Scott Dixon and Ganassi Racing head North of the Border with a win finally in their name in what has been an uncharacteristic season for IndyCar. Dixon led the first 1-2-3 finish for Ganassi Racing ever with Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti in tow. This is the second of three doubleheaders for the Izod IndyCar Series as the Izod IndyCar Series will run two, eighty-five lap races at Exhibition Place.
Standing Starts
For the first time since Long Beach 2013 a standing start will be used in an American open-wheel race. For Saturday's 85 lap race a standing start will be used with strict guidelines. The drivers will get one formation lap. Once the drivers are stopped on the grid the starting sequence will begin with two rows of red lights illuminating. There will be six steps in the illuminating sequence. Once all the lights have turned red there will be a .5 to 3 second delay before all the lights turn green, signaling the beginning of the race.
Should a driver commit a false start, they will be penalized. Should a driver cause an aborted start, they will be moved to the end of the field. Should a standing start be aborted, the race will begin with a rolling start.
Driver Records at Toronto
The streets of Toronto have not be kind to some and with two races this year, it could be a long weekend for some drivers.
Despite winning an Indy Lights races at Toronto in 1997, Helio Castroneves résumé at Exhibition Place is less than impressive. Only two top tens in eight races with six finishes of fifteen or worse.
James Hinchcliffe has had minimal success in his hometown of Toronto. He's finished fourteenth and twenty-second in his two IndyCar starts with two top tens, including one podium balancing with two retirements in his four starts between Atlantics and Indy Lights at Exhibition Place.
Tony Kanaan, just like Castroneves, has only two top tens in eight starts at Toronto with six retirements.
While seeing better success in recent years, Dario Franchitti has had his problems in Toronto. Five of his ten starts have ended early but he has three wins and a second at the track along with four poles.
If you are hoping this is the race Graham Rahal breaks through and picks up a win, you will be disappointed to find out in five starts at Toronto, Rahal has one top five and three retirements.
Fun Facts
No name has won more at Toronto than Andretti. Michael Andretti has seven wins at Toronto with Dario Franchitti's three wins being the next most. Michael Andretti is the only driver to have won back-to-back at Toronto and he did that on three separate occasion, the last being in 2000 and 2001.
A Canadian has not won at Toronto since Paul Tracy did on July 13, 2003. This year race one of the doubleheader will be on July 13, 2013. It is the first American open-wheel race on July 13th since Tracy's win. Tracy is the only Canadian to ever win an American open-wheel race in Canada. Along with his two wins in Toronto, he won three times on the streets of Vancouver. Tracy's other Toronto win came in 1993. Another fact about Tracy's win in 1993 is that he had won his first career race earlier that season at Long Beach and it was his third career victory.
Five times has the pole sitter won in Toronto, the most recent being Dario Franchitti in 2009. Seven times the winner has come from second position and third position, the most recent from second being Will Power in 2010 and most recent from third being Dario Franchitti in 2011. On three occasions the winner at Toronto has started sixth. Ryan Hunter-Reay started sixth last year in a winning effort. The farthest back on the grid a winner has come from was Michael Andretti from thirteenth in 2001.
There will be $100,000 on the line in the Sonax Perfect Finish Award. Should a driver win both races this weekend they will pick up $100,000. If no one sweeps this weekend, the $100,000 will roll over to the doubleheader at Houston where sweeping will be worth $150,000.
The Revolving Doors of Panther Racing and the #18
Ryan Briscoe will be driving the #4 National Guard Chevrolet for Panther Racing for the second consecutive race. He has made four starts with the team with his best finish being thirteenth. Mike Conway will be back behind the wheel of the #18 Dale Coyne Honda this weekend. At Belle Isle, Conway won race one and finished third in race two. Conway will also drive for the team at Houston while Pippa Mann will run the season finale at Fontana. This leaves Mid-Ohio, Sonoma and Baltimore as the only races where the driver of the #18 Honda has yet to be announced.
Road to Indy Jamboree at Toronto
Canadian Matthew Di Leo will be making his second start of the season in Firestone Indy Lights. He finished fifth at Long Beach. Carlos Muñoz retook the points lead after leading flag-to-flag at Pocono. He leads Sage Karam by four points. Both the Pro Mazda Series and U.S. F2000 Series will return to the track at Toronto. Canadian Scott Hargrove leads the U.S. F2000 standings by fifty-three points over American Wyatt Gooden. Hargrove has won three of five races in 2013 with Neil Alberico having won the other two races. Alberico has however had the bad fortune to finish twentieth or worse in the three races Hargrove has won. Matthew Brabham has won five consecutive races in Pro Mazda. He has a forty-nine point lead over Diego Ferreria. Americans Shelby Blackstock, Spencer Pigot and Scott Anderson are third, fourth and fifth in the standings.
Track Schedule
IndyCar Firestone Fast Six qualifying will take place Friday at 2:15 p.m. ET. That will set the grid for race one. Race one for Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000 will be Saturday morning at 8:40 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. ET respectively. IndyCar qualifying for Sunday's race will take place at 10:35 a.m. ET with two, twelve minute sessions. The driver with the fastest time will be on pole position with the remaining drivers in the pole sitters group setting the odd-positions on the grid. The other group will set the even-positions on the grid. The Firestone Indy Lights race will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. Coverage of race one of the IndyCar doubleheader will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Green flag will be around 3:40 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, race two of the Pro Mazda weekend will begin at 9:55 a.m. ET with the IndyCar warm-up at 10:50 a.m. ET and race two for U.S. F2000 at 11:35 a.m. ET. NBCSN's coverage for Sunday's race two begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag around 3:40 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Back to the streets for IndyCar. Last time out Mike Conway was on fire and I think he will continue to be at the front. Ryan Hunter-Reay has a pleasant track record at Toronto and has had good runs at all the road and street races this year with mechanical failures (St. Petersburg) or driver error (Long Beach and Belle Isle race two) leading to poor finishes. Marco Andretti is having a career year, especially on road and street course. He has finished in the top ten in all but one race road/street race (Belle Isle race one) and Toronto is one of the few road and street circuits where Andretti has had good results with three top tens in his four appearances to Exhibition Place.
Everything appears to be lining up for James Hinchcliffe, as if fate has put him in a position to pick up a massive win at home. With race one being ten years to the day the last time a Canadian won a Toronto, a Canadian has won every ten years at Toronto, Hinchcliffe picking up his first career win this season and the poor finishes that have plagued him, it seems Hinchcliffe can pick himself up after a turn one, lap one accident and find a way to the front.
I am going to take Conway and Hunter-Reay this weekend. If I had to pick one guy to sweep it would be Conway. Ganassi will keep up their string of good results. Kimball will get at least one top ten this weekend with Dixon and Franchitti up at the front as well. I expect Simon Pagenaud and Justin Wilson to be up front. I think Marco Andretti will have a good weekend. Sleeper: Simona de Silvestro.
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