2013 IndyCar Series / Mazda Road to Indy discussion

Scheduled tyre testing at the Pocono oval was completed yesterday, with drivers giving favourable reviews of the track.

http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/04/4-10-Firestone-tire-test-at-Pocono-a-quick-success

Mario Andretti (who won the 1986 race and started from pole position in 1987) also commented on its re-introduction to the schedule: "We’ve been waiting for this moment and we belong here. This place was built for Indy cars. The facility is fabulous and was my favorite superspeedway to drive on."

The previous track record set by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 was broken in the morning session, with average speeds exceeding 212mph. Pocono is part of the Triple Crown series (along with Indianapolis and Fontana) that will pay out a $1 million bonus to the driver that wins all three events. Winning two of the three will net $250,000.

Testing footage:

 
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Indycar Series Round 3 of 19: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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Venue: Streets of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, CA
Track length: 1.96 miles
Race length: 80 laps (156.8 miles)
Lap record: 1:06.886 (Sébastien Bourdais, Lola B02/00-Cosworth, 2006)

Overview: The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major street race held on the North American continent. It started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race on the streets of downtown, and became a Formula One event the following year. From 1984 to the present day, it has been an Indycar event. Other races held during the Grand Prix week include Firestone Indy Lights, American Le Mans Series, and the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race.

Drivers' preview:


Entry list:

http://www.indycar.com/~/media//Files/2013/IZOD-IndyCar-Series/03-LB/indycar-entrylist

In addition to all 26 participating cars and drivers that were at Alabama, Mike Conway returns to Indycar with the Rahal-Letterman team for a one-off attempt at repeating his win at Long Beach in 2011.

Schedule:

http://www.indycar.com/~/media//Files/2013/IZOD-IndyCar-Series/03-LB/weekendschedule

TV coverage:

ESPN UK at 21:45, 21st April. Re-run at 20:15, 24th April.
 
Practice 1 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XA-2c8jWQA

James Hinchcliffe was fastest in first practice with a lap in 1:09.8157, followed by Mike Conway (1:09.8290) and Takuma Sato (1:10.0180).

Practice 2 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Ck_v_cAPc

Second practice saw a few drivers find (and exceed) the limit, including Justin Wilson who heavily locked up into turn 8. Ryan Hunter-Reay went fastest (1:09.4224), Mike Conway was second again (1:09.4603) and Will Power third (1:09.5166).

Practice 3 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKFom2hxREI

Simon Pagenaud topped the chart in third practice (1:08.0960), Will Power ended second (1:08.1036), with Mike Conway third (1:08.1112).

Full practice results available here: http://www.indycar.com/Stats
 
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Qualifying is under way, live timing and scoring here: http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

Dario Franchitti fastest so far in Q1, 1:07.3356.

Drivers advancing to Q2: Hunter-Reay, Castroneves, Viso, Franchitti, Kanaan, Power, Sato, Rahal, Conway, Hinchcliffe, Kimball, Hildebrand.

Drivers advancing to Q3/Fast Six: Conway, Power, Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Castroneves.
 
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Qualifying highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0msO_OdgY

Post-qualifying interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q0XanCPz9s

Warm-up highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spGmVXdlqVk

Dario Franchitti took pole for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a 1:07.2379 lap, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay (1:07.2934) and Will Power (1:07.3987).

Full grid:

1) Dario Franchitti
2) Ryan Hunter-Reay
3) Will Power
4) Takuma Sato
5) Mike Conway
6) Helio Castroneves
7) James Hinchcliffe
8) Tony Kanaan
9) Charlie Kimball
10) Ernesto Viso
11) Graham Rahal
12) John Hildebrand
13) James Jakes
14) Anthony Allmendinger
15) Sebastien Bourdais
16) Josef Newgarden
17) Simon Pagenaud
18) Oriol Servia
19) Tristan Vautier
20) Simona de Silvestro
21) Sebastian Saavedra
22) Alex Tagliani
23) Ana Beatriz
24) Ed Carpenter
25) Justin Wilson*
26) Marco Andretti*
27) Scott Dixon*

*Justin Wilson's car was declared illegal. Marco Andretti and Scott Dixon were penalised for blocking.

Takuma Sato was fastest in the morning warm-up session (1:08.5388), with Josef Newgarden second (1:08.5409) and Ernesto Viso third (1:08.5475). Full timesheet here: http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2013/LB_final.pdf

TV coverage: http://www.viplivesports.eu/motorsp...nd-prix-of-long-beach-live-stream-online.html
 
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Takuma Sato wins at Long Beach, his first victory in the Indycar series and the first for AJ Foyt Enterprises since 2002. An uncharacteristically measured drive from the man with a kamikaze reputation. Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson complete the podium.
 
Guerrilla said:
Good to see Wilson have a great finish after starting so far down.
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He'd be leading the points if he was in a half-decent team. A real shame he was scapegoated for Jaguar's terrible reliability in F1.

Guerrilla said:
A lot of the championship contenders/leaders struggling for a decent finish too, could have a bearing on the future.
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Yeah, high attrition, like F1 races at Monaco - but then LB is a tough street circuit.
 
Long Beach race highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxO-6cvJUgY

Post-race interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpyjIY16LvM

Race results

Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Takuma Sato AJ Foyt Enterprises-Honda 80 laps/1:50:08.7155
2. Graham Rahal Rahal-Letterman-Honda + 5.3612s
3. Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing-Honda + 8.2386s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi-Honda + 12.3573s
5. John Hildebrand Panther-Chevrolet + 28.2402s
6. Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet + 30.2703s
7. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Motorsports-Honda + 31.8674s
8. Simona de Silvestro KV Racing Technology-Chevrolet + 33.1224s
9. Helio Castroneves Penske-Chevrolet + 33.4118s
10. Scott Dixon Ganassi-Honda + 33.6278s
11. James Jakes Rahal-Letterman-Honda + 35.0645s
12. Josef Newgarden Fisher-Hartman Racing-Honda + 35.8945s
13. Ana Beatriz Dale Coyne Racing-Honda + 36.3442s
14. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Racing-Chevrolet + 36.5936s
15. Will Power Penske-Chevrolet + 43.0022s
16. Tristan Vautier Schmidt Motorsports-Chevrolet + 51.7961s
17. Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet + 56.4533s
18. Oriol Servia* Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet + 59.4683s
19. Alex Tagliani Bryan Herta Autosport-Honda + 1 laps
20. Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology-Chevrolet + 2 laps/Collision
21. Charlie Kimball Ganassi-Honda + 2 laps
22. Ernesto Viso HVM\Team Venezuela-Chevrolet + 27 laps

*30 second penalty for avoidable contact

Fastest lap: Ernesto Viso - 1:09.0401, lap 45

Retirements:

Anthony Allmendinger Penske-Chevrolet 51 laps/Engine
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet 49 laps/Accident
Mike Conway Rahal-Letterman-Honda 38 laps/Electrical
James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport-Chevrolet 34 laps/Collision damage
Sebastian Saavedra Dragon Racing-Chevrolet 1 lap/Accident

Edit: Oriol Servia's penalty was appealed and lifted. He receives credit for his original 6th place finish.
 
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Indycar Series Round 4 of 19: Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300

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Venue: Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Track length: 2.535 miles
Race length: 75 laps (190.2 miles)
Lap record: 1:21.4045 (Will Power, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet, 2012)

Overview: Indycar returned to Brazil in 2010 after a ten year absence on a new street circuit in the Santana district of Sao Paulo, birthplace of the late Ayrton Senna. Unlike the majority of Indycar circuits, the pit lane is not adjacent to the start\finish line but instead begins on the Mars Straight and cuts inside the Anhembi corner (turn 5). Will Power has won all three races held here, two of which were in wet weather.

Drivers preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V813GMCfR7E

Entry list: http://digbza2f4g9qo.cloudfront.net...-BRA/indycar-entrylist?vs=1&d=20130429T162452

Schedule: http://digbza2f4g9qo.cloudfront.net...ndycar-weekendschedule?vs=1&d=20130430T135805

TV coverage: Live on ESPN UK, 16:00 on 5th May. Re-run at 00:30 on 9th May.
 
Mike306 said:
Is this only shown on ESPN here?
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Yeah, I'll see if I can find a stream since it's unclear what BT will do with the rights over here in future.

Edit: Will Power was fastest in first practice (1:21.8517), followed by Josef Newgarden (1:21.8976) and Sebastien Bourdais (1:22.0495).

Practice 2 highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h94pbOgis_A

Power went quickest again (1:20.9264), with Ryan Hunter-Reay second (1:21.0022) and Ernesto Viso (1:21.2222).

Graham Rahal was fastest in the morning warm-up (1:21.2494) followed by Ernesto Viso (1:21.2920) and Scott Dixon (1:21.3284).

Post-qualifying interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm1hThomoHo

Ryan Hunter-Reay continues to show strong form by taking another pole position (1:20.4312), while Ernesto Viso took a surprise second place (1:20.7380). Dario Franchitti lines up 3rd (1:20.8922) and Tony Kanaan will be alongside him in 4th (1:20.9812) for his 200th Indycar start.

Full starting grid:

1) Ryan Hunter-Reay
2) Ernesto Viso
3) Dario Franchitti
4) Tony Kanaan
5) James Hinchcliffe
6) Scott Dixon
7) Sebastien Bourdais
8) Simona de Silvestro
9) Justin Wilson
10) Marco Andretti
11) John Hildebrand
12) Takuma Sato
13) Oriol Servia
14) Ed Carpenter
15) Alex Tagliani
16) Ana Beatriz
17) Charlie Kimball
18) Helio Castroneves
19) Graham Rahal
20) Sebastian Saavedra
21) Tristan Vautier
22) Will Power
23) Simon Pagenaud
24) James Jakes
25) Josef Newgarden
 
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Ana Beatriz already sidelined with a mechanical issue (yet again). Strike another one for Dale Coyne Racing quality control.

Edit: Tony Kanaan to the lead, that'll liven up the crowd :)
 
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