2011 Honda Indy Toronto

The 2011 Honda Indy Toronto was the ninth round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season and took place on July 10, 2011, at the 1.755-mile (2.824 km) Exhibition Place temporary street circuit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dario Franchitti won the race, second was his teammate Scott Dixon, and Ryan Hunter-Reay came in third. Will Power took the 3 bonus points for winning pole and leading the most laps, but finished 24th after contact with championship rival Franchitti and Alex Tagliani.

Canada 2011 Honda Indy Toronto
Race details
9th round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season
DateJuly 10, 2011
Official nameHonda Indy Toronto
LocationStreets of Toronto
CourseTemporary street circuit
1.755 mi / 2.824 km
Distance85 laps
149.175 mi / 240.074 km
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 30 °C (86 °F); with temperatures dropping slightly to 24.8 °C (76.6 °F) by the end of the event[1]
Pole position
DriverWill Power (Team Penske)
Time59.5771
Fastest lap
DriverJustin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing)
Time1:00.6386 (on lap 83 of 85)
Podium
FirstDario Franchitti (Chip Ganassi Racing)
SecondScott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)
ThirdRyan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)

Classification

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Qualifying

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  • All cars were split into two groups of twelve, with the fastest six from each group going through to the "top 12" session. In this session, the fastest six cars progressed to the "Firestone Fast Six." The fastest driver in the final session claimed pole, with the rest of the cars lining up in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (fast six from 1–6, top 12 from 7–12 and round 1 from 13–24, with group 1 drivers occupying the odd-numbered grid positions, and group 2 drivers occupying the even-numbered grid positions.
Pos No. Driver Team Group 1[2] Group 2[3] Top 12[4] Fast 6[5]
1 12   Will Power Team Penske 59.3535 59.4191 59.5771
2 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 59.3859 59.3779 59.6646
3 10   Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 59.6454 59.5997 59.9000
4 27   Mike Conway Andretti Autosport 59.6286 59.4130 59.9326
5 38   Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing 59.7652 59.6519 1:00.0463
6 2   Oriol Servià Newman/Haas Racing 59.8327 59.6704 1:00.3341
7 19   Sébastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing 59.8988 59.8239
8 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 59.4830 59.8715
9 77   Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt Motorsports 59.8096 59.8901
10 6   Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 59.5159 59.9020
11 22   Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 59.5196 59.9636
12 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 59.7769 1:00.0115
13 06   James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas Racing 59.8346
14 14   Vítor Meira A. J. Foyt Enterprises 59.9869
15 34   Sebastián Saavedra (R) Conquest Racing 59.9389
16 82   Tony Kanaan KV Racing TechnologyLotus 1:00.0149
17 78   Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing 1:00.0806
18 59   E. J. Viso KV Racing TechnologyLotus 1:00.1191
19 5   Takuma Sato KV Racing TechnologyLotus 1:00.1003
20 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:00.1542
21 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:00.3438
22 4   J. R. Hildebrand (R) Panther Racing 1:00.4472
23 18   James Jakes (R) Dale Coyne Racing 1:00.6226
24 8   Paul Tracy Dragon Racing 1:00.4524
25 83   Charlie Kimball (R) Chip Ganassi Racing 1:00.6463
26 24   Ana Beatriz (R) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:00.7917

Race

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Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points
1 10   Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 85 1:56:32.1501 3 30 50
2 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 85 + 0.7345 2 0 40
3 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 85 + 6.0144 8 0 35
4 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 85 + 7.5671 20 0 32
5 14   Vítor Meira A. J. Foyt Enterprises 85 + 9.0117 14 0 30
6 19   Sébastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing 85 + 9.3114 7 0 28
7 6   Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 85 + 9.8735 10 0 26
8 4   J. R. Hildebrand (R) Panther Racing 85 + 14.1750 22 0 24
9 59   E. J. Viso KV Racing TechnologyLotus 85 + 14.7843 18 0 22
10 78   Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing 85 + 15.7603 17 0 20
11 24   Ana Beatriz (R) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 85 + 16.8992 26 0 19
12 2   Oriol Servià Newman/Haas Racing 85 + 19.8736 6 0 18
13 38   Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing 85 + 21.3123 5 23 17
14 06   James Hinchcliffe (R) Newman/Haas Racing 84 + 1 lap 13 0 16
15 22   Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 83 + 2 laps 11 0 15
16 8   Paul Tracy Dragon Racing 82 + 3 laps 24 0 14
17 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 81 + 4 Laps 12 0 13
18 18   James Jakes (R) Dale Coyne Racing 81 + 4 Laps 23 0 12
19 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 79 + 6 laps 21 0 12
20 5   Takuma Sato KV Racing TechnologyLotus 79 + 6 laps 19 0 12
21 83   Charlie Kimball (R) Chip Ganassi Racing 77 Contact 25 0 12
22 27   Mike Conway Andretti Autosport 76 Contact 4 0 12
23 77   Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt Motorsports 71 Contact 9 0 12
24 12   Will Power Team Penske 66 Contact 1 32 15
25 34   Sebastián Saavedra (R) Conquest Racing 43 Contact 15 0 10
26 82   Tony Kanaan KV Racing TechnologyLotus 2 Contact 16 0 10
[6]

Race summary

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Early in the race controversy brewed on lap 57 when Dario Franchitti appeared to have intentionally collided into championship contender Will Power. Power spun out and was later hit by Alex Tagliani. Power wrecked enough that he was taken out of the race. In an interview Power called Franchitti "a dirty driver who mouths off about everybody." and was also critical of Tagliani calling him a "wanker."[7][8][9]

A few moments following the wreck, the broadcasters announced that Franchitti was being issued a stop-and-go penalty for dirty driving & avoidable contact. However, it was later reported that the penalty was rescinded, outraging many fellow competitors and fans.[7][8]

Meanwhile, Alex Tagliani was launched into the air and out of the race by Danica Patrick on the 72nd lap, while a close battle between Toronto natives James Hinchcliffe and Paul Tracy resulted in a flat tire for Hinchcliffe and a damaged front wing for Tracy.[7][8]

Tracy's hopes for a hometown victory were wiped out after he bumped into Meira on the 45th lap, dropping the 42-year-old fan favorite three laps out of the pack to a 16th-place finish. James Hinchcliffe, meanwhile, finished 14th after being involved in a five-car collision when Andretti turned into Oriol Servia, resulting in a pileup that banged up Hinchcliffe, Servia and Charlie Kimball, and ended Mike Conway's day.

Patrick started 21st and was a nonfactor after a collision with Japan's Takuma Sato punctured one of her tires. She finished 19th, but could at least say she crossed the finish line.

Brazil's Tony Kanaan wasn't so fortunate nor was he a contender to win. He made an early exit after Australia's Ryan Briscoe clipped his back wheel rounding a corner, sending the Brazilian airborne into the wall just three laps after the start. Kanaan pointed at his head and yelled at Briscoe from the side of road as the Australian passed by his wrecked car.

Franchitti, meanwhile, dominated the race following the penalty's rescinding and took the lead from Graham Rahal with 15 laps to go and went on to win the controversial race. Fans booed and littered as Franchitti did donuts and drove into victory circle. When asked if there was a penalty that was rescinded, former race-car driver - now - race control director Al Unser Jr. said "There was never a penalty for the collision. There was never a penalized issue. We saw it as a simple racing accident...guys going for the same thing with one on the good end and one on the bad end, and emotions run high."

"I think it was a racing incident at best," Franchitti said in victory lane. "I don't think I'm known throughout the paddock as a driver who races people dirty. I will say, in his defense, had that happened to me today, I would have been steamed when I got out of the car too. Particularly if I'd crashed later in the race. ... I understand his anger, but hopefully when he watches the replay on television he'll realize it was a racing incident."

References

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  1. ^ "2011 Honda Indy Toronto weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
  2. ^ "Honda Indy Toronto: Qualifying, Round 1 – Group 1" (PDF). INDYCAR. July 9, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012. [permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Honda Indy Toronto: Qualifying, Round 1 – Group 2" (PDF). INDYCAR. July 9, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012. [permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Honda Indy Toronto: Qualifying – Top 12" (PDF). INDYCAR. July 9, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012. [permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Honda Indy Toronto: Qualifying – Fast 6" (PDF). INDYCAR. July 9, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012. [permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Honda Indy Toronto: Unofficial Lap Report" (PDF). INDYCAR. July 10, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 13, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c "Dario Franchitti survives to win third Honda IndyCar Toronto". 10 July 2011.
  8. ^ a b c "Dario Franchitti's Honda Indy Toronto win has Will Power fuming". 10 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Dario Franchitti wins wild, wreck-filled IndyCar race at Toronto". 11 July 2011.