The 2015 Honda Indy Toronto was an open-wheel motorsport event held at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada over June 12–14, 2015.[2] The event marked the 29th annual edition of the Toronto Indy, and the tenth round of the 2015 IndyCar Series season. The headline race on the Sunday was the 31st IndyCar race to be held at the 1.755-mile (2.824 km) street circuit.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 9th round of the 2015 IndyCar Series season | |
 | |
| Date | June 14, 2015 |
| Official name | Honda Indy Toronto |
| Location | Exhibition Place |
| Course | Temporary road course 1.755 mi / 2.824 km |
| Distance | 85 laps 149.175 mi / 240.04 km |
| Weather | Wet with temperatures reaching up to 22.3 °C (72.1 °F); dropping to 17.8 °C (64.0 °F) by the end of the event[1] |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Will Power (Team Penske) |
| Time | 59.4280 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:00.0651 (on lap 65 of 85) |
| Podium | |
| First | Josef Newgarden (CFH Racing) |
| Second | Luca Filippi (CFH Racing) |
| Third | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
Josef Newgarden led home teammate Luca Filippi for a CFH Racing 1–2 finish, with the podium completed by Team Penske driver Hélio Castroneves.[3] Championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya finished seventh, but his championship lead was reduced to twenty-seven[4] by his Penske teammate Will Power, who finished fourth.
Race background
editDue to Toronto hosting the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, the race – held traditionally in mid-July – was moved to June to avoid conflicting with the games. Exhibition Place was unavailable in July and August as it will be converted into Pan Am Park, in order to host various games events including beach volleyball, gymnastics and cycling.[5]
Honda Indy Toronto organizers had begun discussions with Canadian Tire Motorsport Park about moving the IndyCar race to its permanent motorsports facility located north of Bowmanville, Ontario for one year in the event that a replacement date at Exhibition Place could not be found.[6][7][8] It would have been the first IndyCar race to have been held at the venue formerly known as Mosport since the 1978 Molson Diamond Indy, won by Danny Ongais.[9]
An agreement was eventually made to host the race in June following the cancellation of the Grand Prix of Houston, with the Toronto Indy set to return to July for 2016.[10]
The weekend also included races for Indy Lights, the Pro Mazda Championship, the U.S. F2000 National Championship, SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Super Trucks, IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada and the Canadian Touring Car Championship.[11]
Report
editFree practice
editTwo practice sessions were held on Friday June 12, with Juan Pablo Montoya posting the fastest time in both practice sessions.[12] An additional practice session was held the next morning with Hélio Castroneves posting the best time.[13]
Qualifying
edit23 cars entered for qualifications for the race.[14] The format was for "shootout" qualification rounds later on Saturday afternoon to determine pole position and the starting positions for the rest of the field. Will Power secured the pole position with teammates Simon Pagenaud and Montoya landing the second and third positions for Team Penske, with Scott Dixon taking fourth position, completing the second row for Chip Ganassi Racing.[15]
| Pos | No. | Name | Grp. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 0:59.9492 | 0:59.8077 | 0:59.4280 | |||||
| 2 | 22 | 1 | 0:59.6180 | 0:59.7414 | 0:59.6095 | |||||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0:59.8253 | 0:59.4137 | 0:59.6242 | |||||
| 4 | 9 | 2 | 1:00.8694 | 0:59.8478 | 0:59.8879 | |||||
| 5 | 11 | 1 | 1:00.2929 | 0:59.8427 | 0:59.9012 | |||||
| 6 | 20 | 1 | 1:00.3469 | 0:59.8922 | 1:00.2312 | |||||
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 1:01.2514 | 0:59.8940 | ||||||
| 8 | 14 | 2 | 1:01.0631 | 0:59.9500 | ||||||
| 9 | 10 | 2 | 1:00.5227 | 1:00.0901 | ||||||
| 10 | 15 | 2 | 1:01.0274 | 1:00.1241 | ||||||
| 11 | 67 | 2 | 1:01.3474 | 1:00.1323 | ||||||
| 12 | 7 | 1 | 1:00.3686 | 1:00.4576 | ||||||
| 13 | 26 | 1 | 1:00.6849 | |||||||
| 14 | 41 | 2 | 1:01.4569 | |||||||
| 15 | 83 | 1 | 1:00.8553 | |||||||
| 16 | 28 | 2 | 1:01.5959 | |||||||
| 17 | 8 | 1 | 1:00.9926 | |||||||
| 18 | 27 | 2 | 1:01.9907 | |||||||
| 19 | 5 | 1 | 1:01.2543 | |||||||
| 20 | 4 | 2 | 1:02.4000 | |||||||
| 21 | 19 | 1 | 1:01.5065 | |||||||
| 22 | 98 | 2 | 1:02.4016 | |||||||
| 23 | 18 | 2 | 1:05.0167 | |||||||
| Qualifications | ||||||||||
Race summary
editAt the start of the race, the track was still wet from a large thunderstorm which had moved through the area just before the start. As a result, all the cars started out on wet tires. Pole driver Will Power held the lead for the first 30 laps, with Simon Pagenaud trying to overtake him several times, until he pitted under the first of the race's two full course cautions, which came out due to James Jakes having minor contact and stalling at Turn 5.[16] As Power pitted, the lead passed on to Penske teammate Hélio Castroneves. Castroneves held the lead until the second full course caution, when debris from Stefano Coletti's car was left on circuit at Turn 8. Josef Newgarden took the lead before it passed to CFH Racing teammate Luca Filippi on lap 58, before Tony Kanaan took the lead on lap 60. Three laps later, Castroneves re-took the lead which he held for four laps. After pitting, the lead fell to rookie Rodolfo González who held the lead for five laps as Newgarden and Filippi battled for second position. Gonzalez was ultimately forced to pit for fuel which handed the lead back to Newgarden. Newgarden held the lead until the checkered flag, to take his second victory of 2015. Filippi followed him home in second, to record CFH Racing's first 1–2 finish, with Castroneves taking third for Team Penske.
Race results
edit| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
Championship standings after the race
edit
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
Media
editTelevision
editThe race was broadcast live by NBCSN in the United States and by Sportsnet on City and Sportsnet One in Canada.[18] The event was also televised internationally by ESPN's ESPN Player across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
| IndyCar Series on NBC | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth Announcers | Pit reporters | |
| Announcer | Leigh Diffey | Jon Beekhuis Robin Miller Kevin Lee Katie Hargitt |
| Color | Steve Matchett Paul Tracy | |
| IndyCar on Sportsnet | |
|---|---|
| Hosts | Pit reporters |
| Brad Fay Bill Adam |
Todd Lewis |
Radio
editThe race was broadcast on radio by the IndyCar Radio Network and simulcast on Sirius / XM satellite radio and IndyCar.com.
| IndyCar Radio Network | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booth Announcers | Turn Reporters | Pit reporters | ||
| Chief announcer | Paul Page | Turn 3 | Mark Jaynes | Nick Yeoman Rob Howden |
| Driver expert | Zach Veach | Turn 4 | Jake Query | |
Support race results
edit| Indy Lights | Pro Mazda | U.S. F2000 | Super Trucks | GT3 Cup Canada | CTCC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | ||||||
| Race 2 |
References
edit- ^ "2015 Honda Indy Toronto weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
- ^ Martin, Bruce (October 30, 2014). "IndyCar releases 17-race 2015 schedule set to kick off in March". Fox Sports. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ Glendenning, Mark (June 14, 2015). "Josef Newgarden and Luca Filippi get CFH one-two". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ^ Cavin, Curt (June 17, 2015). "IndyCar title looks like Montoya's to lose". The Indianapolis Star. Karen Ferguson, Gannett Company. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
But Montoya will be in the mix to win at least half the remaining races, which gives him a great chance of holding what is currently a 27-point lead.
- ^ Doolittle, Robyn (May 11, 2012). "Pan Am games shifts focus to Exhibition Place for 2015". The Toronto Star. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ "Green Savoree Racing Promotions and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Update". hondaindytoronto.com. August 29, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ DiZinno, Tony (July 22, 2014). "Realistically, could Toronto IndyCar shift date to CTMP?". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ McDonald, Norris (August 24, 2014). "Racing roundup: War at Mercedes and Honda Indy to Mosport?". The Toronto Star / wheels.ca. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ Glendenning, Mark (August 30, 2014). "Ex-F1 venue Mosport could be IndyCar's 2015 Toronto race stand-in". Autosport.com. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
- ^ McDonald, Norris (October 29, 2014). "Honda Indy Toronto to be held June 12–14 at Exhibition Place". The Toronto Star / wheels.ca. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ "Green Savoree signs partnership with Andersen, Mazda Road to Indy". Motorsport.com. November 11, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ "Combined Results of Practice as of Practice 2" (PDF). www.indycar.com. IndyCar. June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
- ^ "Combined Results of Practice Session 3" (PDF). www.indycar.com. IndyCar. June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
- ^ "Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto Entrant List" (PDF). www.indycar.com. IndyCar. June 9, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ "Qualifying Results" (PDF). www.indycar.com. IndyCar. June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
- ^ McDonald, Norris (June 14, 2015). "Josef Newgarden takes Honda Indy Toronto checkered flag in exciting race". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
- ^ "INDYCAR announces post-Toronto infraction". IndyCar.com. IndyCar. June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
- ^ DiZinno, Tony (October 30, 2014). "2015 IndyCar schedule officially revealed; 17 races including 12 on NBCSN". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
External links
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