Round 16 - Baltimore, MD
'Bumpy in Baltimore' - Tom Firth
Six Cautions, Three Penalties and a whole lot of controversy, frustration and elation for some of Indycars smaller teams, The Grand Prix of Baltimore had a winner. Qualifying had its share of action, Dario Franchitti failed to make it through the first section of qualifying, Graham Rahal meanwhile running in the top six in qualifying section 2 before running off track followed by Vautier hitting the stranded car, although Vautier did make it into the Firestone Fast Six, Rahal had his times deleted for bringing out a yellow flag, resulting in him starting 12th. In a post race penalty, Vautier was placed on probation for ignoring the Yellow flags that led to the incident, as well as incurring a fine.
For the race itself, It all started relatively calmly compared to the ALMS race on Saturday. The anticipated carnage in turn one was averted and the race continued calmly with some light contact in turn three when Helio made contact in the hairpin with Josef Newgarden. This incident caused Castroneves to pit for a change of front wing on lap two putting the championship leader to the rear of the pack. Ryan Hunter-Reay also had issues early on. The Reigning champion been moved back to twentieth position through a stalled and restarted car, although the caution flag was not required. During the early stages, Power passed Dixon for the lead whilst the pack bunched up at turn three, The Penske driver then pulling out a large lead in a very competitive car at that stage in the race. The first retirement of the race occurred for Takuma Sato on Lap 4. The long beach winner ending his race due to mechanical failure with James Jakes and Dario Franchitti also having mechanical issues early In the race, Dario returning briefly to the track later in the race. Baltimore’s first Indycar caution of the day was caused by Ed Carpenter hitting the tires at turn 5 whilst simultaneously elsewhere on the track, Luca Filippi had a major engine failure, resulting in oil been spilled on the track. The first caution would last six laps before battle was resumed on the bumpy streets of Baltimore. During the extensive yellow flag period, Vautier, Bourdais, Wilson, Saavedra, Andretti, Castroneves and Viso all headed for the pits. The Green flew on lap 19 , Power disappeared once again out front whilst Simon Pagenaud passed Dixon for Second at turn one. Pagenaud hit the pits on lap 28 whilst Power stayed on track now leading by over seven seconds. Dario Franchitti returned to the pits and the car went back behind the wall on lap 30.
The leaders, Power and Dixon pitted on lap 31 and 32 respectively, Dixon having a clean stop whilst Power ran over the hose and had to be pushed back, costing the Penske driver valuable seconds. Throughout this pit stop cycle Bourdais took the lead of the race.
On the resumption of hostilities following the pit stops, Dixon was all over the back of power. Once Will Power managed to get the Firestone tyre back up to temperature the Penske driver once again bridged the gap with Ganassi’s Scott Dixon. Bourdais pitted from the lead on lap 39 , Coming out in front of Power. Stefan Wilson then brought out Caution number two for contact on lap 41. Castroneves meanwhile had an awful pit stop during this Full course Caution which led to a pit safety infraction penalty. The caution period lasted a few laps longer than expected due to mechanical issues on Ryan Hunter Reay’s car caused him to stop out on track. Following the restart, a very short lived one, Carnage ensured. The first of several “Car park” moments during the race occurred. A bunched up pack caused chaos with Graham Rahal, At the time running P3 tapping the rear of second placed Scott Dixon, spinning Dixon with three other cars joining them into the corner. This made for a five-car blockade in turn one. Causing the rest of the field to use the escape route around the outside of turn 1. Indycar’s safety team restarted the cars, which had stalled whilst other drivers including Dixon managed to get their own cars sorted and back on track Restart number 4, and controversy once again. The restart occurred on lap 53 with Power and Dixon running close together side down the straight, whilst Sebastian Bourdais managed to maintain a narrow lead.
Power sliding across the track hit the front of Dixon’s car slamming the Ganassi car into the wall, and ending Dixon’s race. Following the race, Power stated that he was concentrating on Bourdais immediately in front of him and didn’t notice Dixon was alongside until the two made contact. Dixon of course saw it a different way, I will let you draw your personal opinions on this collision however the fact stands that Power received a drive through penalty for avoidable contact.
I got frustrated following this, Talk about cautions breeding cautions. Turn one once again became a car park. This time with Servia hitting the rear of Bourdais, which caused Bourdais to spin and forced the five following cars to attempt avoiding action. Servia received a drive through penalty for avoidable contact. Once the track blockade was cleared again, we moved on. The beneficiary of this “car park” was Helio Castroneves. Despite a lot of issues in the race, a bit of luck prevailed for Helio as he used clear road to make his way past the stranded cars making up a whole bunch of positions.
Marco Andretti with a damaged front wing from earlier contact led the pack on restart number six and well Indycar did make it to turn 3 on that attempt. I'm desperately trying to see positives here from that part the race. On the turn 3 hairpin, Bourdais collected Wilson in the hairpin and once again we had Indycars parked all over Baltimore’s streets. Five of the cars managed to get themselves restarted meanwhile the sixth James Hinchcliffe had to be restarted by the safety crew. After a short caution period to restart, we finally got ourselves a motor race. Well not quite. First we had a failed restart because the cars remaining failed to get in line before Marco Andretti led the pack on the restart once again from Simon Pagenaud and Sebastian Bourdais. The race restarted on lap 66 with Marco maintaining the lead from Pagenaud through the first two laps of the restart. On lap 68, going into Turn one. Pagenaud and Marco locked wheels and tapped each others car with the ensuring battle lasting through turns two and three with Pagenaud coming out ahead of Andretti. Bourdais then made his way around Andretti by turn four and set off after leader Simon Pagenaud.
Bourdais joined battle with fellow compatriot Simon Pagenaud for the lead into turn one on the following lap, which resulted in Pagenaud clashing with Bourdais forcing Bourdais wide. This allowed Andretti and Newgarden to take advantage and pass the offline Dragon entry.
Newgarden and Marco ran side by side into turn one on the following lap. Marco locked the brakes allowing Newgarden to move up to second who then began his pursuit of Pagenaud, now some distance out front. Newgarden attempted to catch Pagenaud but but eventually settled for second as the tyres began to wear, allowing Pagenaud to take victory. Simon Pagenaud won the race, his second victory of the season for the Schmidt Hamilton Peterson HP Motorsports team with Newgarden finishing second, Celebrating his first podium finish in the Izod Indycar Series and his teams first since Kentucky 2011. Sebastian Bourdais of Dragon Racing rounded off the podium trio. Championship leader Helio Castroneves came home in ninth place.
It was a mad, crazy weekend, And I hope the driving standards are better for Houston and we can see some real decent racing, not endless cautions, I wonder if single file restarts would help?
Meanwhile at Baltimore, Great Britain’s Jack Hawksworth set pole and won the Firestone Indy lights support race.
You can follow Tom on Twitter.
For the race itself, It all started relatively calmly compared to the ALMS race on Saturday. The anticipated carnage in turn one was averted and the race continued calmly with some light contact in turn three when Helio made contact in the hairpin with Josef Newgarden. This incident caused Castroneves to pit for a change of front wing on lap two putting the championship leader to the rear of the pack. Ryan Hunter-Reay also had issues early on. The Reigning champion been moved back to twentieth position through a stalled and restarted car, although the caution flag was not required. During the early stages, Power passed Dixon for the lead whilst the pack bunched up at turn three, The Penske driver then pulling out a large lead in a very competitive car at that stage in the race. The first retirement of the race occurred for Takuma Sato on Lap 4. The long beach winner ending his race due to mechanical failure with James Jakes and Dario Franchitti also having mechanical issues early In the race, Dario returning briefly to the track later in the race. Baltimore’s first Indycar caution of the day was caused by Ed Carpenter hitting the tires at turn 5 whilst simultaneously elsewhere on the track, Luca Filippi had a major engine failure, resulting in oil been spilled on the track. The first caution would last six laps before battle was resumed on the bumpy streets of Baltimore. During the extensive yellow flag period, Vautier, Bourdais, Wilson, Saavedra, Andretti, Castroneves and Viso all headed for the pits. The Green flew on lap 19 , Power disappeared once again out front whilst Simon Pagenaud passed Dixon for Second at turn one. Pagenaud hit the pits on lap 28 whilst Power stayed on track now leading by over seven seconds. Dario Franchitti returned to the pits and the car went back behind the wall on lap 30.
The leaders, Power and Dixon pitted on lap 31 and 32 respectively, Dixon having a clean stop whilst Power ran over the hose and had to be pushed back, costing the Penske driver valuable seconds. Throughout this pit stop cycle Bourdais took the lead of the race.
On the resumption of hostilities following the pit stops, Dixon was all over the back of power. Once Will Power managed to get the Firestone tyre back up to temperature the Penske driver once again bridged the gap with Ganassi’s Scott Dixon. Bourdais pitted from the lead on lap 39 , Coming out in front of Power. Stefan Wilson then brought out Caution number two for contact on lap 41. Castroneves meanwhile had an awful pit stop during this Full course Caution which led to a pit safety infraction penalty. The caution period lasted a few laps longer than expected due to mechanical issues on Ryan Hunter Reay’s car caused him to stop out on track. Following the restart, a very short lived one, Carnage ensured. The first of several “Car park” moments during the race occurred. A bunched up pack caused chaos with Graham Rahal, At the time running P3 tapping the rear of second placed Scott Dixon, spinning Dixon with three other cars joining them into the corner. This made for a five-car blockade in turn one. Causing the rest of the field to use the escape route around the outside of turn 1. Indycar’s safety team restarted the cars, which had stalled whilst other drivers including Dixon managed to get their own cars sorted and back on track Restart number 4, and controversy once again. The restart occurred on lap 53 with Power and Dixon running close together side down the straight, whilst Sebastian Bourdais managed to maintain a narrow lead.
Power sliding across the track hit the front of Dixon’s car slamming the Ganassi car into the wall, and ending Dixon’s race. Following the race, Power stated that he was concentrating on Bourdais immediately in front of him and didn’t notice Dixon was alongside until the two made contact. Dixon of course saw it a different way, I will let you draw your personal opinions on this collision however the fact stands that Power received a drive through penalty for avoidable contact.
I got frustrated following this, Talk about cautions breeding cautions. Turn one once again became a car park. This time with Servia hitting the rear of Bourdais, which caused Bourdais to spin and forced the five following cars to attempt avoiding action. Servia received a drive through penalty for avoidable contact. Once the track blockade was cleared again, we moved on. The beneficiary of this “car park” was Helio Castroneves. Despite a lot of issues in the race, a bit of luck prevailed for Helio as he used clear road to make his way past the stranded cars making up a whole bunch of positions.
Marco Andretti with a damaged front wing from earlier contact led the pack on restart number six and well Indycar did make it to turn 3 on that attempt. I'm desperately trying to see positives here from that part the race. On the turn 3 hairpin, Bourdais collected Wilson in the hairpin and once again we had Indycars parked all over Baltimore’s streets. Five of the cars managed to get themselves restarted meanwhile the sixth James Hinchcliffe had to be restarted by the safety crew. After a short caution period to restart, we finally got ourselves a motor race. Well not quite. First we had a failed restart because the cars remaining failed to get in line before Marco Andretti led the pack on the restart once again from Simon Pagenaud and Sebastian Bourdais. The race restarted on lap 66 with Marco maintaining the lead from Pagenaud through the first two laps of the restart. On lap 68, going into Turn one. Pagenaud and Marco locked wheels and tapped each others car with the ensuring battle lasting through turns two and three with Pagenaud coming out ahead of Andretti. Bourdais then made his way around Andretti by turn four and set off after leader Simon Pagenaud.
Bourdais joined battle with fellow compatriot Simon Pagenaud for the lead into turn one on the following lap, which resulted in Pagenaud clashing with Bourdais forcing Bourdais wide. This allowed Andretti and Newgarden to take advantage and pass the offline Dragon entry.
Newgarden and Marco ran side by side into turn one on the following lap. Marco locked the brakes allowing Newgarden to move up to second who then began his pursuit of Pagenaud, now some distance out front. Newgarden attempted to catch Pagenaud but but eventually settled for second as the tyres began to wear, allowing Pagenaud to take victory. Simon Pagenaud won the race, his second victory of the season for the Schmidt Hamilton Peterson HP Motorsports team with Newgarden finishing second, Celebrating his first podium finish in the Izod Indycar Series and his teams first since Kentucky 2011. Sebastian Bourdais of Dragon Racing rounded off the podium trio. Championship leader Helio Castroneves came home in ninth place.
It was a mad, crazy weekend, And I hope the driving standards are better for Houston and we can see some real decent racing, not endless cautions, I wonder if single file restarts would help?
Meanwhile at Baltimore, Great Britain’s Jack Hawksworth set pole and won the Firestone Indy lights support race.
You can follow Tom on Twitter.