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| Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power will lead the field to the green in race one Sunday morning |
Sébastien Bourdais will start on pole position for race one. It is his first pole position since Assen in 2007. Seventeen of the Frenchman's thirty-one victories have come from pole position. Will Power will start second despite an accident on the parade laps on Saturday. Had the race gone green on Saturday, Power would have had to start from the back of the grid. Third place will be Hélio Castroneves. The Brazilian has a nine point lead over his Penske teammate Power in the championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay will start fourth. He won at Toronto from sixth on the grid in 2012.
Simon Pagenaud starts fifth despite an accident in the Firestone Fast Six session on Saturday. Next to him will be Tony Kanaan. Kanaan's last road/street course victory was Belle Isle in 2007. Luca Filippi qualified seventh for his first career start at Toronto next to Justin Wilson. Twice has the winner come from row four at Toronto. Will Power won from seventh in 2007 and Al Unser, Jr. won from eighth in 1990. James Hinchcliffe starts ninth for the first race in his home town. Ryan Briscoe rounds out the top ten. Briscoe had an accident on the parade laps yesterday but will keep his grid position.
Juan Pablo Montoya will start eleventh despite an electrical issue that nearly sent the Colombian to the back of the grid on Saturday. Scott Dixon rolls off from twelve. Only once has the winner come from outside the top ten at Toronto. That was Michael Andretti in 2001 who started thirteenth. Josef Newgarden starts thirteenth in race one with fellow American and Honda driver Graham Rahal in fourteenth. Takuma Sato rounds out the top fifteen with Mike Conway joining him on row eight.
Rookies Carlos Muñoz and Jack Hawksworth make up row nine. Sebastián Saavedra and Charlie Kimball round out the top twenty. Carlos Huertas and Mikhail Aleshin make up another all-rookie row on row eleven with Marco Andretti rounding out the field in twenty-third.
Race one coverage will start at 10:30 a.m. ET on CNBC after the broadcast of the Formula One German Grand Prix from the Hockenheimring.
Three thoughts heading into this unique day for IndyCar:
1. Survive race one! You don't want to wad a car up in race one to the point it can't start race two. That could be the death blow for a championships run.
2. Time! Race one will probably begin almost immediately, which means green around 10:35 a.m., race is limited to 80 minutes, so the race will be over by 11:55 a.m. at the latest. That will give the teams about four hours and twenty minutes between the checkered flag for race one and the lights going out for race two. If there is any crash damage, there is the time frame the teams have to work in. If there is an engine failure, there is the time frame the teams have to work in. It will be helter skelter in the paddock between races.
3. Fuel Strategy! Today is Dale Coyne's Christmas. He has mastered the timed race format more than anyone else in the paddock. The question is can teams stretch these races to be one stoppers? If so, Carlos Huertas very well could pass Graham Rahal on the all-time win list this afternoon.
A few fun facts due to revisionist history and clarifications:
First time there are two IndyCar races on the same day since June 11, 2011 when Texas Motor Speedway hosted the Firestone Twin 275s. Dario Franchitti and Will Power won that night.
First time there are two full points-paying IndyCar races on the same day since June 28, 1981 when Atlanta Motor Speedway hosted the Kraco Twins 125s. Rick Mears won both races.
First time there are two full points-paying road/street course IndyCar races on the same day since October 19, 1969 when Pacific Raceways hosted the Dan Gurney 200. Mario Andretti and Al Unser split that day.
Once again, race one coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on CNBC, immediately after the Formula One German Grand Prix. Race two coverage will be at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN and will feature an initial standing start.
Update 1:58 p.m. ET
For race two, coverage will start at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Hélio Castroneves will start first on virtue of driving the entrant points leading entry. His teammate Will Power makes it an all-Penske front row. Honda drivers Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay will start on row two. Colombians Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Muñoz start on row three. Scott Dixon will start seventh ahead of Marco Andretti in eighth. Tony Kanaan and race one winner Sébastien Bourdais.
Mike Conway and Ryan Briscoe will start on row six. James Hinchcliffe will be joined by Mikhail Aleshin on row seven. Justin Wilson will start fifteenth with Charlie Kimball sixteenth. Josef Newgarden and Jack Hawksworth comprise row nine for race two. Graham Rahal and Carlos Huertas will start nineteenth and twentieth respectively. Sebastián Saavedra, Takuma Sato and Luca Filippi will round out the grid for race two.
