After the smooth track of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indycars took to one of their toughest and bumpiest tracks of the season. And What's better than a double header.
The Detroit race weekend was as fun to watch, as always. Strategy played a key role, and even though there was no significant rain this race had plenty of action.
Race 1 on Saturday started out with the clouds looming above, and the rain waiting to interrupt the race. The green flag dropped on pole sitter Simon Pagenaud, who led the field through a safe turn 1. Pagenaud began to pull away after the early round of pit stops on lap 3. Pagenaud managed to stretch his fuel to lap 23 before pitting. Second in points, Scott Dixon had fueling problems after his first stop, and he later on had a gearbox issue. Dixon finished a very disappointing 19th. As the mid-way point in the race passed by, the Penske cars ran 1-2-3-4. A Penske sweep seemed imminent. Unfortunately, a little while later, Will Power lost a wheel on the track and was stuck on the run-off area for the rest of his race. Just as in Indianapolis six days earlier, the race came down to fuel strategy. As the last laps neared, the leaders pitted and Sebastien Bourdais and Conor Daly stretched their fuel to finish one, two. It was Conor Daly's best career Indycar finish, and Bourdais' second consecutive win in Detroit.
The Detroit race weekend was as fun to watch, as always. Strategy played a key role, and even though there was no significant rain this race had plenty of action.
Race 1 on Saturday started out with the clouds looming above, and the rain waiting to interrupt the race. The green flag dropped on pole sitter Simon Pagenaud, who led the field through a safe turn 1. Pagenaud began to pull away after the early round of pit stops on lap 3. Pagenaud managed to stretch his fuel to lap 23 before pitting. Second in points, Scott Dixon had fueling problems after his first stop, and he later on had a gearbox issue. Dixon finished a very disappointing 19th. As the mid-way point in the race passed by, the Penske cars ran 1-2-3-4. A Penske sweep seemed imminent. Unfortunately, a little while later, Will Power lost a wheel on the track and was stuck on the run-off area for the rest of his race. Just as in Indianapolis six days earlier, the race came down to fuel strategy. As the last laps neared, the leaders pitted and Sebastien Bourdais and Conor Daly stretched their fuel to finish one, two. It was Conor Daly's best career Indycar finish, and Bourdais' second consecutive win in Detroit.
1. Sebastien Bourdais: His second consecutive win in Detroit.
2. Conor Daly: His best career Indycar finish. Dale Coyne once again strikes using strategy.
3. Juan Montoya: Has the honor of highest finishing Penske, something that has been held by Simon Pagenaud for almost all races of the season
4. Graham Rahal: Still holds the top spot in the Tag standings, for number of positions improved during races.
5. Helio Castroneves: Still looks to get his first win in over two years.
6. Carlos Munoz: Looks towards his second career Indycar win.
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His best finish in Detroit since 2013 Race 1
8. Charlie Kimball: Highest finishing Ganassi car
9. Tony Kanaan: His sixth Top Ten in seven races
10. Alexander Rossi: Has a firm grasp on the Indycar rookie of the year title.
Different Teams: 6 (KV, Coyne, Penske, RLL, Andretti, Ganassi)
Different Countries: 4 (France, USA, Colombia, Brazil, )
FUN FACTS
Average Speed: 97.857 mph
Time: 01:40:51
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers
Best Lap: 113.302 mph by Juan Montoya
Best Lead Lap: 113.040 mph by Conor Daly
Most Improved: Conor Daly improved 14 positions
No comments:
Post a Comment