Round 6. Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. May 31 - June 2

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 6. Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. May 31 - June 2

This weekend's race will be the second running of the Detroit Grand Prix at the Renaissance Center, since leaving Belle Isle after 2022.

Last year's race, introduced a new feature to IndyCar and to motorsport in general; the dual pit lane, with some cars pitting to the left and some to the right. The pit lane needs to be 1000 feet long and this video clip explains how the idea for a dual pit lane came about. https://youtu.be/F3x7nH8Jkxo

History
Detroit was originally the venue for the F1 Detroit Grand Prix, held from 1982-1988. It was dropped from the F1 calendar after the 1988 season, when F1's governing body FISA declared the temporary pit area sub standard, as well as the drivers dislike of the event due to track disintegration, which was particularly bad that year.

It was planned to move the F1 Grand Prix to Belle Isle in 1989 but with no agreement finalised, F1 went to Phoenix instead from 1989-1991 and Detroit became a CART event, with the race held on a slightly modified version of the F1 track. The winner of the first race and last race to be held there was Emerson Fittipaldi, driving a Penske PC-18/Chevrolet for Patrick Racing and later a Penske PC-20/Chevrolet for Penske Racing.

In 1992, the event moved to Belle Isle, where it became a perennial fixture on the CART calendar, up to and including 2001, during which time the track was extended from 2.1 mi (3.4 km), to 2.36 mi (3.80 km) in 1998. The inaugural 1992 CART race was won by Bobby Rahal, driving a Lola T92-00/Chevrolet for Rahal/Hogan Racing. The final CART race was won by Hélio Castroneves, driving a Reynard 01i - Honda HR-0 V8t, for Marlboro Team Penske.

The event was revived from 2007-2008, as part of the IRL's IndyCar Series, using the original CART layout but with Turn 8 tightened. The first race was won by Tony Kanaan, driving a Dallara IR-05 -Honda V8, for Andretti-Green Racing. However, the race was cancelled from 2009-2011, due to the downturn in Detroit's automotive industry and the city's economic problems.

It was revived again in 2012 and in 2013 the track held the first in a series of double headers, as well as reverting to the 1998-2001 CART layout, with changes to Turns 3, 7 and The Strand. In 2020 the Detroit Grand Prix was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, returning to the IndyCar calendar in 2021 as a double-header, though in 2022 it was a single race event.

On November 3, 2021, Detroit City Council and Penske Entertainment reached an agreement to move the Detroit Grand Prix back to downtown Detroit and the streets around the Renaissance Center, making the 2022 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix the final race at Belle Isle and ending a 30 year association with AOWR, which began with CART in 1992. It was also a single race event, ending the series of double headers, which had been held since 2013.

The return to the Renaissance Center was due to a number of issues, that had gradually arisen over the years. Primarily it was difficult to access on race weekend, there was not enough space to expand seating and the residents of Detroit did not appreciate the section of the park on which the circuit was on, being shut down for the length of time it took to construct and take down the circuit facilities.

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Track Layout

Original Renaissance Center layout: F1 1982 - 1988 and CART 1989-1991


CART Belle Isle layout: 1992-1997


CART 1998-2000 and IndyCar 2013-2022 Belle Isle layout:


New Renaissance Center layout: 2023 - onwards.


Length: 1.700 Miles (2.736 km)
Turns: 9

Race 100 laps
Distance 170 Miles

Lap record:
Kyle Kirkwood, Saturday, June 3, 2023. 01:01.5305, 96.245 Mph (154.891 km/h)
Andretti Autosport,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6,
NTT IndyCar Series.

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Some Trivia:

Driver with the most wins, 3
Will Power. 2014, 2016, 2022
Hélio Castroneves 2000, 2001, 2014.
Scott Dixon 2012, 2018, 2019

The team with the most wins, 9.
Team Penske: 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2014 Race 1 and 2, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022.

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Last Year's Race.
https://www.indycar.com/news/2023/06...roit-nics-race

Pole:
Álex Palou,
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda H123TT V-6.

Winner:
Álex Palou,
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda H123TT V-6.

Laps: 100
Distance: 164.5 (264.737)
Race Time: 2:01:58.1171
Average Speed: 80.922 mph (130.231 km/h)

Fastest lap:
Kyle Kirkwood - Andretti Autosport.
Lap 69. 61.9410 sec,
95.607 Mph (153.865 Km/h)

Caution periods: 7
Laps: 32

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Practice and Qualifications

Friday, May 31 - Practice 1, 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM ET

Saturday, June 1 - Practice 2, 9:10 AM - 10:05 AM ET

Saturday, June 1 - Qualifications - Round 1, Group 1. 12:15 PM - 12:25 PM ET

Saturday, June 1 - Qualifications - Round , Group 2. 12:40 PM - 12:50 PM ET

Saturday, June 1 - Qualifications - Round 2. 1:05 PM - 1:15 PM ET

Saturday, June 1 - Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6. 1:30 PM - 1:45 PM ET

Race broadcast:
Sunday, June 2.
USA, Peacock, 12:00 PM ET, 4:00 PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 5:00 PM BST