Round 13: Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio. Lexington, OH, USA. July 29-31, 2016.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 13: Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio. Lexington, OH, USA. July 29-31, 2016.

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, was the idea of local business man Les Griebling, who convinced a number of friends from the local business community to invest in a road course for weekend sportscar racing. The course was designed by Griebling, which followed the contours of the land and was opened in 1962, From 1970 to 1976 Mid-Ohio became an event on the SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship calendar. AOWR returned when CART initially raced at Mid-Ohio in 1980, with Johnny Rutherford taking victory in the Chaparral-Cosworth DFX.

In 1981, the track was bought by road racing enthusiast Jim Trueman, the owner of Red Roof Inns and Mid-Ohio underwent its first major renovation. Permanent grandstands, new pit garages with spectator balconies, a media/hospitality center, underground tunnels and a new paddock were built as well as the Goodyear Tower. CART returned in 1983 racing there until 2003.

In 2006, Mid-Ohio underwent further renovation, with the whole track and pit lane being completely resurfaced and adding a 75,000 seat grandstand. In 2007, after a 3 year absence from AOWR, Mid-Ohio returned as a venue for the IndyCar series and this weekend will see the 9th running of the race as an IndyCar event.

In March 2011, the track was purchased from Truesports by Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which currently promotes the IndyCar street races at St Petersburg and Toronto.

Some Trivia:
Driver with most wins, Scott Dixon: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014.
Team with most wins, Chip Ganassi Racing: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.

Track Layout:
Mid-Ohio features two track configurations, one of 2.25 miles (3.621 km) and 13 turns, the other of 2.4 miles (3.862 kms) and 15 turns. The track runs clockwise, with the start line located on the back stretch after Turn 3 and the finish line in front of the pits. In 1963 the original sports car course was modified, as drivers were concerned it was too slow. Oak Tree Bend, which literally went around an oak tree, was removed and replaced by the Thunder Valley section.

In 1990, there were further modifications, with the track being widened, creating the 13-turn, 2.250 mile (3.621 km) layout, adopted by CART and which is now used by IndyCar. During the 2006 renovations, new link roads were added to the track's famous Keyhole section, creating three separate road course configurations.

Original track layout:


1963-1989 track layout:


1990-2005 track layout:


Current IndyCar track layout with 2006 modifications in grey:


Length:
2.250 Miles (3.621 km)
Turns: 13
Lap record: 1 August, 2015. Scott Dixon, 1:04.581 minutes, 125.869 mph (202.566 km/h). Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6. Verizon IndyCar Series.

Last year's winner:
Graham Rahal
Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing
Dallara DW12-Honda H15TT

Laps: 90
Distance: 203.22 mi (327.05 km)
Race Time: 1:55:20
Average Speed: 105.72 mph (170.13 km)

TV Coverage:
CNBC, 2:00pm EST.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Dale Coyne Racing gives Enerson IndyCar debut at Mid-Ohio.

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125469

[Yannick]

The DW 12 races pretty well around this track, so I'll try to find a time window to watch this.

[canamman]

Here is the schedule for Mid Ohio.
Times are EST(Eastern).
Support races streamed live at website
as most of you know.
http://digbza2f4g9qo.cloudfront.net/...0160722T094926

[Purist]

Already down into the 1:03s for Practice 3. So, maybe they'll notch up a lap in Qualifying faster than what we saw on the Indy Road Course.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I don't think I'll be able to watch the race live or most of it live but I see on the IndyCar website, NBCSN have an Encore Presentation at 5:30pm ET. I don't know if this is the entire race or extended highlights?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying results:

Simon Pagenaud is back on Pole, breaking the lap record in the process and RH-R's fortunes seemed to have changed for the better. Just wonder if he can get a decent result tomorrow? I wasn't expecting to see Bourdais down in 16th.

1 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m03.8700s
2 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m03.9381s, 0.0681s
3 Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.1200s, 0.2500s
4 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.3265s, 0.4565s
5 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.3644s, 0.4944s
6 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.4697s, 0.5997s
7 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.4300s
8 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.5141s
9 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.5796s
10 Mikhail Aleshin, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.6084s
11 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.6554s
12 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.8082s
13 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.7752s
14 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.5885s
15 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.8621s
16 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m04.5967s
17 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m05.0196s
18 R.C. Enerson, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.6576s
19 Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m05.1891s
20 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m04.8354s
21 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m05.1997s
22 Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m05.1098s

[canamman]

Lap #63 caution got kinda crowded
in the pits. Pit crews need to do a better
job of releasing .

[canamman]

That was a great round! That's how open wheel is meant to be raced.