Report 2010 Honda Indy Edmonton

1 report

1.1 background
1.2 practice , qualifying
1.3 race
1.4 post-race

report
background

edmonton city centre airport, race held.

the honda indy edmonton confirmed part of indy racing league s (irl) 2010 schedule indycar series in december 2009 after edmonton city council voted keep race on calendar despite incurring losses of $9.2 million on previous 2 seasons. third consecutive year race held in series, , sixth edmonton indy counting period 2005 2007 when champ car world series (ccws) event. second consecutive round held in canada, following honda indy toronto previous week. tire supplier firestone brought 3 types tire race: 2 dry compounds (black-sidewall primary , red-banded alternate ) , grooved rain tires.

prior race, team penske driver power points leader 377 points, primary championship rival dario franchitti 42 behind in second , scott dixon third. ryan briscoe fourth on 292 points, , ryan hunter-reay sixth points adrift in fifth position. having dominated previous running of indy edmonton, power felt repeat success , believed competitive in qualifying session , tough in race. 7 races remaining in season after race (two on road courses , 4 on oval tracks), franchitti said wanted championship battle after retired gearbox problem in iowa corn indy 250 , hoped perform in edmonton.

practice , qualifying

will power had sixth pole position of 2010 season.

two practice sessions held on friday before race: each lasted hour. third session, hour long, took place on saturday morning prior qualifying. franchitti fastest in first practice session time of 1 minute , 3.0885 seconds; dixon second , power third. hélio castroneves fourth-fastest, ahead of justin wilson , paul tracy. ryan briscoe, ryan hunter-reay, e. j. viso , takuma sato rounded out session s top-ten drivers. session stopped twice: firstly milka duno lost control of car , went turn ten tire barrier damaging front wing, , bertrand baguette spun after hitting chicane kerb caused him drive through advertising billboard. in second practice session, power set fastest time of day lap of 1 minute , 1.6689 seconds, teammates briscoe in second , castroneves third. franchitti recorded fourth-quickest time; sato fifth , dixon sixth. wilson, viso, tracy , tony kanaan followed in top ten. 3 caution flags came out; baugette crashed, duno stalled after spun , tomas scheckter slid tire barrier.

in final practice session, castroneves recorded fastest time lap of 1 minute , 1.6642 seconds, ahead of team penske teammates power , briscoe. hideki mutoh recorded fourth-fastest time; dixon fifth , tracy sixth. wilson seventh-fastest, kannan eighth, marco andretti ninth , sato completed top ten ahead of qualifying. several drivers had high-speed spins without damaging cars triggered caution flags displayed. stoppage caused when tracy , alex tagilani both spun in first turn; former narrowly avoided collision baugette exiting pit lane.

qualifying followed usual road , street course system, field being split 2 groups. cars split 2 groups of twelve, fastest 6 each group going through top 12 session. in session, fastest 6 runners progressed firestone fast 6 . fastest driver in final session claimed pole position, rest of runners lining in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (fast 6 1 six, top 12 seven-twelve , round 1 13–24, group 1 drivers occupying odd-numbered grid positions, , group 2 drivers occupying even-numbered starting positions). duno prohibited participating in qualifying because practice lap times did not meet required performance standards allowed start race. in first group of twelve runners, power paced session, three-tenths of second faster teammate briscoe castroneves in third place. other drivers make second session of qualifying franchitti, wilson , raphael matos. remaining twelve drivers took part in second group, simona de silvestro recording fastest lap of day. hunter-reay, dixon, viso, mutoh , scheckter other competitors in top six, , progressed second round of qualifying. in top 12, power set fastest lap time, holding off teammate castroneves , dixon. briscoe, franchitti , viso finished between fourth , sixth, , other half of drivers progressed fast six. power clinched sixth pole position of season time of 1 minute , 00.7126 seconds. joined on grid s front row teammate castroneves had pole position until power s lap. chip ganassi racing teammates dixon , franchitti third , fourth, , briscoe took fifth ahead of viso.

race

the drivers took track @ 10:00 (utc−6) 30-minute warm-up session. power maintained performance, setting time of 1 minute , 1.8397 seconds. dixon second-fastest driver. power s team penske teammates castroneves , briscoe rounded out top four.

the race began @ 4:00 p.m. local time, , televised live in united states on versus. weather conditions @ start of race sunny , mild air temperature between 76–78 °f (24–26 °c) , track temperature ranged between 102–111 °f (39–44 °c). power maintained pole position advantage heading first turn. duno spun off track @ start no caution needed. de silvestro passed viso sixth place on same lap. @ end of first lap, power led castroneves, dixon, franchitti, briscoe, de silvestro, viso, hunter-reay, wilson , matos rounding out top ten. top 5 drivers began pull away rest of field. on lap two, tracy made contact matos rear-end in turn 2 sent spinning infield grass , matos drove cautiously pit lane flat left-rear tire. scheckter s front wing damaged on lap 10 made pit stop replacement nose cone. after starting fifteenth, tracy drove aggressively , moved tenth position 20th lap.

scott dixon (pictured in 2011) won race after hélio castroneves demoted blocking power.

briscoe passed chip ganassi racing drivers after held slower cars move second place on lap 29. green-flag pit stops began 4 laps later. wilson spun @ end of backstretch while braking turn ten on 36th lap after right-rear shock absorber failed , drove pit box repair damage vehicle. danica patrick attempted pass baugette around inside on lap 39, lost control of car , ran wide infield grass section , rejoined track in 17th without damaging suspension. andretti s front wing came apart on lap 46 while holding 4 cars, , scheckter ran wide 4 cars passed andretti. first full course caution of event necessitated on following lap when alex lloyd spun grass , stalled engine. andretti made pit stop replacement front wing during caution. racing resumed @ start of lap 51 power leading castroneves, briscoe , dixon. shortly afterward, de silvestro hit behind viso overheated brakes, , went turn 1 tyre barrier, causing second caution. viso avoided making contact teammate tracy (who took avoiding action) on same lap.

viso issued drive-through penalty , rejoined in tenth position. race resumed on lap 54 power retaining lead. race s third caution issued shortly after restart when kanaan made light contact side of tagilani spun. mario romancini blinded smoke came incident , hit tagilani attempting regain control of car. both cars sustained heavy damage , retired kanaan able continue without apparent damage. power led field speed @ lap-58 restart. briscoe fell behind 2 chip ganassi racing drivers, while tracy moved in front of hunter-reay sixth place. second (and final) round of green-flag pit stops started on 63rd lap; tracy , hunter-reay made pit stops on next 5 laps in hope caution flag shown allow pair lead race. after pit stops, power remained in first position, , had alternate tires fitted on car. ahead of castroneves , dixon.

on 77th lap, power , teammate castroneves (on primary tires) encountered slower cars, , latter took advantage of situation allowed him overtake power lead. castroneves began pull away power. ten laps later, de silvestro s car ran out of fuel , pulled on side of track onto infield grass retire race prompted fourth (and final) caution. racing resumed when pace car drove pit lane @ start of lap 92. power went onto outside lane @ entrance of first turn, , castroneves drove left blocking manoeuvre. castroneves accelerated out of corner s exit caused power run wide. dixon took advantage of situation , passed power around outside take on second place. move reviewed indycar chief steward , competition president brian barnhart, led castroneves being shown black-flag 1 minute later deemed having blocked power. castroneves informed issued drive-through penalty. opted remain on track final 2 laps , crossed start-finish line first on road.

because castroneves had not taken penalty, victory awarded dixon, power in second , franchitti third. briscoe fourth, , hunter-reay held off tracy claim fifth. moraes, viso , sato finished in positions 7 nine, while castroneves demoted tenth. there 4 cautions , 4 lead changes among 3 different drivers during race. dixon s second win of season, , twenty-third of career.

post-race

hélio castroneves demoted tenth after judged have blocked power.

castroneves upset penalty , leapt car , yelled in anger @ flagman (looking explanation) , grabbed head of security charles burns sought answer. argued did not change line: gave him room outside. when go side side teammate , guy [barnhart] has swept ... literally, literally takes away ... s absurd. castroneves fined $60,000 irl unsportsmanlike conduct , placed on probation rest of season. later revealed indycar ceo randy bernard series considered suspending castroneves chose not because of popularity fanbase. castroneves later apologized actions still did not agree penalty. comparisons made between castroneves block , brazilian s manoeuvre against wilson in 2008 detroit indy grand prix. gordon kirby of motor sport magazine opined castroneves move fair , sportmanslike , noted several fans saw good, hard racing .

dixon said of victory: s not way want win sure. when win, want win being faster or putting pass on someone. way our season going, ll taking @ moment. second-place finisher power said still finish him in terms of scoring points. tony cotman, circuit s design consultant, announced in february 2011 track improved , lengthened year. stated layout of track moved to.the eastern runway of city centre airport in attempt create more excitement. result of alterations additional 0.3 miles (0.48 km) of track, creating 2.2-mile (3.5 km) circuit. second-place finish, power extended points lead in standings 50 on franchitti , 71 ahead of dixon. briscoe , hunter-reay retained fourth , fifth positions.