Round 5: Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, 12th-14th May.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 5: Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, 12th-14th May.

This year will see the third running of the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

The inaugural race in 2014 featured a standing start, however pole sitter Sebastián Saavedra stalled, as the lights went out and his car got hit by Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin, showering the track with carbon-fibre and forcing a restart. It was decided last year's race would have a conventional rolling start and though several cars did come together at turn one, there was no restart. So will it be third time lucky for a clean start, this year?

The track is a modified layout of the circuit that was previously used for the F1 United States Grand Prix, held from 2000 - 2007 and which is currently used by the MotoGP, Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. The race is run clockwise, the opposite direction to the Indianapolis 500.

Layout:
Motorcycle Course


IndyCar Road Course


2.439 Miles (3.925 Km)

Turns: 14
Lap record: Will Power, May 8, 2015. 1:09.4886, 126.357 Mph (203.35 Km/h). Team Penske, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet, Verizon IndyCar Series.

Last year's winner:
Will Power,
Team Penske,
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet

Laps: 82
Distance: 199.998 Miles (321.85 Km)
Race Time: 1:42:42
Average Speed: 116.842 Mph (188.03 Kmh)

Race broadcast:
ABC. 14 May, 3:30pm EST.

[canamman]

I would like the Honda teams to have a good showing
and carry some momentum from Barber. Try and watch
the Road to Indy series of Indy Lights , Pro Mazda, and
USF2000 as they will stream live all their races at the website.
Should be good fun.

Schedule of events:
http://d1b8ufspcmikd1.cloudfront.net...0160406T162445

[Purist]

I'm thinking it's a misprint, but the material from IndyCar lists the longest straight as 1.15 miles, which would be close to the mark, if they were using Oval Turn 1. However, like I said, I assume that is in error, and that they are still using the more streamlined version of the infield section within Oval Turn 1.

[Purist]

Heavy cloud cover, but no rain, so far, this afternoon.

EDIT: Session done. Dixon quickest at a 1:09.828 (125.743-mph).

[canamman]

Originally Posted by Purist

Heavy cloud cover, but no rain, so far, this afternoon.

EDIT: Session done. Dixon quickest at a 1:09.828 (125.743-mph).

Sounds like you are on site. Thanks for the "live" updates.

[Purist]

I just had the live streaming going earlier. Since they weren't televised, the Series' website was showing video of the practice sessions, along with IMS Radio, and T&S.

As for raceability, they'd do better with the F1 layout than with what they have now. They at least should make the inner radii (the apex curbing) at the three main corners for overtaking more gradual and curved, so two-wide running is possible and the inside line isn't too tight to be viable to make a pass, unless they run the guy on the outside off the road. And I've just never understood having one of these major rovals without using at least one of the oval, banked corners.

Well, hopefully we don't have too many spear jobs or hip checks at Turns 1, 7, and 12 come Saturday.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Purist

I'm thinking it's a misprint, but the material from IndyCar lists the longest straight as 1.15 miles, which would be close to the mark, if they were using Oval Turn 1. However, like I said, I assume that is in error, and that they are still using the more streamlined version of the infield section within Oval Turn 1.

This is one of the problems I have when compiling the race intro, the info even from the series itself, isn't always accurate.

[bjohnsonsmith]

This is the revised starting grid, after Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden's cars were deemed underweight. They now start 24th and 25th respectively. That's a blow for Honda, who initially had 3 cars in the top 6 places. I hope we see a charge from Graham Rahal.

1 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m08.6868s -
2 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m08.9816s 0.2948s
3 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.2260s 0.5392s
4 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.5141s 0.8273s
5 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.2511s -
6 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.2645s -
7 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.4010s -
8 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.4436s -
9 Mikhail Aleshin, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.6771s -
10 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet 1m09.9297s -
11 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.3289s -
12 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.1475s -
13 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.4947s -
14 Matthew Brabham, Team Murray. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.2944s -
15 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.5276s -
16 J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m09.4377s -
17 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.6457s -
18 Spencer Pigot, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.4591s -
19 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.7478s -
20 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.4659s -
21 Alex Tagliani,AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m10.4109s -
22 Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.4795s -
23 Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m09.7720s -
24 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. - -
25 Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. - -

[canamman]

Crap. I hate that for Rahal. I am afraid we will
have a few casualties on lap one. Hoprfully
he can avoid those.

Try and stream the Indy lights race today if you can.
It was wild in R1.

[bjohnsonsmith]

It's not third time lucky, as Bourdais and TK come together on the outside of Turn 1 and we have the first FCY of the race.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Power under pressure from Rossi, goes for an excursion on the grass.

[canamman]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Power under pressure from Rossi, goes for an excursion on the grass.

Power having problems - all year. Here comes Rahal.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Why is there a second FCY, Bourdais' car isn't on any part of the track that they are racing on?

Edit:
Hilderbrand's car also stopped on the track; maybe that's why.

[skells22]

there was a ad banner that had to be fixed therefore that might be the reason for the yellow

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by skells22

there was a ad banner that had to be fixed therefore that might be the reason for the yellow

They did mention that.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Pagenaud on his 3rd win in a row. Superb drives by the Mayor and Graham Rahal and a better result for Honda in general.

[bjohnsonsmith]

[B]Result:

It looks like things are slowly improving for Honda, with 3 cars finishing in the top 6. Still Penske dominate.

1 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1h50m18.5823s
2 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 4.4748s
3 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 5.0807s
4 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 7.0715s
5 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 7.4234s
6 Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 12.1838s
7 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 12.9226s
8 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 13.6912s
9 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 15.1933s
10 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 16.3134s
11 Spencer Pigot, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 20.5172s
12 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 29.6369s
13 Mikhail Aleshin, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 43.3094s
14 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 43.3785s
15 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 44.6339s
16 Matthew Brabham, Team Murray. Dallara/Chevrolet. 45.5107s
17 Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 47.0326s
18 Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 56.3389s
19 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 57.4410s
20 Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m03.7229s
21 Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m08.6234s
22 J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1 Lap
23 Alex Tagliani, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1 Lap
24 Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Mechanical
25 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact

[JHamilton]

The race ended up being pretty nondescript, but it looked like a nice crowd.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

The race ended up being pretty nondescript, but it looked like a nice crowd.

I've seen worse and for racing action, there was more going on than in the Spanish GP.

[racerkeke]

Considering how incredibly cold it was, I was totally blown away by how many folks came out for this race. The ambient temperature was equal to the chilliest Indy 500 ever (51F at start of race, 1992) but a colder wind chill than the 38F the 1992 race featured, due to the 30mph gusty winds.

I have just about warmed up two days later. Thanks to USAC for bringing out hot drinks, and for organizing shuttles to allow the marshals to get into a warm location for 1/2 hour between the Indy Lights race and the main event.
Keke