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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Toronto Preview
Based on Toronto’s Turn 3—the Bermuda Triangle of auto racing where common sense and talent mysteriously disappear--contact could rule the day.
One car backwards, another flipped up against the fence on two wheels...about normal for Toronto's Turn 3. (Photo: LAT)
Round 10 of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship kicks off on Friday as 25 cars practice for Sunday’s 85-lap Honda Indy Toronto event.
Circuit: Toronto, 1.75-mile, 11-turn street course located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Entry List: Click Here
Event Schedule: Click Here
Live Timing & Scoring: Click Here
Social: Follow @marshallpruett, @hondaindy and @indycar for updates.
Television: Daily trackside updates on SPEED Center, race broadcast Sunday, July 8th, 1 p.m. ET, ABC.
2011 Race Winner: Dario Franchitti
2011 Pole Winner: Will Power, 59.35 seconds
In terms of watershed moments, the 2011 Toronto IndyCar race is right at the top of the list for the series.
It set off a string of events that, either directly or indirectly, led to Brian Barnhart’s ouster as Race Director, produced the lowest driving standards anyone could remember across decades of Indy car competition, and ignited a war of words between Dario Franchitti and Will Power that some are still trying to keep alight.
Plenty of changes would soon come from the foundation that was established at Toronto, with Beaux Barfield taking over in Race Control and a greater level of respect being shared among drivers in 2013. Franchitti and Power have even developed a light friendship and talk regularly at the track, but if there’s one track that’s tailor-made to unravel the progress and civility that’s been on display this year, it’s the little clockwise jewel that threads its way around Exhibition Place.
Sure, the organizers can call it by its formal name, the “Honda Indy Toronto,” but I’ll continue referring to it by what it really is, the “Toronto S*** Hits The Fan Grand Prix.”
The 11-turn, 1.75-mile circuit offers IndyCar fans an annual opportunity to watch a legal, 85-lap-long mugging on the streets of Toronto, and if history is anything to go by, next Monday, could be a PR nightmare and blessing for the series.
Based on how things go down at Toronto’s Turn 3—the Bermuda Triangle of auto racing where common sense and talent mysteriously disappear--contact could rule the day.
For those keeping score at home, Tony Kanaan was the first driver taken out last year when Ryan Briscoe hit him from behind in Turn 3, sending the Brazilian into the wall. In no particular order, Toronto 2011 also featured a crash involving Paul Tracy and James Hinchcliffe, Franchitti and Power coming together, Alex Tagliani launching Power--ending the Aussie’s race on the spot, Ryan Hunter-Reay spinning Graham Rahal out of a third-place finish, Ana Beatriz crashing Sebastian Saavedra out of the race, Tracy locking up and sending Vitor Meira into the wall, Rahal trying to avoid the Tracy/Meira incident, only to spin teammate Charlie Kimball after locking up his brakes, Helio Castroneves spinning Tagliani, Danica Patrick hitting James Jakes followed by understeering into and flipping Tagliani up on two wheels, Patrick getting nerfed into the wall by Takuma Sato, Mike Conway spinning Briscoe, and with a target firmly affixed to his back, Sato spinning Briscoe once more for good measure.
OK, take a breather because we’re not done yet. Most of the contact mentioned above took place in Turn 3, but the biggest one of all—the grand finale—belongs to Marco Andretti in Turn 1.
The Lap 76 restart saw Andretti, filled with more optimism than depth perception (or the ability to judge closing rates) barrel down the inside of the pack as everyone climbed on the binders for the sharp right turn ahead. In true bowling ball fashion, Andretti locked up, hit Oriol Servia and sent the Spaniard flying into Justin Wilson. With Servia and Wilson blocking the track, Hinchcliffe, Kimball and Conway all managed to hit each other while trying to slow down and avoid Servia and Wilson. Conway and Kimball were finished, while the rest were able to continue.
And what did one ill-conceived pass and five victims get Andretti? No penalty and a fourth-place finish.
When it was finally, mercifully over, Franchitti won the 30th race of his Indy car career. On the way to that victory, a staggering 8 cautions for 32 laps were recorded. That’s almost 40 percent of the dang race.
After the race, Kanaan, one of the leaders of the informal IndyCar driver’s association, managed to sum up the day, call out the men in charge, discount the need for a post-race meeting among the drivers and admonish the majority of the field in one paragraph.
Circuit: Toronto, 1.75-mile, 11-turn street course located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Entry List: Click Here
Event Schedule: Click Here
Live Timing & Scoring: Click Here
Social: Follow @marshallpruett, @hondaindy and @indycar for updates.
Television: Daily trackside updates on SPEED Center, race broadcast Sunday, July 8th, 1 p.m. ET, ABC.
2011 Race Winner: Dario Franchitti
2011 Pole Winner: Will Power, 59.35 seconds
In terms of watershed moments, the 2011 Toronto IndyCar race is right at the top of the list for the series.
It set off a string of events that, either directly or indirectly, led to Brian Barnhart’s ouster as Race Director, produced the lowest driving standards anyone could remember across decades of Indy car competition, and ignited a war of words between Dario Franchitti and Will Power that some are still trying to keep alight.
Plenty of changes would soon come from the foundation that was established at Toronto, with Beaux Barfield taking over in Race Control and a greater level of respect being shared among drivers in 2013. Franchitti and Power have even developed a light friendship and talk regularly at the track, but if there’s one track that’s tailor-made to unravel the progress and civility that’s been on display this year, it’s the little clockwise jewel that threads its way around Exhibition Place.
Sure, the organizers can call it by its formal name, the “Honda Indy Toronto,” but I’ll continue referring to it by what it really is, the “Toronto S*** Hits The Fan Grand Prix.”
The 11-turn, 1.75-mile circuit offers IndyCar fans an annual opportunity to watch a legal, 85-lap-long mugging on the streets of Toronto, and if history is anything to go by, next Monday, could be a PR nightmare and blessing for the series.
Based on how things go down at Toronto’s Turn 3—the Bermuda Triangle of auto racing where common sense and talent mysteriously disappear--contact could rule the day.
For those keeping score at home, Tony Kanaan was the first driver taken out last year when Ryan Briscoe hit him from behind in Turn 3, sending the Brazilian into the wall. In no particular order, Toronto 2011 also featured a crash involving Paul Tracy and James Hinchcliffe, Franchitti and Power coming together, Alex Tagliani launching Power--ending the Aussie’s race on the spot, Ryan Hunter-Reay spinning Graham Rahal out of a third-place finish, Ana Beatriz crashing Sebastian Saavedra out of the race, Tracy locking up and sending Vitor Meira into the wall, Rahal trying to avoid the Tracy/Meira incident, only to spin teammate Charlie Kimball after locking up his brakes, Helio Castroneves spinning Tagliani, Danica Patrick hitting James Jakes followed by understeering into and flipping Tagliani up on two wheels, Patrick getting nerfed into the wall by Takuma Sato, Mike Conway spinning Briscoe, and with a target firmly affixed to his back, Sato spinning Briscoe once more for good measure.
OK, take a breather because we’re not done yet. Most of the contact mentioned above took place in Turn 3, but the biggest one of all—the grand finale—belongs to Marco Andretti in Turn 1.
The Lap 76 restart saw Andretti, filled with more optimism than depth perception (or the ability to judge closing rates) barrel down the inside of the pack as everyone climbed on the binders for the sharp right turn ahead. In true bowling ball fashion, Andretti locked up, hit Oriol Servia and sent the Spaniard flying into Justin Wilson. With Servia and Wilson blocking the track, Hinchcliffe, Kimball and Conway all managed to hit each other while trying to slow down and avoid Servia and Wilson. Conway and Kimball were finished, while the rest were able to continue.
And what did one ill-conceived pass and five victims get Andretti? No penalty and a fourth-place finish.
When it was finally, mercifully over, Franchitti won the 30th race of his Indy car career. On the way to that victory, a staggering 8 cautions for 32 laps were recorded. That’s almost 40 percent of the dang race.
After the race, Kanaan, one of the leaders of the informal IndyCar driver’s association, managed to sum up the day, call out the men in charge, discount the need for a post-race meeting among the drivers and admonish the majority of the field in one paragraph.
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