With the second and third place cars out, Ryan Briscoe’s day only continued to improve. Thanks to smart calls from pit lane and a blazingly fast car, the Aussie returned from last place by the end of lap 1 to second place when the race got back under way on lap 70. Justin Wilson held third as Penske’s will Power passed Patrick into turn 1 to grab fourth.
With two wins from the last four races and an earlier win at Long Beach in April, Dario Franchitti is poised to stretch his championship lead with three road/street course races and the Kentucky oval ahead of him. (LAT)
Kanaan’s race ended with bent suspension on lap 70 while a tough fight took place behind Franchitti. Wilson touched Briscoe at the apex of turn 1 on lap 71, slowing the Watkins Glen race winner. Power got a run on the Z-Line Designs driver, taking the spot at the hairpin. Patrick also tried to sneak by Justin, and the two touched on corner exit with Wilson holding his place in fourth.
Wild overtaking attempts into the hairpin would see Moraes, Viso and Tagliani lock brakes, with Viso nosing into the tires before continuing. Moraes, excited to pass Viso on the inside under braking for the hairpin, managed to hit the right side wall on his own, spear into the back of Viso, shoving the Venezuelan into the outside tires as Mario broke his left front wing. It was one of the less accomplished passing attempts at the turn that claimed (and continued to claim) so many drivers.
The hairpin next had Tagliani appear locked up under braking on the following lap, barreling into an innocent Tomas Scheckter. Moraes would also be touched as the three cars came together. Moraes’ damaged front wing slowed him onto the straight, and further damage to the wings in the crash dropped the Brazilian sophomore down the running order. Tagliani would also suffer broken front wings. Scheckter’s day was done and based on Tomas’ heated emotions, he’d have loved a few minutes alone with Tags after the race.
Briscoe had been inching closer to Franchitti before the crash, cutting his lead from 2.0 seconds to 1.1 in just 2 laps.
The race went green on lap 78 with just fifteen cars left from the 23 starters. Dario got another good jump on Briscoe, finishing lap 78 1.7 seconds ahead of the Penske car. Wilson appeared to struggle for ultimate grip on his Blacks, ceding fourth to Dixon on the outside of the hairpin.
The lead would jump to 2.2 seconds by the end of lap 80 and 2.3 by lap 81 as Franchitti’s teammate Dixon pressured Power for third, Wilson safely held onto fifth ahead of Patrick in sixth who had RHR in her mirrors, followed by Andretti in eighth, Tagliani in ninth and Rafa Matos in tenth. The race would run to the finish in that order.
Franchitti’ managed the gap to Briscoe, easing off slightly with two laps to go, Briscoe finished 1.6 seconds behind to take his third win of the year and reclaim the points lead.
Ganassi’s drivers sit first and second in the points as the series moves east for the Edmonton race next weekend. Franchitti (347), Dixon (345) and Briscoe (334) have broken away in the championship battle after Castroneves suffered a DNF he couldn’t afford. Helio sits fourth in points with 269, just three points ahead of Danica Patrick in fifth.
Franchitti dominated early and late at Toronto as Team Penske turned what could have been a disastrous day into another positive result for two of its three drivers. Scott Dixon never had the last bits of speed the threaten for the lead but added to his points tally and Justin Wilson, surely not happy with a lowly fifth place after the heights of winning last weekend, also paid into Dale Coyne’s points earnings.
Newman/Haas/Lanigan went from top of the heat at the start to bottom of the file with Rahal in 20th and Doornbos in 23rd. Tony Kanaan’s looking for a time machine to go back to any year other than 2009, with his seventeenth place finish another disaster for the 2004 Series champion.
For a few others, the day held great promise but delivered little. Tracy and Tagliani robbed the crowd from possible wins as Moraes burned brightly before burning out and Scheckter led strongly before being taken out.
A few drivers also had anonymous days as Dan Wheldon’s early spin highlighted how a poor start (21st) can lead to contact and never having a chance. Rafa Matos took a plucky tenth, and but for a solid first lap, the Friday practice pacesetter never figured in the race.
Hideki Mutoh was all but invisible at Toronto, even slowing to let the boss’ son pass him at the hairpin with incredible ease. The only thing missing from the pass was Mutoh putting on his right side blinker to indicate where he’d like Marco to pass. He’d finish twelfth.
Mario Moraes would take eleventh after he turned an initially impressive race into a ping-pong match, but not after hitting his sparring partner Viso on the cool down lap. Viso’s car nosed into the barrier causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage for no reason.
Moraes, carrying the petulance that youth and wealth often deliver, blamed Viso for that incident as well. Why Mario needed to pass Viso at speed after the race was over will surely be a topic that gets discussed at the behest of Tony Cotman.
But for the endless parade of crashes into, at the apex of or on the exit of the hairpin, Toronto could have been an interesting race. It certainly won’t go down as a classic and had nothing like the pure racing and spirited driving from Watkins Glen the week before.
This race was won by a driver who’s clearly at his peak as an IndyCar driver, and relishes at going toe-to-toe at any track. Franchitti’s ability to win on the ovals and the road/street courses is well known, but after a year away from IndyCar racing, his reputation and motivation were called into question before the season got underway.
With three poles, two wins on street courses and a win at Iowa, Briscoe and Dixon had better get a hold of him quickly before the series gets through Edmonton, Kentucky, Mid-Ohio and Infineon – four tracks that fit the Scot perfectly.
TORONTO - Results Sunday of the Honda Indy Toronto IndyCar Series event July 12 at the 1.755-mile Streets of Toronto, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (11) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
3. (2) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (8) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
5. (4) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
6. (18) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
7. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
8. (17) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
9. (5) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
10. (9) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
11. (13) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (22) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
13. (16) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
14. (21) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
15. (19) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 82, Running
16. (14) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 74, Contact
17. (20) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 70, Contact
18. (10) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 65, Contact
19. (15) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 65, Contact
20. (3) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 57, Contact
21. (23) Richard Antinucci, Dallara-Honda, 41, Mechanical
22. (6) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 32, Contact
23. (7) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 26, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 86.240 mph
Time of race: 1:43:47.1408
Margin of victory: 1.6745 seconds
Cautions: 5 caution flags for 15 laps
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers
Lap leaders: Franchitti 1-24, Tagliani 25-33, Moraes 34, Scheckter 35-40, Castroneves 41-47, Tagliani 48-59, Castroneves 60-64, Franchitti 65-85.
Point standings: Franchitti 347, Dixon 345, Briscoe 334, Castroneves 269, Patrick 266, Wheldon 240, Andretti 239, Kanaan 227, Wilson 217, Rahal 209.
