Briscoe Toasts an INDYCAR Series Win in Sonoma Wine Country

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

The third to last event on the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series calendar, the Sonoma region of California hosted a 85-lap contest of turbocharged, open wheel racing during a pivotal time in the rapidly passing season.

Retuning to action after a three-week hiatus, the IZOD INDYCAR Series drivers and teams entered the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma knowing they’re proceeding into the homestretch of their 2012 season. Drivers Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, and Scott Dixon approached the hilly 2.385-mile California road course with the knowledge that you miscue could desperately impact their chance of hoisting the overall IZOD INDYCAR Series championship trophy.

Taking his fourth pole in the 2012 season, Australian Will Power placed his Chevrolet-powered #12 Team Penske car at the front of an event he had won the previous two years. A 1-2 start of Team Penske cars with Power’s teammate Ryan Briscoe claiming the second-fastest time in qualifying, the third Roger Penske-owned machine piloted by Helio Castroneves would gain unfavourable attention once the green flag dropped. Starting 4^th, Castroneves made contact with championship rival Scott Dixon’s #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car in the turn 7 area of the Sonoma racetrack. Contact that amounted to Dixon spinning on-track losing ground to the lead of the field early, the #3 car of Helio Castroneves would himself be plucked from the front of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma when the IZOD INDYCAR Series assessed the Brazilian driver a penalty. Serving a drive-through penalty in the pit lane, Castroneves would make his way back through the race field to 6^th place at the end of 85 laps.

 

Photo Credit: F. Peirce Williams.LAT Photo USA/Honda

 

 

With the first 65 laps of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma passing without a single yellow flag, the Team Penske race cars of Will Power and Ryan Briscoe were supreme to the rest of the IZOD INDYCAR contenders. Will Power was in control for much of the event reflected in a 8.44-second lead he had on teammate Briscoe on lap 50.

Contrasting the fortune of the Team Penske organization, the other IZOD INDYCAR superteam of Andretti Autosport suffered bad luck for 2 of its 3 entries. Canadian James Hinchcliffe retired from the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on lap 35 due to an engine problem. Hinchcliffe’s exit in the #27 car would be followed 11 laps later by Marco Andretti. Only Andretti Autosport car left was the championship-contending driver Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma’s first caution would be the result of a scary collision in turn 8 section of the road course. Colliding entering the corner, the #7 of Sebastien Bourdais and he #67 driven by Josef Newgarden sailed into an outer retaining wall. Despite a severe impact with the concrete wall, both drivers escaped major injury. However, it was determined after the race that Josef Newgarden did suffer an injury to his left index finger. His Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team opted to place Bruno Junqueira for the upcoming Labour day weekend street course race in Baltimore.

As the field operated under its first full-course caution, this incident would be defining for the event. Two laps prior to the Bourdais/Newgarden accident, the leader Will Power had pitted relinquishing the lead to the #2 car of teammate Ryan Briscoe.

Restarting on lap 74, the late laps of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma would claim other championship-contending driver when an overly ambitious move performed by Alex Tagliani led to contact with the #28 car of Ryan Hunter-Reay. INDYCAR race control penalized the Canadian driver Tagliani but Hunter-Reay lost a potential top-5 finishing a disappointing 18^th place with only two races remaining to compete for the series’ overall championship.

Photo Credit: Camden Thrasher.LAT Photo USA/Honda

With his newfound advantage over teammate Will Power, Ryan Briscoe soared away on the race’s final restart at Sonoma winning his first IZOD INDYCAR race since the 2010 race at Texas Motor speedway. As the 2012 had been reaching an end, Briscoe’s presence with Team Penske for 2013 and beyond has been much questioned. With the victory in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the Australian driver Ryan Briscoe has allowed Team Penske to have all three drivers in the 2012 winner’s circle.

Chevrolet-powered contenders in the IZOD INDYCAR Series led every lap in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma acting as additional garnish to locking up the engine manufacturer championship for 2012. A season where the Bowtie brand has won 9 of the 13 races so far in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series, Chevrolet’s battle against tour mainstay Honda and the limited resources of Lotus is a triumphant return to a series they were absent from since the end of 2005. Chevrolet’s open wheel racing is made possible with a twin-turbocharged, 2.2 liter V-6 engine the auto company says reflects the technology currently being implemented in production cars for the street.

Next race for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series is a Labour Day weekend Sunday race on the streets of Baltimore.

　

2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma
Race Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine Supplier
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
4	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
5	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
7	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
8	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
9	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
10	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
12	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
13	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
14	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
15	17	Sebastian Saavedra	Columbia	Team AFS	Chevrolet
16	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
17	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
18	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
19	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
20	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
21	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
22	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
23	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
24	6	Katherine Legge	England	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
25	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
26	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
27	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda

　

2012 Indy 500 Starting Grid

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

As the first 24 starting spots for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s most prestigious race were locked in during Saturday’s Pole Day, Sunday put drivers and teams otherwise not secured in the field into position to gain one of the last 9 spots the Memorial Day weekend running of the Indianapolis 500.

A day long known as Bump Day as it was the session where cars would often compete to make or miss the Indy 500 field. For 2012, the face only 33 cars and drivers were fighting to make the race meant there was no actual bumping this year.

There was several drivers posting new time qualifying efforts to better their starting position in the 2012 Indy 500. First out on the 2.5-mile oval racetrack was the #78 HVM Racing car of Simona de Silvestro. In the four-lap run, de Silvestro posted a 214.393-mile per hour average speed. One of only two Lotus powered race vehicles qualifying for the 2012 edition of the Indianapolis 500, the #78 starts second-to-last alongside Jean Alesi’s #64 car. Alesi’s average qualifying effort is 16.4 miles per hour slower than the pole speed. A four-lap speed of 210.094 miles per hour, Alesi at 47 years of age enters the 2012 Indy 500 as the oldest driver to compete for rookie honours.

On the other side of the speed coin, the Dragon Racing cars of Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge made some great progress in finding qualifying pace other only receiving their Chevrolet engines midway through last week. Katherine Legge posted a respectable average speed over the 220-range while her teammate did even better. Driving the #7 race car for Dragon Racing, Bourdais posted a stunning 223.760 mile per hour four-lap average. One day earlier, that speed would have been good enough for 15^th on the starting grid. However, based on the limitation of Bump Day, Sebastien Bourdais will start 25^th ahead of Wade Cunningham. Cunningham and teammate Mike Conway gained their spots through Bump Day after difficulties in day before where the #14 car’s time was disallowed when the Dallara DW12 failed inspection.

At 1:15 pm, Bryan Clauson driving a second Sarah Fishing Hartman Racing car hustled into the 2012 Indy 500 with a 214.455-mile per hour effort. With 32 cars recording times, the last remaining car needing to time into the field was the #20 car of Ed Carpenter. Carpenter needed to set a time on track following a crash on Pole Day. Little past 2 pm, Ed Carpenter (driving a back-up car that was feverishly built in order to make the Indy 500) was the last driver to post a time on Bump Day at Indianapolis Motor Speed. The 33^rd car that filled the Indianapolis 500 field, the four-lap speed of 222.324 miles per hour of the #20 race car was the final qualifying run posted on the race track. After almost four additional hours, the 33-car field of the 2012 Indianapolis 500 was cemented.

On May 27^th, the 96^th Indianapolis 500 will start with Ryan Briscoe leading the three-wide parade to the green flag on Memorial Day Sunday.



2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Starting Grid

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Race Team	Engine Supplier	Average Speed
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Team Penske	Chevrolet	226.484
2	27	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	226.481
3	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	226.240
4	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	225.456
5	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	225.422
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	Chevrolet	225.172
7	67	Josef Newgarden	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda	224.037
8	11	Tony Kanaan	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet	224.751
9	5	EJ Viso	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet	224.422
10	8	Rubens Barrichello	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet	224.264
11	98	Alex Tagliani	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	224.000
12	38	Graham Rahal	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.959
13	25	Ana Beatriz	Andretti Autosport/Conquest Racing	Chevrolet	223.920
14	83	Charlie Kimball	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.868
15	9	Scott Dixon	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.684
16	50	Dario Franchitti	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.582
17	19	James Jakes	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda	223.482
18	4	JR Hildebrand	Panther Racing	Chevrolet	223.422
19	15	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	223.392
20	99	Townsend Bell	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda	223.134
21	18	Justin Wilson	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda	222.929
22	30	Michel Jourdain Jr	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	222.893
23	77	Simon Pagenaud	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda	222.891
24	17	Sebastian Saavedra	AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	222.811
25	7	Sebastien Bourdais	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Chevrolet	223.760
26	41	Wade Cunningham	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda	223.258
27	22	Oriol Servia	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet	222.393
28	20	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	222.324
29	14	Mike Conway	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda	222.319
30	6	Katherine Legge	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Chevrolet	221.624
31	39	Bryan Clauson	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda	214.455
32	78	Simona de Silvestro	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus	214.393
33	64	Jean Alesi	Lotus – FP Journe – Fan Force United	Lotus	210.094

Briscoe Beats Hinchcliffe for Indy 500 Pole with Tightest Margin

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

After a week of practice, Indy 500 Pole Day for the 96^th running of the great open wheel event had finally dawned on the Brickyard. Testing out the all-new Dallara DW12 race cars paired with either Chevrolet, Honda or Lotus engines, the time trials for the Memorial day Sunday Indianapolis 500 race is the most crucial laps teams and drivers will set on the racetrack so far.

Through Saturday afternoon, the first 24 spots for the 2012 Indianapolis 500 were settled as Dallara DW12 race cars took the race track for the best combined four-lap run. On a hot race track 2.5-mile race track, teams slowly began to log lap times. For Indy 500-only drivers Sebastian Saavedra, Michell Jourdain Jr and Townsend Bell, efforts of securely qualifying into the 2012 edition of the Indy 500 were realized with top-24 times around the race track for Pole Day. Last competing in an United States open wheel racing car in 2004, Michell Jourdain Jr recorded a 222.893-mile per hour average speed in a Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda-powered entry. Good enough with a 22^nd place starting spot, the Mexican driver Jourdain Jr will start two spots behind Townsend Bell but two ahead of Sebastian Saavedra.



Another impressive qualifying effort that involved getting an underdog race effort into the Indianapolis 500 was the run by Alex Tagliani with the Bryan Herta Autosport team. The reigning Indy 500-winning team, the Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian entry skipped the last IZOD INDYCAR Series race in Sao Paulo to focus on defending their Indianapolis Motor Speedway success in 2012. The decision to miss a race was also reflective on Lotus removing the race team from their powerplant alliance. Bryan Herta Autosport returned to Indy with Honda power and Alex Tagliani locked the car into the field. Starting 11^th place for what will be the fourth row of the 2012 Indianapolis 500, the #98 car recorded a speed of 224-mile per hour flat.

At 4:30 pm, the fight for the pole of the 2012 Indianapolis 500 was amongst the drivers who will start on the first three rows of the event. The Fast Nine session gave eight Chevrolet-engined competitors and one Honda engine race team a chance to claim the top spot in the most prestigious race in the world. The #26 Andretti Autosport car of Marco Andretti performed the first completed qualifying attempt for what was a 225.456 mile per hour average speed.

Six minutes after Andretti’s time, the next competitor taking to the 2.5-mile oval was Ryan Briscoe for Team Penske. Briscoe’s #2 Chevrolet-powered Dallara would drastically better Marco Andretti’s best by more than a mile per hour average. Recording a four-lap average speed of 226.484, Ryan Briscoe would survive the charges of Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Will Power initially.

With 50 minutes to go, the biggest challenge to Briscoe’s pole position emerged from the Andretti Autosport team. Wheeling the #27 GoDaddy-sponsored Dallara-Chevrolet, Canadian James Hinchcliffe took to his Fast Nine time trial with an initial lap of 226.934 miles per hour. However, a slight cool down in the remaining three laps by Hinchcliffe’s car would result in a narrowly positive outcome for Ryan Briscoe. An overall four-lap effort of 226.481 miles per hour for James Hinchcliffe, the #2 Roger Penske-owned race machine of Briscoe would hold the pole by just 0.003 miles per hour.

The pole for Ryan Briscoe for next Sunday’s Indy 500 is the first for an Australian driver, the top starting position is the 17^th for Team Penske. Penske’s pole position will be joined by second row starts for the team’s other two cars. Will Power starts 5^th while Helio Castroneves will start 6^th for the 2012 Indianapolis 500.

With the top 24 fastest entrants with berths in the Indy 500, the remaining 9 cars will have to log times on Sunday’s Bump Day qualifying settling the 33-car field. 

2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Starting Grid (1-24)

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Race Team	Engine Supplier	Average Speed
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Team Penske	Chevrolet	226.484
2	27	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	226.481
3	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	226.240
4	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	225.456
5	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	225.422
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	Chevrolet	225.172
7	67	Josef Newgarden	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda	224.037
8	11	Tony Kanaan	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet	224.751
9	5	EJ Viso	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet	224.422
10	8	Rubens Barrichello	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet	224.264
11	98	Alex Tagliani	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	224.000
12	38	Graham Rahal	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.959
13	25	Ana Beatriz	Andretti Autosport/Conquest Racing	Chevrolet	223.920
14	83	Charlie Kimball	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.868
15	9	Scott Dixon	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.684
16	50	Dario Franchitti	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.582
17	19	James Jakes	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda	223.482
18	4	JR Hildebrand	Panther Racing	Chevrolet	223.422
19	15	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	223.392
20	99	Townsend Bell	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda	223.134
21	18	Justin Wilson	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda	222.929
22	30	Michel Jourdain Jr	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	222.893
23	77	Simon Pagenaud	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda	222.891
24	17	Sebastian Saavedra	AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet	222.811

Briscoe Fastest During INDYCAR Qualifying on Streets of Long Beach

Photo Credit: Steve Swope/(C)2012 Steve Swope Photography

The third race weekend for the IZOD INDYCAR Series in 2012, the series returns to a temporary street circuits for the prestigious Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. With Saturday’s qualifying very important on the circuit where passing has proven to be tricky, this year’s time trial preparation for the 85-lap race Sunday would involve a very unusual situation for the IZOD INDYCAR Campaigners using the league‘s lead engine.

After two race in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series, the Team Penske has shown off their understanding of the all-new Dallara DW12 race cars as drivers Helio Castroneves and Will Power won the season‘s first events. Team Penske also demonstrated under the new competitive engine formula in the IZOD INDYCAR Series the effectiveness of the Chevrolet power plant. However, heading into the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, all of the 11 competitors using Chevrolet’s Twin-Turbocharged V-6 engines were forced to heed to the advice of manufacturer that would cost them grid position starting the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Engine changes on the 11 Chevrolet-powered INDYCAR race vehicles would be assessed in Saturday’s qualifying on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile road course in California.

Unlike Friday’s track time that was accompanied by a wet and cold day, Saturday was more inviting for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR competitors as they try to set hot laps on the street course. Due to limited dry track practice, there was still some unknowns for drivers and teams. With all 26 IZOD INDYCAR cars posting time, it was Team Penske who again proved victorious during qualifying. Beating all fellow competitors for the first time in 2012, it was the Australian Ryan Briscoe who claimed has first pole since Chicagoland of 2010. Lapping the streets of Long Beach at 1 minute, 8.6089 seconds, Briscoe provides Team penske with three drivers having won a qualifying session for 2012. Briscoe’s winning effort came after a fierce battle on-track with teammate Will Power.

Exchanging fastest laps in the final minutes of the Firestone Fast Six qualifying round, Briscoe’s advantage over Power was less than a tenth of a second. Despite Ryan Briscoe having to accept a 10 grid position penalty (dropping him to 10^th place for Sunday), the fastest time will count in the points standings where a single point will be rewarded to the Team Penske driver.

Another IZOD INDYCAR Series team that scored two cars in the Firestone Fast Six grouping was Andretti Autosport. Andretti Autosport enters the California street course with familiarity on how to get to victory lane after winning the event the past two years. An emotionally-charged 2010 winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified 3^rd and teammate Canadian James Hinchcliffe locked in a 6^th quickest time.

Despite the dominating efforts of Chevrolet in qualifying, the engine change penalties meant the starting line-up would fall to the advantage of the Honda and Lotus powered Dallara race cars. Dario Franchitti, the only non-Chevrolet runner to break into the Firestone Fast Six, collected a 4^th fastest run in Saturday’s qualifying. With Chevrolet-engined competitors being demoted, the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing receives the top starting spot for the 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “In the Firestone Fast 6 we knew where we'd be starting regardless of what time we did, but we kind of wanted to earn it.” said Franchitti.

Oriol Servia recorded the fastest lap recorded for a Lotus-powered IZOD INDYCAR Dallara DW12 for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with a 1 minute, 10.6835 second timed trip around the street course. 20^th Fastest in time trials, Servia’s and his #22 car will also be assesses their own engine penalty by the sanctioning body that will drop the team to 23^rd starting the Long Beach race.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, race #3 in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series tour, will be set for about 4:15PM Eastern time (1:15PM Pacific time).


2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Qaulifying Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
4	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
5	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
6	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
7	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
8	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
9	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
10	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
12	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
13	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
14	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
15	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
16	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
17	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
18	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
19	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
20	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Lotus
21	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Lotus
22	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
23	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
24	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
25	6	Katherine Legge	England	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
26	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus

Briscoe Catches the Wind for IZOD IndyCar Pole at Chicagoland

Photo Credit: Steve Swope

For what who be the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season's last race held in the Northernmost corners of the North American continent, the open-wheel stars set sights on the Chicagoland Speedway.  



2010 IZOD IndyCar Series
Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil 300
Chicagoland Speedway
Starting Lineup

1. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
3. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
4. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing

5. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport

6. 02 Graham Rahal/United States/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing

7. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
8. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
9. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
10. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology

11. 20 Ed Carpenter/United States/ Panther/Vision Racing
12. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
13. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
14. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing

15. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
16. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology

17. 34 Tomas Scheckter/South Africa/ Conquest Racing
18. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
19. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
20. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing

21. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology

22. 24 Ana Beatriz/Brazil/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing

23. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
24. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
25. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
26. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
27. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
28. 21 Davey Hamilton/United States/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
29. 66 Jay Howard/England/ Sarah Fisher Racing

Briscoe Two-Steps Past Patrick to Win Texas IndyCar Event

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney


Following the Indy 500, Scot Dario Franchitti is walking on cloud 9 capturing his second Borg-Warner Trophy impression in dominant fashion. On the other side of the fence, the favoured three-car team of Penske Racing faced a surprising meltdown. Suffering a pit road mistakes and a crash to Ryan Briscoe, it was the worst overall Penske performance since the 1995 race where Penske's two-car team of Emerson Fittipaldi and defending race winner Al Unser Jr failed to qualify. With the next 500 mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a year less a week away, Penske Racing will use the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule as a measure to reassert their dominance.

The early laps of the Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway was the latest edition in the Penske Racing vs. Target Chip Ganassi Racing bout. With Ryan Briscoe leading the first 7 laps from pole, 2010 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti took the lead wanting an encore performance of last Sunday. Leading 86 laps total through the night, Franchitti would have a strong follow-up to this Indy win at Texas. The first caution came out on lap 57 for KV Racing Technology's #5 of Takuma Sato who collided with the wall within turn 2.

Just 6 days later the Indy 500 wreck which featured Mike Conway suffering a nasty impact with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway catch fence, another frightening impact occurred when 2010 Indy 500 Rookie of Year Simona de Silvestro slid into the wall on the backstretch on lap 98. While the impact was not severe, her #78 HVM Racing/Team Stargate Worlds car erupted into flames. With fire rapidly rushing to the cockpit, de Silvestro was in a rush to get out of her car. With the aid of some safety crew workers, Simona de Silvestro was hurriedly extracted from her vehicle. Sustaining a burn to her right hand, de Silvestro was expressing more disappointment in the fact she was unable to fight her loose race car through the laps leading to her crash.

The most significant crash in the Firestone 550k occurred on lap 129. Coming out of turn 4, Helio Castroneves had been setting up the KV Racing Technology #32 car of Mario Moraes to pass on the outside. As the #3 Verizon car began to blaze past Moraes on the outside, the #32 edged up and tangled with the Castroneves. As the two race cars of Castroneves and Moraes would slid down the front tri-oval stretch, the Conquest Racing #36 of Bertrand Baguette would become a casualty to the incident as he attempted to duck between the wrecked cars. As the vehicles of Castroneves and Moraes were still in motion, Baguette clipped both cars suffering race-ending suspension damage. Immediately after getting out of his #3 Penske Racing machine, Helio Castroneves quickly approached Moraes expressing some passionate words of displeasure. After the accident, it was reported that the #32 car did not receive radio communication of Castroneves passing him. In the final results for the Firestone 550k, Helio Castroneves would place 20th for what might amount as a costly night for the overall IZOD IndyCar Series points.



Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Through a final round of pit stops proceeding under green, pressure was placed on the crew members and drivers in the late stages of the Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway. Appearing as if they could expect another respectable oval finish in 2010 leading a midway portion of the event, the FAZZT Race Team #77 car driven by Alex Tagliani would see their day go sour on pit road. Through the completion of their pit stop, the #77 car left before the refueling hose was disconnected. FAZZT Race Team fueler Phil McRoberts was struck by the fuel hose but was fortunately unhurt thanks to wearing his helmet (a requirement of all over-the-wall crew member in IRL sanctioned events). However, the FAZZT Race Team would be required to bring Tagliani back into pit lane for a drive-through penalty on the miscue.

As the field cycles through under pit stops, Ryan Briscoe relinquished his lead position for fuel and tires coming down to his Penske Racing pit crew. However, as Briscoe is released back into competition around the 1.5 mile oval, the #7 Andretti Autosport team preformed a stunning pit work for their driver Danica Patrick which allowed her to come out of pit road ahead of Briscoe. As Dan Wheldon and Hideki Mutoh had pit stops upcoming, this fight for third would end up becoming the battle for the race lead and victory. With Patrick briefly able to use her crew's gain on pit road to keep the #7 car ahead of the Penske Racing machine of Briscoe, the #6 car would be relentless charging back on Danica Patrick's car. After several laps of dicing, Ryan Briscoe was able to emerge with the upper hand.

Holding the lead through the final 35 laps, Ryan Briscoe captured a much-needed first win for 2010 after experience a difficult year so far in the IZOD IndyCar Series. The fourth win for Penske Racing on the 2010 tour, all three team drivers have collected at least one victory for the Verizon-sponsored team.

While Team Penske recovered nicely at Texas, the efforts of Andretti Autosport is worth special consideration. Perhaps running her best race since her 2008 win at the Twin-Ring Motegi race in Japan, Danica Patrick gave a consistently strong run for the Godaddy.com #7 car finishing a little more than 1.4 seconds behind Briscoe. Following up his podium run finish at Indy, Marco Andretti secured another 3rd place finish at Texas. the final two Andretti Autosport drivers also made massive gains from their starting spots with Tony Kanaan going from 13th to 6th and Ryan Hunter-Reay improving 17 positions to finish 7th.

Thanks to three races of oval success, Dario Franchitti has overcome the early season lead that Penske Racing's Will Power gained through the road courses. Standing a slight 3 points ahead of Power, 1st through 6th in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series overall championship is separated by only 45 points.

The next race is in two weeks at Iowa Speedway on June 20th.


Firestone 550k 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Final Results
1. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
3. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
4. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
5. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
6. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
7. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
8. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
9. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
10. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
11. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
12. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
13. 24 Tomas Scheckter/South Africa/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
14. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
15. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
16. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
17. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
18. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
19. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
20. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
21. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
22. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
23. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
24. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
25. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
26. 66 Jay Howard/England/ Sarah Fisher Racing