Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is best known to the Indycar nation for its high speeds and many turns. As Indycars took to the track that so many call Scott Dixon's playground, Graham Rahal looked to defend his 2015 win there.
As the green flag dropped, Simon Pagenaud, the pole sitter, led the field through the first corner for the sixth time this year. He took the early lead as he and teammate Will Power pulled away from the field. Around lap ten, strategy calls were made as teams decided to gamble and come to the pits early. After pit stops, top contender Scott Dixon had contact with the #3 of Helio Castroneves, and Dixon's day was over. At the restart, Josef Newgarden got clipped from behind and lost a rear bumper pod (sounds familiar). He had to come into the pits, and lost a lap, but battled the leader and got back onto the lead lap around halfway through the race. As strategy started to play out, Mikhail Aleshin took the lead and was driving away from the field. Rookies Conor Daly, RC Enerson and Spencer Pigot all spent time near the front of the pack.
As the end of the race neared, Mikhail Aleshin's team sent him out of his pit box and into Josef Newgarden, thus ending Aleshin's hopes at his first Indycar win.
Simon Pagenaud regained the lead, and teammate Will Power put up a fight, but at the end, Pagenaud took his 4th win of the season.
As the green flag dropped, Simon Pagenaud, the pole sitter, led the field through the first corner for the sixth time this year. He took the early lead as he and teammate Will Power pulled away from the field. Around lap ten, strategy calls were made as teams decided to gamble and come to the pits early. After pit stops, top contender Scott Dixon had contact with the #3 of Helio Castroneves, and Dixon's day was over. At the restart, Josef Newgarden got clipped from behind and lost a rear bumper pod (sounds familiar). He had to come into the pits, and lost a lap, but battled the leader and got back onto the lead lap around halfway through the race. As strategy started to play out, Mikhail Aleshin took the lead and was driving away from the field. Rookies Conor Daly, RC Enerson and Spencer Pigot all spent time near the front of the pack.
As the end of the race neared, Mikhail Aleshin's team sent him out of his pit box and into Josef Newgarden, thus ending Aleshin's hopes at his first Indycar win.
Simon Pagenaud regained the lead, and teammate Will Power put up a fight, but at the end, Pagenaud took his 4th win of the season.
Top Ten
1. Simon Pagenaud: Back on top for his fourth win of the season.
2. Will Power: Has not finished lower than second in the past five races!
3. Carlos Munoz: A great run all day for his second podium of the season.
4. Graham Rahal: Another strong finish at his home track.
5. James Hinchcliffe: His seventh Top Ten in 12 races this season.
5. James Hinchcliffe: His seventh Top Ten in 12 races this season.
6. Conor Daly: Led 22 laps for a total of 56 laps led this season.
7. Spencer Pigot: The best finish of his young Indycar career.
8. Charlie Kimball: Ran strong after starting fifth. His 8th Top Ten this season.
8. Charlie Kimball: Ran strong after starting fifth. His 8th Top Ten this season.
9. Takuma Sato: A great run till a incident with Bourdais took them both out of the Top Five.
Sorry @TakumaSatoRacer . I just got too close and locked up behind, my bad...
Sorry @TakumaSatoRacer . I just got too close and locked up behind, my bad...
— Sébastien Bourdais (@BourdaisOnTrack) July 31, 201610. Josef Newgarden: A great run to finish tenth after two incidents that were not his fault, had him fighting from the back all day.
Different Teams: 8 ( Penske, Andretti Autosport, Rahal-Letterman, Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, ECR, Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Different Countries: 7 (France, Australia, Brazil, USA (5), Canada, Japan)
FUN FACTS
Average Speed: 110.853 mph
Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes
2 Cautions for 10 Laps
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers (Mikhail Aleshin, Pagenaud, Daly, Montoya, Power)
2 Cautions for 10 Laps
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers (Mikhail Aleshin, Pagenaud, Daly, Montoya, Power)
Best Lap: 105.728 mph by Helio Castroneves
THOUGHTS:
RC Enerson did a fantastic job all weekend in his first Indycar race. The nineteen year old got up to speed quickly in practices and racing strong till he unfortunately ran out of fuel.
Mikhail Aleshin ran a super race and we really hoped to see him win his first Indycar race.
Kudos to Roger Penske for letting his drivers race out on the track and not giving any team orders.
RC Enerson did a fantastic job all weekend in his first Indycar race. The nineteen year old got up to speed quickly in practices and racing strong till he unfortunately ran out of fuel.
Huge shoutout to my teammate @RCEnerson , the dude was fast all weekend and made no mistakes. Should be really proud of that #USA #youngguns— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) August 1, 2016
Mikhail Aleshin ran a super race and we really hoped to see him win his first Indycar race.
Kudos to Roger Penske for letting his drivers race out on the track and not giving any team orders.
No comments:
Post a Comment