GoPro Indy Grand Prix - Sonoma *spoilers*

[HDT05]

GoPro Indy Grand Prix - Sonoma

2012 IndyCar Series Championship Standings

POSITION DRIVER TEAM POINTS
1 Will Power Team Penske 379
2 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 374
3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 353
4 Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing 351
5 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport 316
6 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Hamilton Motorsports 311
7 Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology 307
8 Dario Franchitti Target Chip Ganassi Racing 271
9 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 267
10 Graham Rahal Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing 256
11 Oriol Servia Lotus Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 237
12 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing 234
13 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 233
= JR Hidebrand Panther Racing 233
15 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 227
16 Charlie Kimbell Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing 216
17 Rubens Barrichello KV Racing Technology 215
18 Alex Tagliani Team Barracuda - BHA 214
19 Mike Conway A. J. Foyt Enterprises 203
20 EJ Viso KV Racing Technology 198
21 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing 187
22 James Jakes Dale Coyne Racing 184
23 Josef Newgarden Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing 174
24 Sebastien Bourdais Lotus Dragon Racing 149
25 Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing 147
26 Katherine Legge Lotus Dragon Racing 103
27 Ana Beatriz Andretti Autosport 28
28 Townsend Bell Sam Schmidt Motorsports 26
29 Michel Jourdain Jr. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 16
= Giorgio Pantano Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing 16
31 Sebastian Saavedra Andretti Autosport 14
32 Bryan Clauson Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing 13
= Jean Alesi Fan Force United 13
= Wade Cunningham AJ Foyt Racing 13

www.crash.net/indycar/championship_tables/content.html

[HDT05]

Sonoma: Practice 1 times

Will Power proved that the latest changes and revisions to Sonoma Raceway weren't keeping him away from the top of the timesheets, after setting the best lap of the day with a time of 1:18.6887s (109.114mph).

That was less than two tenths of a second faster than his Penske team mate Ryan Briscoe on the 12-turn, 2.31-mile permanent road course. Last year, Penske pulled off a 1-2-3 lockout in both qualifying and the race itself, although this year Helio Castroneves opened his account with a somewhat off-the-pace 16th, 1.2733s off Power's best lap.

The only major incident was a red flag for Charlie Kimball running off and hitting the wall at turn 3, which meant that he was sidelined for the remainder of the session and ran only 5 laps after having to miss the previous event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a hand injury.

Practice 1 times

1. #12 Will Power (C) 109.114mph 1m 18.6887s (21 laps)
2. #2 Ryan Briscoe (C) 108.851mph 1m 18.8782s + 0.1895s (22 laps)
3. #77 Simon Pagenaud (H) 108.790mph 1m 18.9228s + 0.2341s (26 laps)
4. #10 Dario Franchitti (H) 108.629mph 1m 19.0394s + 0.3507s (18 laps)
5. #8 Rubens Barrichello (C) 108.134mph 1m 19.4015s + 0.7128s (25 laps)
6. #7 Sebastien Bourdais (C) 108.113mph 1m 19.4172s + 0.7285s (26 laps)
7. #9 Scott Dixon (H) 108.066mph 1m 19.4518s + 0.7631s (17 laps)
8. #38 Graham Rahal (H) 107.875mph 1m 19.5923s + 0.9036s (25 laps)
9. #26 Marco Andretti (C) 107.828mph 1m 19.6270s + 0.9383s (18 laps)
10. #17 Sebastian Saavedra (C) 107.810mph 1m 19.6402s + 0.9515s (20 laps)
11. #22 Oriol Servia (C) 107.779mph 1m 19.6631s + 0.9744s (22 laps)
12. #18 Justin Wilson (H) 107.751mph 1m 19.6840s + 0.9953s (23 laps)
13. #11 Tony Kanaan (C) 107.742mph 1m 19.6903s + 1.0016s (23 laps)
14. #4 JR Hildebrand (C) 107.464mph 1m 19.8968s + 1.2081s (16 laps)
15. #19 James Jakes (H) 107.380mph 1m 19.9588s + 1.2701s (24 laps)
16. #3 Helio Castroneves (C) 107.376mph 1m 19.9620s + 1.2733s (17 laps)
17. #98 Alex Tagliani (H) 107.336mph 1m 19.9917s + 1.3030s (21 laps)
18. #67 Josef Newgarden (H) 107.067mph 1m 20.1930s + 1.5043s (22 laps)
19. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay (C) 107.049mph 1m 20.2063s + 1.5176s (16 laps)
20. #27 James Hinchcliffe (C) 106.835mph 1m 20.3667s + 1.6780s (18 laps)
21. #14 Mike Conway (H) 106.729mph 1m 20.4466s + 1.7579s (19 laps)
22. #5 EJ Viso (C) 106.448mph 1m 20.6589s + 1.9702s (18 laps)
23. #15 Takuma Sato (H) 106.144mph 1m 20.8900s + 2.2013s (19 laps)
24. #78 Simona de Silvestro (L) 106.081mph 1m 20.9382s + 2.2495s (24 laps)
25. #83 Charlie Kimball (H) 105.960mph 1m 21.0304s + 2.3417s (5 laps)
26. #6 Katherine Legge (C) 105.755mph 1m 21.1876s + 2.4989s (23 laps)
27. #20 Ed Carpenter (C) 105.462mph 1m 21.4132s + 2.7245s (23 laps)

www.crash.net/indycar/results/183141/1/sonoma_practice_1_times.html

[HDT05]

Provisional starting grid

1. #12 Will Power Penske (C)
2. #2 Ryan Briscoe Penske (C)
3. #7 Sebastien Bourdais Dragon (C)
4. #3 Helio Castroneves Penske (C)
5. #9 Scott Dixon Ganassi (H)
6. #10 Dario Franchitti Ganassi (H)
7. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti (C)
8. #98 Alex Tagliani Bryan Herta (H)
9. #77 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt (H)
10. #27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti (C)
11. #8 Rubens Barrichello KVR (C)
12. #26 Marco Andretti Andretti (C)
13. #38 Graham Rahal Ganassi (H)
14. #14 Mike Conway AJ Foyt (H)
15. #4 JR Hildebrand Panther (C)
16. #11 Tony Kanaan KVR (C)
17. #5 EJ Viso KVR (C)
18. #22 Oriol Servià Panther/DRR (C)
19. #6 Katherine Legge Dragon (C)
20. #18 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne (H) *
21. #83 Charlie Kimball Ganassi (H)
22. #67 Josef Newgarden SFHR (H)
23. #17 Sebastian Saavedra Andretti (C) *
24. #19 James Jakes Dale Coyne (H)
25. #20 Ed Carpenter ECR (C)
26. #15 Takuma Sato Rahal (H) *
27. #78 Simona de Silvestro HVM (L) *

* denotes ten place grid penalty for engine changes
All times and provisional starting grid are unofficial

www.crash.net/indycar/results/183202/1/sonoma_qualifying_times.html
Going to be a good race. Go Briscoe, he needs a win.

[HDT05]

IndyCar »

Sonoma: Race results

Will Power looked certain to claim another win in the Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma, but after leading 57 of the 85 laps he was caught out by a sluggish pit stop at a crucial point of the race which included a yellow flag coming out for a violent accident involving Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden on lap 65.

Power's Penske team mate Ryan Briscoe took best advantage of the situation and jumped from second place to lead at the restart on lap 74. Suffering from some minor problems with his engine and his push-to-pass, Power decided a safe finish in second was better than risking all while vying for the win, and he duly focused on coming in ahead of Dario Franchitti and Rubens Barrichello at the chequered flag.

By this point, Power was also safe in the knowledge that his main rivals for the championship were out of the running for strong finishes. Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves had earlier clashed at the new turn 7 hairpin on lap 1, and Dixon's fightback from that early misfortune ended with further front wing damage and a penalty for running over pit lane equipment. Ryan Hunter-Reay was tipped into his own even more costly spin at the same corner on lap 75, while James Hinchcliffe retired on lap 35 with oil pressure issues.

Full race report now available.

Race results

1. #28 Ryan Briscoe (C) Penske 2:07:02.8248s (85 laps)
2. 22 Will Power (C) Penske + 0.4408
3. 20 Dario Franchitti (H) Ganassi + 1.0497
4. 78 Rubens Barrichello (C) KV Racing + 8.8529
5. 14 Graham Rahal (H) Ganassi + 9.4667
6. 17 Helio Castroneves (C) Penske + 11.2575
7. 5 Simon Pagenaud (H) Schmidt + 12.3087
8. 26 JR Hildebrand (C) Panther + 22.8121
9. 27 Alex Tagliani (H) Bryan Herta + 39.6868s
10. 15 Tony Kanaan (C) KV Racing + 1 lap
11. 6 Justin Wilson (H) Dale Coyne + 1 lap
12. 83 James Jakes (H) Dale Coyne + 1 lap
13. 7 Scott Dixon (H) Ganassi + 1 lap
14. 67 Mike Conway (H) AJ Foyt + 1 lap
15. 8 Sebastian Saavedra (C) Andretti + 1 lap
16. 38 EJ Viso (C) KV Racing + 1 lap
17. 3 Simona de Silvestro (L) HVM + 1 lap
18. 2 Ryan Hunter-Reay (C) Andretti + 1 lap
19. 12 Oriol Servia (C) Panther/DRR + 1 lap
20. 10 Ed Carpenter (C) ECR + 1 lap
21. 77 Charlie Kimball (H) Ganassi + 3 laps
22. 18 Sebastien Bourdais (C) Dragon + 22 laps Contact
23. 19 Josef Newgarden (H) SFHR + 23 laps Contact
24. 9 Katherine Legge (C) Dragon + 37 laps Mechanical
25. 4 Marco Andretti (C) Andretti + 39 laps Mechanical
26. 98 James Hinchcliffe (C) Andretti + 50 laps Mechanical
27. 11 Takuma Sato (H) Rahal + 83 laps Off Course

Fastest lap: Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1:19.1848s (108.430mph) on lap 82

www.crash.net/indycar/results/183272/1/sonoma_race_results.html

Great work by Briscoe to win. Gotta feel for Hunter Reay after Tags hit him.

[Bundy]

You beauty!! One, two to the Aussies!!

[mach24]

That Newgarden vs Seb hit was a big one. The way the concrete shifted demonstrated the force of impact.

I'm sure the photographer at the crash scene stained his underwear.