2016 Honda Indy Toronto

The 2016 Honda Indy Toronto was a scheduled open-wheel motorsport event held at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the weekend of July 15–17, 2016.[2] The event marked the 30th annual edition of the Toronto Indy, and the twelfth round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The race was the only event on the 2016 IndyCar season outside of the United States. The headline race was the 32nd IndyCar race to be held at the 1.755-mile (2.824 km) street circuit.

2016 Toronto
Race details
11th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season
DateJuly 17, 2016
Official nameHonda Indy Toronto
LocationExhibition Place
CourseTemporary road course
1.786 mi / 2.874 km
Distance85 laps
151.81 mi / 244.314 km
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 26.1 °C (79.0 °F); with temperatures dropping to 20.6 °C (69.1 °F) by the end of the event[1]
Pole position
DriverScott Dixon (Chip Ganassi)
Time59.9073
Fastest lap
DriverHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Time1:00.8127 (on lap 80 of 85)
Podium
FirstWill Power (Team Penske)
SecondHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
ThirdJames Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports)

Race background

The 2016 edition of the race moved back to its traditional mid-July date, after being held in June of 2015 to avoid conflicting with 2015 Pan American Games.[3] The Exhibition Place circuit also featured changes to its layout, which represent the third modification to the layout since its inaugural race in 1986. Pitlane moved to the north side of the track, starting at Turn 9 and extending back onto Princes' Boulevard past Turn 11 before the start-finish line in order to accommodate the newly constructed Hotel X Toronto, opposite the Enercare Centre.[4]

Weekend support races

The NASCAR Pinty's Series was the Saturday headline race, with the series returning to the Toronto Indy for the first time since its 2010 and 2011 seasons.[5] The weekend included races for the Indy Lights, Pro Mazda Championship, U.S. F2000 National Championship, Stadium Super Trucks and the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada.[6]

Race

Qualifying for the event took place on Saturday, July 16. Scott Dixon qualified on pole for the event with a time of 59.9073 at an average speed of 106 mph (170 km/h)- the slowest qualifying average speed of the year, and making only the second time on the 2016 season that a Team Penske driver had not started from first. It also marked Dixon's 24th pole position, tying him with Johnny Rutherford for 12th in all-time IndyCar poles. Penske cars, however, did take the next three positions, with Hélio Castroneves second, points leader Simon Pagenaud third, and Will Power fourth. Defending race winner Josef Newgarden qualified eighth.[7]

The race began with Dixon jumping into the lead ahead of Castroneves and Pagenaud, while the rest of the field battled out behind them. The first lap was nearly completed cleanly, but in turn eight, Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball made contact, sending Kimball into a spin and collecting Ryan Hunter-Reay, bringing out the day's first caution. All three drivers continued, but needed repairs for damage. The restart came on lap 5, where the lead order remained largely the same. Caution would wave again only one lap later, though, after Juan Pablo Montoya clipped the rear bumper-pod on Josef Newgarden's car, ripping the pod off and causing it to land on track between turns two and three. Newgarden was forced to pit to repair the damage, sending him to the back of the running order. The race restarted again on lap nine, and the race finally was allowed to get going. Dixon and Castroneves were able to pull out from their competitors behind, but on lap 25, the left front tire on Castroneves's car went flat, forcing him to pit and dropping him well down the order. This, in turn, allowed Dixon to hold a commanding lead.

The field was bunched up again for the third caution of the day on lap 45, when IndyCar officials were forced to do a track inspection in turn five after reports of the curbing be torn up and thrown across the race track. During this caution, some drivers, including James Hinchcliffe and Conor Daly, elected to go on an alternate strategy by pitting. The race restarted on lap 51, with Dixon and Pagenaud in the lead. Shortly after the restart, green flag pit stops began. This proved to be the pivotal moment of the race. On lap 58, Josef Newgarden, who was experiencing high fatigue in his right hand due to his injury from the Firestone 600 plus the bumps of the Toronto Circuit, crashed in turn five. The pit lane closed due to incident, but Will Power had been able to just make it into the pits before they were closed, giving him a huge advantage of Dixon and Pagenaud, who had not yet stopped. As those who had not stopped yet stopped pitted, Tony Kanaan, who was on an alternate strategy, inherited the lead.

The race restarted on lap 64. Kanaan pulled away from Power, but with a pit stop still ahead for him, Power was set for the lead. Kanaan finally pitted on lap 76, officially giving the lead to Power. Hélio Castroneves, meanwhile, had managed to recover from his early race puncture and moved into second place after passing James Hinchcliffe and Kanaan on the same lap. However, he appeared not to have enough time to be able to catch his teammate Power. That changed on lap 81, however, when Jack Hawksworth crashed into the wall in turn five. Shortly after his impact, Juan Pablo Montoya joined him in the same barrier. Montoya was able to continue on, but the damage to Hawksworth's car too much. This brought out the race's fifth caution. By the time Hawksworth's car was removed from turn five, only one lap of racing would remain at the restart. In a situation similar to the Kohler Grand Prix, Power was able to pull away easily from Castroneves using his saved push to passes. By the end of the final lap, Power had pulled out 1.5 seconds over his teammate to take victory. For Power, the victory was his third win in the last four races and moved him into second place in the championship standings, marking him the biggest threat to his teammate Simon Pagenaud's point lead. Hometown favorite James Hinchcliffe was able to hold on for a third-place finish due to his alternate pit strategy and the late race caution period. Scott Dixon, who had been so dominant until the ill-timed caution, was only able to recover to eighth, while Pagenaud finished directly behind him in ninth. Rookie drivers struggled heavily in the race, with Conor Daly's 15th place being the highest of all rookies in the race.[8][9]

Results
Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying
Pos No. Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
1 9 Scott Dixon W 2 1:00.1866 1:00.0143 59.9073
2 3 Hélio Castroneves 1 1:00.4910 59.8562 59.9425
3 22 Simon Pagenaud 1 1:00.2386 1:00.0299 1:00.2293
4 12 Will Power W 2 59.7747 1:00.0065 1:00.4085
5 11 Sébastien Bourdais W 2 1:00.1466 1:00.1971 1:00.4221
6 5 James Hinchcliffe 1 1:00.6291 1:00.4584 1:01.5637
7 18 Conor Daly R 1 1:00.4913 1:00.5693
8 21 Josef Newgarden W 2 1:00.3688 1:00.5885
9 2 Juan Pablo Montoya 2 59.9964 1:00.6532
10 7 Mikhail Aleshin 2 1:00.5384 1:00.6635
11 19 Luca Filippi 1 1:00.5552 1:00.7784
12 10 Tony Kanaan 1 1:00.5297 1:00.8561
13 41 Jack Hawksworth 1 1:00.6930
14 8 Max Chilton R 2 1:00.6372
15 26 Carlos Muñoz 1 1:00.7712
16 15 Graham Rahal 2 1:00.7088
17 83 Charlie Kimball 1 1:00.9060
18 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay W 2 1:00.8721
19 98 Alexander Rossi R 1 1:01.2087
20 14 Takuma Sato 2 1:01.4012
21 20 Spencer Pigot R 1 1:01.3360
22 27 Marco Andretti 2 1:01.4384
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source for individual rounds[10]

Race Results
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Pts.1
1 12 Will Power W Team Penske Chevrolet 85 1:42:38.6925 2 4 10 51
2 3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 85 +1.5275 2 2 40
3 5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 85 +2.5303 2 6 35
4 10 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 85 +3.7758 3 12 16 33
5 14 Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 85 +4.0568 2 20 30
6 7 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 85 +5.1145 2 10 28
7 11 Sébastien Bourdais W KVSH Racing Chevrolet 85 +5.6393 2 5 1 27
8 9 Scott Dixon W Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 85 +6.1020 2 1 56 28
9 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 85 +6.6355 2 3 1 23
10 27 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 85 +6.9746 2 22 20
11 83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 85 +7.4782 4 17 19
12 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay W Andretti Autosport Honda 85 +8.0690 5 18 18
13 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 85 +8.5989 5 16 17
14 19 Luca Filippi Dale Coyne Racing Honda 85 +8.9217 2 11 16
15 18 Conor Daly R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 85 +9.4068 3 7 1 16
16 98 Alexander Rossi R Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 85 +9.6896 2 19 14
17 26 Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 85 +10.0568 3 15 13
18 8 Max Chilton R Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 85 +10.6502 4 14 12
19 20 Spencer Pigot R Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 85 +11.4494 3 21 11
20 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 84 +1 Lap 3 9 10
21 41 Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 80 Contact 2 13 9
22 21 Josef Newgarden W Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 57 Contact 3 8 8
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Source for time gaps:[8]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Media

Television

The race was broadcast live by CNBC in the United States and by Sportsnet on Sportsnet 360 in Canada.[11]

IndyCar Series on NBC
Booth AnnouncersPit reporters
Announcer Leigh Diffey Jon Beekhuis
Robin Miller
Kevin Lee
Katie Hargitt
Color Townsend Bell
Paul Tracy

Radio

The race was broadcast on radio by the IMS Radio Network and simulcast on Sirius / XM satellite radio and Indycar.com.

References
  1. "2016 Honda Indy Toronto weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  2. Malsher, David (October 27, 2015). "IndyCar's 2016 schedule confirms return of Phoenix and Road America". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  3. McDonald, Norris (October 27, 2015). "Honda Indy Toronto back to July for 2016 race". Toronto Star. Star Media Group. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  4. "INDYCAR: Series confirms Toronto tweaks". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. March 21, 2016. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  5. "Toronto Returns To Pinty's Series Calendar". NationalSpeedSportNews.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Turn 3 Media LLC. March 21, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  6. DiZinno, Tony (October 28, 2015). "Mazda Road to Indy 2016 schedules revealed". motorsports.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  7. Robinson, Mitch (July 16, 2016). "Dixon takes Verizon P1 award at Honda Indy Toronto". IndyCar Series. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: INDYCAR. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  8. Malsher, David (July 17, 2016). "Power wins Toronto, Hinchcliffe scores big at home". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  9. Pruett, Marshall (July 17, 2016). "INDYCAR: Power continues climb with Toronto win". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  10. "Race Report: 2016 Honda Indy Toronto". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  11. "INDYCAR: New additions to 2016 TV programming". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. March 10, 2016. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
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