Round 12: Honda Indy Toronto. Exhibition Place, Toronto. July 14-16.

[bjohnsonsmith]

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.

[HighParker]

Prior to the first CART Molson Indy in 1986, at least two similar proposals for street races at the site failed to materialize. In 1977, Labatt, then sponsor of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix, wanted it to moved to Exhibition Place for the 1978 race, before it eventually went to Montreal.


Nine years earlier, after The Toronto Telegram newspaper his family owned had sponsored USAC IndyCar races at Mosport in 1967 and 1968, John F. Bassett wanted the race moved to a street course on the CNE grounds (as it was called at the time).


Before then, short track oval racing (and various other motorsport events such as 'auto polo') had been at the same location sporadically since the early 1900s. Among those who made appearances were Barney Oldfield, Gaston Chevrolet, Ralph DePalma, Lee and Richard Petty. There was weekly racing from 1952 to 1966, and again briefly in 1990.
http://www.wheels.ca/news/speeding-t...o-a-tradition/
http://www.canadianracingarchives.co...0#.WQdCU_nytRY
http://www.canadianracer.com/cne.asp
http://www.canadianracer.com/cne1990.asp

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by HighParker

Prior to the first CART Molson Indy in 1986, at least two similar proposals for street races at the site failed to materialize. In 1977, Labatt, then sponsor of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix, wanted it to moved to Exhibition Place for the 1978 race, before it eventually went to Montreal.


Nine years earlier, after The Toronto Telegram newspaper his family owned had sponsored USAC IndyCar races at Mosport in 1967 and 1968, John F. Bassett wanted the race moved to a street course on the CNE grounds (as it was called at the time).


Before then, short track oval racing (and various other motorsport events such as 'auto polo') had been at the same location sporadically since the early 1900s. Among those who made appearances were Barney Oldfield, Gaston Chevrolet, Ralph DePalma, Lee and Richard Petty. There was weekly racing from 1952 to 1966, and again briefly in 1990.
http://www.wheels.ca/news/speeding-t...o-a-tradition/
http://www.canadianracingarchives.co...0#.WQdCU_nytRY
http://www.canadianracer.com/cne.asp
http://www.canadianracer.com/cne1990.asp

Fascinating stuff. Thanks for the post.

[S griffin]

I wonder how much if any of the proposed tracks use of the current track

[NaBUru38]

Those maps are at Exhibition Place. You can see the Gardiner Expressway, Dufferin Street and Lake Shore Boulevard.

[bjohnsonsmith]

As if it couldn't get worse for Dale Coyne.

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130769

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying:

1 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 58.9124s
2 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 59.2245s
3 Helio Castroneves,Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 59.4345s
4 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 59.5430s 0.6306s
5 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Honda. 59.7970s
6 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.1415s
7 Josef Newgarden, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 59.8992s
8 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.0114s
9 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.1202s
10 Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.1970s
11 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.3384s
12 J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m02.3040s
13 Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 59.7585s
14 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.0607s
15 Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 59.8686s
16 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.0926s
17 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 59.9820s
18 Conor Daly, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m00.2713s
19 Carlos Munoz, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m00.1650s
20 Sebastian Saavedra, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.6272s
21 Esteban Gutierrez, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m00.7441s

[D.R.T.]

Impressive from Rahal. Really finding speed on street courses

[bjohnsonsmith]

A clean start and Castroneves takes the lead but there was a coming together with Dixon and Power between Turns 1 and 2.

Looks like Power's race is run.

First FCY.

[fieldodreams79]

Racing incident between Power and Dixon.

Cracker of a start from Helio!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Dixon gets a drive-thru.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Kanaan into the tyre wall at Turn 1, after pitting and it's the second FCY.

[fieldodreams79]

This will mix things up. Cold tires for TK?

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Dixon gets a drive-thru.

For extra work in pits, to be clear.

Looks like Dixon did move over a bit but Will is actually taking some blame! Kudos to him.

Power did go ahead and make sure Dixon didn't get much further by plowing into him after the initial contact.

[fieldodreams79]

Heck of a move by Rossi on Jones!

[fieldodreams79]

RHR under investigation for move on Simon. Looked like blocking to me, but no action.

Clag buildup is looking bad offline.

Rain looks like it may hold off or arrive on the last laps.

Commercial breaks are relentless.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

RHR under investigation for move on Simon. Looked like blocking to me, but no action.

Clag buildup is looking bad offline.

Rain looks like it may hold off or arrive on the last laps.

Commercial breaks are relentless.

I'm a little surprised no action was taken over R H-R's move.

I got this feed and it's commercial free.

http://www.time4tv.me/2012/11/bt-sport-1.php

[bjohnsonsmith]

Ed Jones has stopped on the escape road on Lake Shore Blvd. but no FCY.

[bjohnsonsmith]

R H-R ran a bit wide and Pagenaud passed him. R H-R looks a bit slow.

[fieldodreams79]

Well done Josef. A little luck with cautions never hurts!

1-2 for American drivers with the Mayor finishing 3rd.

That was a pretty good race. Good battles throughout!

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I'm a little surprised no action was taken over R H-R's move.

I got this feed and it's commercial free.

http://www.time4tv.me/2012/11/bt-sport-1.php

Cheers! I'll have to check that out next time. NBCSN is very convenient on a TV.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Newgarden. Castroneves must be kicking himself.

All in all, I thought that was a pretty good race. It started off well but went rather quiet, after the second FCY but picked up again after the last round of pistops.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Race Result:

Despite, a Chevy powered car winning, 2 Hondas were on the podium and 7 finished in the top 10.

1 Josef Newgarden, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1h35m05.3522s
2 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta. Dallara/Honda. 1.8704s
3 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 4.7020s
4 Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 18.7408s
5 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 19.4274s
6 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 27.3905s
7 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 28.3386s
8 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 28.9415s
9 Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 29.7693s
10 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 30.3369s
11 Sebastian Saavedra, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 32.7668s
12 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 36.4821s
13 J.R. Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 52.8910s
14 Esteban Gutierrez, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 53.9858s
15 Carlos Munoz, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Chevrolet 57.2777s
16 Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 1m01.8457s
17 Conor Daly, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1m02.3752s
18 Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1 Lap
19 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Honda. 2 Laps
20 Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. Mechanical
21 Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. Contact

[NaBUru38]

Interesting race, although the mid-window yellow destroyed the race of several drivers.

[JHamilton]

Yes, it was a bit of a strange race but I enjoyed it. There was some passing mid-pack that was exciting and thought we had a minimal amount of incidents.

[HighParker]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I wonder how much if any of the proposed tracks use of the current track

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Those maps are at Exhibition Place. You can see the Gardiner Expressway, Dufferin Street and Lake Shore Boulevard.

They all had the same basic idea of using Lake Shore Boulevard as the longest straight, and roads within Exhibition Place for the rest of the course. The earlier two proposals both planned to use Newfoundland Road to connect Lake Shore Boulevard to Princes' Boulevard, while the track today and since 1986 joins them slightly further to the east at the present Turn One near the Princes' Gates.
Another part of Princes' Boulevard, between what is now Turn 5 and 6, was also common to all three proposed layouts, although they may not have all had the cars going in the same direction.

Both of the earlier proposals would have used more of Lake Shore Boulevard to the west of the present Turn 3. I remember reading somewhere that when the course for the 1986 race was being planned, someone from CART suggested the present Turn 3 because they thought continuing the straight to the west where the cars would reach a blind bend at very high speed would be too dangerous.

Some of the streets shown on the 1960s and 1970s maps have changed over the years when old buildings were demolished and new ones built, but some of them are still recognizable. It also appears that some of the roads on the 1960s map have different names, like Dundonald Road for Prince Edward Island Crescent, and Aberdeen for Ontario Drive in the vicinity of the current Turn 3 and 4.