IndyCar Edmonton
- This topic has 10 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 8 months ago by Lin1876.
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- 21st July 2012, 21:47 at 9:47 pm #131785Keith CollantineKeymaster
Ryan Hunter-Reay would have followed up his three consecutive wins with pole position at Edmonton – but for an engine change penalty.
So the Andretti driver moves back ten places and Dario Franchitti takes his fourth consecutive pole position. Will he finally win this one?
Hunter-Reay will not fall behind championship leader Will Power, who qualified seventh but will also take an engine change penalty.
Ryan Briscoe moves up to second on the grid with Takuma Sato, last year’s pole sitter at the revised Edmonton track, third.
Here’s the top six shootout:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqyD9LqJVvg&hd=1
Remember to join us for the race on F1 Fanatic Live, UK coverage starts at 7:30pm.
22nd July 2012, 6:01 at 6:01 am #205898Oli PeacockParticipant@keithcollantine Hunter-Raey is the championship leader not Power :)
23rd July 2012, 8:28 at 8:28 am #205899Keith CollantineKeymaster@olliekart Indeed he is.
And he still is after the race but he now has a new closest challenger – Helio Castroneves, who withstood fierce pressure from Takuma Sato in the closing laps to score his second win of the year.
Will Power charged through the field from 17th to third, passing Hunter-Reay on the way. The Andretti driver was not best pleased about the manner in which he did it – Power emerged from the pits just in front of him – but the stewards decided (rightly, in my view) there was nothing wrong with Power’s move.
Pole sitter Dario Franchitti slipped to sixth at the chequered flag behind Graham Rahal and Alex Tagliani.
This was the second year the championship had used the revised configuration at Edmonton and I’m not much more fond of it than I was the previous layout. It doesn’t lend itself to good racing – the various slow corners make it more like an F1 track, though much bumpier than anything on the current calendar, as Rubens Barrichello pointed out.
A lot of the jockeying for position came about due to the push-to-pass system, and they certainly needed it here. Castroneves’ thrifty use of the button in the opening laps was the cornerstone of his win as he had enough in hand to ward off Sato’s challenges in the closing stages, despite the RLL driver’s phenomenal and sometimes alarmingly late braking.
Hunter-Reay’s title lead is trimmed to 23 points with four rounds remaining. But Power, third and 26 points behind, is surely his greatest threat at this stage given his recent form and the fact that he got an engine change out of the way this weekend.
1. Ryan Hunter-Reay – 362
2. Helio Castroneves – 339
3. Will Power – 336
4. Scott Dixon – 301
5. James Hinchcliffe – 286
6. Tony Kanaan – 27923rd July 2012, 15:58 at 3:58 pm #205901mrgrievesParticipantI would be very surprised but happy for him if Hunter-Reay is still on top at the end of the season. Should come down to Castroneves and Power. Hope Ganassi come back stronger next season. Dario’s race pace has been terrible when he’s been in the race this year
23rd July 2012, 17:43 at 5:43 pm #205902MatK77ParticipantAgreed on the track layout, Keith. The flat-out, mile-wide bends at Cleveland and watching the drivers try to hang on for dear life were what made the track so great. The old layout at Edmonton at least had a few of those fast left-right sections but they seen to have eliminated the cheek-clenchers altogether now.
Not a bad race though, in the end.
23rd July 2012, 22:24 at 10:24 pm #205903F1YankeeParticipantthe fact that power’s pit exit was even called into question is the main reason why i don’t really like indycar any more.
24th July 2012, 10:31 at 10:31 am #205904Keith CollantineKeymaster@F1Yankee I could not understand the fuss the commentators were kicking up over it. It was obviously fine.
24th July 2012, 17:36 at 5:36 pm #205905MatK77ParticipantA bit of sour grapes from RHR, I think. He was stuck mid-pack all day while Power was on yet another charge through the field. Since the driver/pit communications are so frequently broadcast now, the drivers are much more vocal about trying to draw penalties, no matter how questionable their reasoning might be. It’s sad because the commentators latch onto all of the he said/she said nonsense and drag it out. Beaux Barfield has done a nice job so far bringing a little common sense back into the rules.
25th July 2012, 17:32 at 5:32 pm #205906Keith CollantineKeymasterRace highlights video:
26th July 2012, 13:38 at 1:38 pm #205907Keith CollantineKeymasterWhen they said the track was bumpy they weren’t kidding. Ouch:
27th July 2012, 0:16 at 12:16 am #205908Lin1876ParticipantThat looks and sounds really painful. Enduring that for a few hours over the weekend must be heel, full credit to the guys.
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