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| The Princes' Gates Provide the Backdrop for rounds 13 and 14 of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Season |
Coverage
Time: Coverage for both Saturday and Sunday races begins at 3:00 p.m. ET. Green flag is at 3:55 p.m. ET both days.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Bob Varsha (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One duty), Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller.
Three To Look Out For
Scott Dixon swept the weekend last year at Toronto, catapulting the New Zealander into the catbird seat for the 2013 championship. The Kiwi has six top fives in eight Toronto starts while averaging a starting position of 5.75.
Sébastien Bourdais turned around his season last year at Toronto with two podiums. The Frenchman won at Exhibition Place in 2004 and has eight top tens in nine Toronto starts. His average starting position at Toronto is 3.55 with three pole positions.
Justin Wilson has six top tens in ten Toronto starts, including a win in 2005. Wilson has started from pole on two occasions and his average starting position is 5.1.
Toronto Turn Arounds
While Penske drivers Castroneves, Power and Juan Pablo Montoya occupy three of the top four in the championship, Toronto has been more of a headache for these drivers than a points grab. Castroneves finished sixth and second last year at Exhibition Place but the Brazilian's average finish is 14.5 in ten starts in The Queen City with that podium being Castroneves' the lone top five at Toronto.
Power has two victories at Toronto but ever since winning in 2010, the Australians best finish is fifteenth in four Toronto starts, failing to finish on the lead lap each time. He has averaged a starting position of 5.25 in those four starts.
Montoya has only made two starts at Toronto with his last coming in 2000. He started eighth and fourth those years with both ending in accidents. He finished twenty-second in 1999 after contact with Michel Jourdain, Jr. and twenty-fourth in 2000 after a lap one accident with Dario Franchitti.
James Hinchcliffe has never faired well in his home town. In four starts, the Toronto-native averages a starting position of fourteenth and averages a finish of 16.25 with one top ten.
Tony Kanaan's track record at Exhibition Place is nothing to brag about. While he has three top fives and four top tens in ten starts, Kanaan average Toronto finish is 14.6 with three seventeenth place finishes and three finishes outside the top twenty.
Indy Lights
Gabby Chaves has won back-to-back races after winning the Pocono race nearly two weeks ago. The Colombian has an 11-point lead over Zach Veach. Jack Harvey is third in the championship with Matthew Brabham and Luiz Razia rounding out the top five. Last year, Jack Hawksworth won the Toronto Indy Lights race with Peter Dempsey and Gabby Chaves rounding out the podium. Zach Veach finished seventh. Matthew Brabham swept the Pro Mazda weekend at Toronto last year.
Indy Lights will run prior to the Sunday IndyCar race at 10:45 a.m. ET.
U.S. F2000
For the first time since the Night Before the 500, U.S. F2000 is back on track for their own doubleheader at Toronto. R.C. Enerson leads Florian Latorre by nine points with Jake Eidson, Victor Franzoni and Aaron Telitz rounding out the top five. Telitz won the last race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Last year, Neil Alberico and Danilo Estrela split the U.S. F2000 weekend at Exhibition Place.
U.S. F2000 will race Saturday at 6:15 p.m. ET and Sunday at 9:05 a.m. ET.
Pirelli World Challenge
After a month off, Pirelli World Challenge will run a doubleheader at Exhibition Place. Johnny O'Connell leads by 118 points over Mike Skeen who swept the PWC doubleheader at Road America in June. Andrew Palmer is 134 points back of O'Connell in third with O'Connell's Cadillac teammate Andy Pilgram in fourth trailing by 142 points. Anthony Lazzaro rounds out the top five, 199 points back.
The Dyson Bentley Continental GT3 returns with Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel. Leitzinger finished sixth and fourth at Road American on the Bentley's PWC debut. Two GTLM drivers will be on the PWC grid this weekend. Dodge Viper driver Canadian Kuno Wittmer will drive a Viper in his home race while Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy will make his PWC debut in a Porsche GT3R.
Nic Jönsson leads the GTS championship after sweeping the weekend at Road America by one point over fellow Kia driver and Canadian Mark Wilkins. Porsche driver Jack Baldwin is third in GTS, 105 back of Jönsson. Dean Martin is fourth, 127 back.
PWC will race at 11:25 a.m. ET on Saturday and 12:15 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Fun Facts
Saturday's race will be the first on July 19th since 2003 when Gil de Ferran won at Nashville. This will be the fourth Toronto race to occur on July 19th. Emerson Fittipaldi (1987), Michael Andretti (1992) and Alex Zanardi (1998) were the winners on those three occasions.
Sunday's race will be the first on July 20th since 2008 when Ryan Briscoe won at Mid-Ohio. This will be the third Toronto race to occur on July 20th. Bobby Rahal (1986) and Mark Blundell (1997) were the winners on those two occasions.
The pole sitter has won at Toronto on six occasions, the most recent being Scott Dixon in race two last year. Second and third have produced the most Toronto, each at seven. The most recent winner to start second was Will Power in 2010 and most recent winner to start third was Dario Franchitti in 2011.
Only once has a Toronto winner come from outside the top ten. That was Michael Andretti in 2001. He started thirteenth.
No Toronto winner has ever started from the fourth position. Four times has the runner-up came from fourth (Danny Sullivan 1987, Kenny Bräck 2002, Oriol Servià 2005 and Paul Tracy 2006).
Twice has Toronto produced a first time winner. Adrián Fernández picked up his first career win at Exhibition Place in 1996 and Justin Wilson replicated the feat in 2005. Both started third on their way to victory.
Mike Conway's average finish through eight starts is 14 and average starting position is 14.5.
Will Power needs to leads 143 laps to become the twenty-first driver to join the 2,500 laps led club.
Juan Pablo Montoya needs to lead 152 laps to become the twenty-third driver to join the 2,000 laps led club.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.
Remember more facts can always be found at the Telemetry Center.
Predictions
It will be an all-French weekend as Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais split the weekend. Ryan Hunter-Reay scores one podium this weekend. James Hinchcliffe gets one top five and two top tens. Justin Wilson gets a podium. Juan Pablo Montoya fails to get a top ten this weekend. Luca Filippi finishes ahead of Graham Rahal in both races and gets at least one top ten. Takuma Sato fails to finish on the lead lap in both race. Mike Conway gets his first top ten since his Long Beach victory. Sleeper: Marco Andretti.
Time: Coverage for both Saturday and Sunday races begins at 3:00 p.m. ET. Green flag is at 3:55 p.m. ET both days.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Bob Varsha (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One duty), Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller.
Three To Look Out For
Scott Dixon swept the weekend last year at Toronto, catapulting the New Zealander into the catbird seat for the 2013 championship. The Kiwi has six top fives in eight Toronto starts while averaging a starting position of 5.75.
Sébastien Bourdais turned around his season last year at Toronto with two podiums. The Frenchman won at Exhibition Place in 2004 and has eight top tens in nine Toronto starts. His average starting position at Toronto is 3.55 with three pole positions.
Justin Wilson has six top tens in ten Toronto starts, including a win in 2005. Wilson has started from pole on two occasions and his average starting position is 5.1.
Toronto Turn Arounds
While Penske drivers Castroneves, Power and Juan Pablo Montoya occupy three of the top four in the championship, Toronto has been more of a headache for these drivers than a points grab. Castroneves finished sixth and second last year at Exhibition Place but the Brazilian's average finish is 14.5 in ten starts in The Queen City with that podium being Castroneves' the lone top five at Toronto.
Power has two victories at Toronto but ever since winning in 2010, the Australians best finish is fifteenth in four Toronto starts, failing to finish on the lead lap each time. He has averaged a starting position of 5.25 in those four starts.
Montoya has only made two starts at Toronto with his last coming in 2000. He started eighth and fourth those years with both ending in accidents. He finished twenty-second in 1999 after contact with Michel Jourdain, Jr. and twenty-fourth in 2000 after a lap one accident with Dario Franchitti.
James Hinchcliffe has never faired well in his home town. In four starts, the Toronto-native averages a starting position of fourteenth and averages a finish of 16.25 with one top ten.
Tony Kanaan's track record at Exhibition Place is nothing to brag about. While he has three top fives and four top tens in ten starts, Kanaan average Toronto finish is 14.6 with three seventeenth place finishes and three finishes outside the top twenty.
Indy Lights
Gabby Chaves has won back-to-back races after winning the Pocono race nearly two weeks ago. The Colombian has an 11-point lead over Zach Veach. Jack Harvey is third in the championship with Matthew Brabham and Luiz Razia rounding out the top five. Last year, Jack Hawksworth won the Toronto Indy Lights race with Peter Dempsey and Gabby Chaves rounding out the podium. Zach Veach finished seventh. Matthew Brabham swept the Pro Mazda weekend at Toronto last year.
Indy Lights will run prior to the Sunday IndyCar race at 10:45 a.m. ET.
U.S. F2000
For the first time since the Night Before the 500, U.S. F2000 is back on track for their own doubleheader at Toronto. R.C. Enerson leads Florian Latorre by nine points with Jake Eidson, Victor Franzoni and Aaron Telitz rounding out the top five. Telitz won the last race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Last year, Neil Alberico and Danilo Estrela split the U.S. F2000 weekend at Exhibition Place.
U.S. F2000 will race Saturday at 6:15 p.m. ET and Sunday at 9:05 a.m. ET.
Pirelli World Challenge
After a month off, Pirelli World Challenge will run a doubleheader at Exhibition Place. Johnny O'Connell leads by 118 points over Mike Skeen who swept the PWC doubleheader at Road America in June. Andrew Palmer is 134 points back of O'Connell in third with O'Connell's Cadillac teammate Andy Pilgram in fourth trailing by 142 points. Anthony Lazzaro rounds out the top five, 199 points back.
The Dyson Bentley Continental GT3 returns with Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel. Leitzinger finished sixth and fourth at Road American on the Bentley's PWC debut. Two GTLM drivers will be on the PWC grid this weekend. Dodge Viper driver Canadian Kuno Wittmer will drive a Viper in his home race while Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy will make his PWC debut in a Porsche GT3R.
Nic Jönsson leads the GTS championship after sweeping the weekend at Road America by one point over fellow Kia driver and Canadian Mark Wilkins. Porsche driver Jack Baldwin is third in GTS, 105 back of Jönsson. Dean Martin is fourth, 127 back.
PWC will race at 11:25 a.m. ET on Saturday and 12:15 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Fun Facts
Saturday's race will be the first on July 19th since 2003 when Gil de Ferran won at Nashville. This will be the fourth Toronto race to occur on July 19th. Emerson Fittipaldi (1987), Michael Andretti (1992) and Alex Zanardi (1998) were the winners on those three occasions.
Sunday's race will be the first on July 20th since 2008 when Ryan Briscoe won at Mid-Ohio. This will be the third Toronto race to occur on July 20th. Bobby Rahal (1986) and Mark Blundell (1997) were the winners on those two occasions.
The pole sitter has won at Toronto on six occasions, the most recent being Scott Dixon in race two last year. Second and third have produced the most Toronto, each at seven. The most recent winner to start second was Will Power in 2010 and most recent winner to start third was Dario Franchitti in 2011.
Only once has a Toronto winner come from outside the top ten. That was Michael Andretti in 2001. He started thirteenth.
No Toronto winner has ever started from the fourth position. Four times has the runner-up came from fourth (Danny Sullivan 1987, Kenny Bräck 2002, Oriol Servià 2005 and Paul Tracy 2006).
Twice has Toronto produced a first time winner. Adrián Fernández picked up his first career win at Exhibition Place in 1996 and Justin Wilson replicated the feat in 2005. Both started third on their way to victory.
Mike Conway's average finish through eight starts is 14 and average starting position is 14.5.
Will Power needs to leads 143 laps to become the twenty-first driver to join the 2,500 laps led club.
Juan Pablo Montoya needs to lead 152 laps to become the twenty-third driver to join the 2,000 laps led club.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.
Remember more facts can always be found at the Telemetry Center.
Predictions
It will be an all-French weekend as Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais split the weekend. Ryan Hunter-Reay scores one podium this weekend. James Hinchcliffe gets one top five and two top tens. Justin Wilson gets a podium. Juan Pablo Montoya fails to get a top ten this weekend. Luca Filippi finishes ahead of Graham Rahal in both races and gets at least one top ten. Takuma Sato fails to finish on the lead lap in both race. Mike Conway gets his first top ten since his Long Beach victory. Sleeper: Marco Andretti.
