most racing, mile-and-a-half racing, Chicagoland last year, Texas this year,” Power said. “Even Kentucky last year we were really strong, just didn’t end up with the result. We’re pretty focused on that this year.”

Franchitti held a 47-point advantage before Power won the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 28, and the gap narrowed further at the Baltimore Grand Prix on Sept. 4, where Power captured the pole and led for 70 of 75 laps in a runaway victory.

Whatever happens at Kentucky Speedway on Oct. 2, Dixon figures the championship will come down to the last race in Las Vegas on Oct. 16.

“The championship, I think going back to every year since 2006, has been decided in the last race so I don’t think it’s fair to count anyone out until the last lap of the season,” Dixon said.
[Reference Here]

Ok, fine … for fan interest, we’ll just say it’s a three-man race – RIGHT! It becomes a three-man race when Franchitti and Power take each other out … of BOTH races.

Just as it was in 2010 for Verizon Penske Racing driver, does Will Power have the willpower to stick it to Dario Franchitti and finish ahead in the points on oval tracks? The ChampCar World Series (CCWS) faithful believe this is the year he can.

Motegi By The Numbers - highlights:

6 – Finishing position for Sebastien Bourdais, who finished sixth for the fourth time in the past six races.

7 – Consecutive races led by Will Power, who led the only one lap not led by Scott Dixon at Motegi.

12 – Positions gained by JR Hildebrand, Danica Patrick and Simona De Silversto, who finished seventh, 11th and 14, respectively, most of any driver in the field.

14 – Points separating Sunoco Rookie of the Year point leader JR Hildebrand (284) and James Hinchcliffe (270) with two races remaining.

49 — Consecutive races running at the finish for Danica Patrick, extending her series record.

147 — Consecutive starts for Tony Kanaan.

1,903 – Laps completed (of 1,911) by fifth-place finisher Oriol Servia, most of any driver this season.

Uncountable — Autograph requests of Takuma Sato over the race weekend.
… notes from The EDJE

 

[Article first published as The Willpower Of Will Power Vaults Driver To Championship Lead At Motegi on Technorati]

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