Round 12: Honda Indy Toronto. Exhibition Place, Toronto. July 14-16.
No sooner has the chequered flag dropped at Iowa, the another race is almost upon us.
Originally a CART event, this is the second longest running street race on the calendar after Long Beach. In the spring of 1985, Molson Breweries in-house promotional division, Molstar Sports & Entertainment, proposed the running of a CART race at Exhibition Place in Toronto, as an alternative to the Candian F1 Grand Prix, which was sponsored by rival brewers Labatt's. The race was first held the following year on July 20, 1986 and was known as the Molson Indy Toronto. It was won by Bobby Rahal, driving a March 86C-Ford Cosworth DFX for Truesports.
With the demise of CART, the race morphed into a Champ Car World Series event, changing its name to the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto, continuing until 2007, after which Molson dropped sponsorship of the event. The Steelback Brewery signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal to become the event’s title sponsor, renaming it the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto and though unification of the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League was announced on February 22, 2008, the race that year was cancelled. It returned in 2009, after Andretti-Green Racing, acting as the event organiser and promoter (later Green-Savoree Promotions), had purchased the assets of the former Grand Prix of Toronto, as well as signing a multi-year agreement with Honda Canada Inc.
Since then the event has remained on the calendar and although the race had been traditionally held in mid-July, there were concerns that the 2015 race might be cancelled, as it would clash with the Pan-American games also being held in mid-July. However it was moved to June but unlike the two previous years there was no double header. Like year's event, it is back to it's traditional mid July slot and remains a single race.
In last year's race, Dixon who was on pole took the lead ahead of Castroneves and Pagenaud, with the first lap was almost without incident but at turn eight, Rahal and Kimball made contact, spinning Kimball into Hunter-Reay, bringing out the first of five cautions of the race. The third and fourth caution periods being pivotal.
On lap 45, after curbing broke at turn five, Race Control had to do a track inspection, bringing out the third caution. Racing resumed on lap 51, with Dixon leading and the cycle of green flag pit stops not far off. On lap 58, Newgarden, suffering from the injury to his right hand at the Firestone 600, crashed at turn five, bringing out the fourth yellow and closing the pit lane. However, Power had made it to the pits just before they closed, giving him the advantage over Dixon and Pagenaud, who hadn’t pitted. When they did, Kanaan, on the alternate strategy, inherited the lead.
As the race resumed on lap 64, Kanaan pulled away from Power but needed to pit, giving Power the lead on lap 76. Castroneves, who had a puncture on lap 25 putting him down the field, was now in second place but with a few laps left to catch Power. On lap 81, Hawksworth went into the wall at turn five. Montoya joined him at the same spot bringing out the fifth caution. Hawksworth's car was badly damaged and by the time it was removed, only one lap of the race remained. At the restart. Power pulled away from Castroneves, using his saved push to passes and by the end of the last lap, he was 1.5 seconds ahead of Castroneves and won the race.
Some Trivia:
The driver with the most wins: 7, Michael Andretti: 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001.
The team with the most wins: 8, Newman/Haas Racing: 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2004.
The original 1986 track length was changed from 1.784 miles (2.871 km) to 1.755 mile (2.824 km) in 1996, due to construction of The National Trade Centre building, which led to the pit straight being lengthened and last turn being altered. Last year, major changes were made to the track. The Pit Lane was been moved to the North side of the track, starting at Turn 9 and extending back onto Princes' Boulevard, past Turn 11. The hospitality suites have also moved to the North side and the Turn 11 grandstands are now on the south side of Pit Lane. However, the paddock remains in its original location, linked by a pedestrian bridge.
1986 original track layout:
1996-2015 rack layout:
2016 track layout:
Length: 1.755 mi - 2.824 km
Turns: 11
Lap record: July 17th, 1999. Gil de Ferran, 57.143 seconds, 110.565 mph (177.937 km/h). Walker Racing, Reynard 99i-Honda HRS V8t, CART FedEx Championship Series.
Last year's winner:
Will Power,
Team Penske,
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Laps: 85
Distance: 151.81 miles (244.314 km)
Race Time: 1:42:39
Average Speed: 88.739 mph (142.811 km/h)
Cautions: 5, laps 16
TV Coverage:
NBCSN, 3:00pm ET.