IndyCars - Detroit: Dual duels on Belle Isle...and SportsCars, too

[MarkyS]

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This weekend, the IndyCars come out to do a double-header on Belle Isle, as they do…

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

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The venue is the street course set up on Belle Isle, a Michigan state park in the middle of the Detroit River and connected to Detroit by the MacArthur bridge. The 2.35-mile, 13-turn circuit presents numerous challenges to drivers – from hard braking zones to speedy straights. IndyCar has been doing the double-header on Belle Isle since 2013.

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There will be plenty of fans in attendance this weekend, and they will get to see 5 major races. They include 2 rounds of Indy Lights racing on Saturday and Sunday, an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday afternoon and the 2 IndyCar races on Saturday and Sunday, 70 laps each.

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Let’s look at Indy Lights and the WeatherTech series…

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(continued…)

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M

[MarkyS]

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Other racing, this weekend…

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Indy Lights is the top rung of the Road to Indy ladder system that trains IndyCar drivers and a fitting series to prepare to drive an IndyCar in battle. The car is the all-carbon composite Dallara IL-15. It has a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine, turbo-charged, like the big cars, and produces 450 hp with additional power available with Push-to-Pass, again, just like the big cars. It has the most wing and biggest tires of any car in the Road to Indy and so the most downforce, braking and grip. It also has much more downloadable information available for engineers to use, and as such is an important training tool for them, too. The drivers come from all over the world to compete and are usually among the highest level of junior formula drivers anywhere. The field will be relatively small, but the value of Indy Lights is evident when looking at the roster in IndyCars, where so many of the drivers are former Lights pilots, including many former champions.

After 6 rounds, the points leader is sophomore David Malukas for HMD Motorsports, who WON Round 6 and was P2 in Round 5 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on the Road Course in early May. Save the first race of the season, where he was knocked off course at the start, David hasn’t finished any worse than P3 all year, with 5 podiums and 3 WINS. Hot on him is teammate and rookie Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports. Linus has 4 podiums, with 2 WINS, including Round 5 at Indy.

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David Malukas in his HMD Motorsports Dallara IL-15

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The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - The premiere SportsCar series in North America, featuring both GT cars of Pro and Pro/Am classes, and prototype cars, again of Pro and Pro/Am classes, and all racing on the same track at the same time, making for a challenge for all. This weekend, the TOP DPi class prototypes will run, as well as the Pro/Am GTD class, made up of the best GT3-spec race cars in the world. In addition, the two GTLM-class Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs of Corvette Racing will race in a non-points-paying capacity, as a tribute to race sponsor Chevrolet, as the Pro GTLM class ends their participation in the WeatherTech series.

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Leading the points in the DPi class at the moment are Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor in the # 10 Acura ARX-05 for Wayne Taylor Racing, with WINS at Daytona and Mid-Ohio. On their tails are Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis in the # 55 Mazda RT24-P for Mazda Motorsports.

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The DPi class points-leading Acura ARX-05 for Wayne Taylor Racing, with Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor.

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Leading the points in the GTD class are Robby Foley and the great Bill Auberlen who drive for Turner Motorsport in the # 96 BMW M6 GT3. They are coming off the class WIN at Mid-Ohio - Bill’s 63rd race WIN and a new series record. Coming for them are Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn, who drive the # 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

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The GTD class points-leading # 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley

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Leading the points in the GTLM class at the moment are Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the # 3 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing with the WIN at Daytona. Again, this is more of a demonstration race, with no points paid.

The GTLM class points-leading Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing, with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor

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Friday will be a day of practice for all, with the Indy Lights and the IMSA gang also holding qualifying in the afternoon. Let’s GET THIS GOING!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday on Belle Isle - The WeatherTech gang hold practice…

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The WeatherTech SportsCars racing this weekend were the first on track for practice today, with a session in the morning and another in the midday. We have the TOP THREE from the DPI class and the GTD class, and the fastest of the two Corvettes from the GTLM class, all from the P-2 session, in which everyone was faster than in P-1.

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DPi class - The TOP DAWG of the day in practice was Kevin Magnussen in the # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing, with a time of 1:20.068s for a speed of 105.660mph. Kevin bested IndyCar driver Pipo Derani in the # 31 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express by a tiny 0.158 seconds. 3rd went to Loic Duval in the # 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac for JDC-Miller Motorsports.

Kevin shares the CGR Caddy with Renger van der Zande while Pipo shares the Whelen Caddy with Felipe Nasr. Loic’s co-driver is IndyCar driver Tristan Vautier. Loic and Tristan WON at Sebring this year, with help from IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais.

The # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing - TOPS in practice

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GTD class - The HOT SHOE for the day was IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth in the # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan with a time of 1:30.495s for a speed of 93.485mph. Jack got on top of Richard Heistand in the # 39 Audi R8 LMS GT3 for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing by 0.205 seconds. 3rd fastest on the day was Mario Farnbacher in the # 76 Acura NSX GT3 for Compass Racing.

Jack’s co-driver is fellow IndyCar guy Aaron Telitz while Richard’s co-driver is Jeff Westphal. Mario shares the Acura with Jeff Kingsley.

The # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan - TOPS in practice

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GTLM class - The best 'Vette in practice was the # 4 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing driven by Tommy Milner to a time of 1:28.130s for a speed of 95.994mph. Tommy got the better of Antonio Garcia in the # 3 Corvette for Corvette Racing by 0.156 seconds.

Tommy’s co-driver is Nick Tandy while Antonio’s co-driver is Jordan Taylor.

The # 4 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing - TOPS in practice

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The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship cars will qualify for Saturday’s race a little bit later in the day. Next up, the Indy Lights hold their one and only practice for the weekend…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday morning at Belle Isle - the Indy Lights hold practice…

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This session is very important, as it will be the only one for the weekend and not a single driver in the field has ever driven a Lights car at Belle Isle before. It’s learning time for everyone.

Here was the order of speed for the Indy Lights, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport - time of 01:24.2423s for a speed of 100.425mph

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2 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.3030s for a speed of 100.352mph

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3 - Alex Peroni [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 01:24.5455s for a speed of 100.064mph

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4 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Racing - time of 01:24.7063s for a speed of 99.875mph

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5 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:24.7407s for a speed of 99.834mph

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6 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport
7 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
8 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports
9 - Nikita Lastochkin [R], HMD Motorsports
10 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

11 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Racing
12 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development
13 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports

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Notable:

• Points-leader David Malukas only got in 4 laps before tagging the wall in Turn 13, doing substantial damage to the car. The team is working hard to get the car ready for qualifying but David will have to go in without any real feel for the track.

• With David off the track putting Kyle Kirkwood P1 in practice is a no-brainer. He has as much or more street course experience as anyone in the field and some of these guys have virtually none.

• Alex Peroni is quickly establishing himself as the real season sleeper. No one was sure what to excpect from him, but he has performed very well up to now and is becoming a legitimate contender for race WINS.

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Kyle Kirkwood - the no-brainer leader of the pack

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The Lights will have about 4 hours to adjust their cars before qualifying for Race 1 of the weekend. That will be up next…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at Belle Isle - the Indy Lights qualify for Race 1 of the weekend…

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The Lights were the first series to qualify for a race this weekend. In the Road to Indy each race of a double-header weekend gets its own qualifying session. It takes more time and effort, but it allows teams to adjust their cars for each session.

Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Round 7, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport - time of 01:23.2582s for a speed of 101.612mph

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P2 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:23.4298s for a speed of 101.403mph

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Row 2

P3 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Racing - time of 01:23.5363s for a speed of 101.273mph

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P4 - Alex Peroni [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 01:23.8502s for a speed of 100.894mph

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Row 3

P5 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:24.0287s for a speed of 100.680mph

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P6 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.0650s for a speed of 100.636mph

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Row 4

P7 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports
P8 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Racing
P10 - Nikita Lastochkin [R], HMD Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
P12 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

Row 7

P13 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

• Kyle took pole early in the session, but late, Linus bested him, as did Toby Sowery, but in the final minute of qualifying the kid from Florida retook the pole. This is Kirkwood’s 2nd pole of the season. His last was at St. Pete, and he WON that race.

• Linus Lundqvist didn’t qualify that well at St. Pete - his first two street course races, ever - but he’s learned a lot since then and the wunderkind from Sweden is stellar on the Isle.

• Despite losing almost all practice time due to his morning shunt, David Malukas looked great out there and put himself in the TOP FIVE in his repaired Dallara.

• Juncos Racing lost their chief engineer, Tim Neff, this weekend. Tim has acquired the assets of Belardi Auto Racing and has started his own team, TJ Speed Motorsports, which is currently competing in Formula Regionals America, but will enter Indy Lights competition in 2022. In the mean time, Ricardo Juncos has taken over engineering duties at Juncos Racing - a job he is familiar with. If that worries Toby Sowery, it didn’t show in qualifying.

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Tim Neff - Engineer turned team owner

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Race 1, a 25-lapper, is scheduled for just after Noon on Saturday. Next up, the WeatherTech gang qualify for Saturday’s race…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday at Belle Isle - the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series qualifies…

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…for Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic and we have the TOP THREE qualifiers for both DPi class and GTD class here, as well as the TOP Corvette qualifier in the GTLM class non-points-paying effort:

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DPi class - On the pole in his first WeatherTech P1 start is Formula One ex-pat Kevin Magnussen in the # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing with a time of 1:20.031s for a speed of 105.709mph. Kevin bested Harry Tincknell in the # 55 Mazda RT24-P for Mazda Motorsports by a TEENSY 0.021 seconds. Starting 3rd will be the # 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, thanks to the efforts of IndyCar driver Pipo Derani.

Kevin’s co-driver is Renger van der Zande while Harry’s co-driver is Oliver Jarvis. Pipo shares the Whelen Caddy with Felipe Nasr.

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The # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing - on the pole

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Kevin Magnussen

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GTD class, position - On the pole for position is Richard Heistand, who took the # 39 Audi R8 LMS GT3 for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing to a time of 1:30.529s for a speed of 93.450mph. Richard was able to edge out Frankie Montecalvo in the # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan by 0.088 seconds. Starting 3rd will be Roman De Angelis in the # 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Heart Of Racing Team.

Richard shares the Audi with Jeff Westphal while Frankie shares the Lexus with IndyCar driver and broadcaster Townsend Bell. Roman’s co-driver is Ross Gunn.

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The # 39 Audi R8 LMS GT3 for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing - on the pole

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Richard Heistand

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GTD class, points - On the pole for points is Mario Farnbacher in the # 76 Acura NSX GT3 for Compass Racing, with a time of 1:29.871s for a speed of **94.134mph.**Mario beat out Ross Gunn in the # 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Heart Of Racing Team by 0.123 seconds. 3rd in points for the start is IndyCar driver Townsend Bell in the # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan.

Mario shares the Acura with Jeff Kingsley while Ross shares the Aston Martin with Roman De Angelis. Townsend’s co-driver in the Lexus is Frankie Montecalvo.

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Mario Farnbacher - on pole for points.

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GTLM class - On the pole for position for Corvette Racing is Nick Tandy in the # 4 Corvette C8.R with a time of 1:27.283s for a speed of 96.926mph. Nick bettered Jordan Taylor in the # 3 C8.R by 0.323 seconds.

Nick’s co-driver is Tommy Milner while Jordan’s co-driver is Antonio Garcia.

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The # 4 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing - on the pole.

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Nick Tandy

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The Chevrolet SportsCar Classic is scheduled for broadcast on Saturday on NBC-SN, starting at 5:00pm EASTERN time, just after the IndyCar Race 1. Next up, the IndyCars hold their one and only practice session of the weekend…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday at Belle Isle - the IndyCars hold their practice for the weekend…

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Today’s practice was the only chance to get it right before Saturday’s morning qualifying effort for Race 1, to be held on Saturday afternoon. The TOP THREE getting it right indeed were two veterans who have had some bad luck up to now and a young sophomore who is representing the IndyCar youth movement very well, this season.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCar P-1 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:17.2768s for a speed of 109.477mph

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2 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises - time of 01:17.4291s for a speed of 109.261mph

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3 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:17.5143s for a speed of 109.141mph

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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:17.6178s for a speed of 108.996mph

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5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:17.6587s for a speed of 108.938mph

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6 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
7 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
8 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
9 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
10 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport

11 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
12 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
14 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
15 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
17 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
18 - Max Chilton, Carlin
19 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
20 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan

21 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
22 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
23 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
24 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
25 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Notable:

• Power has had damnable luck for most of the season but he proved here once again what a force he is to be reckoned with. When all is right with him, he is formidable. He was fastest for most of the session and put in his best lap at the end of it.

• Like Power, Bourdais has had very bad luck, being taken out by others at critical times, but give him some space to move and he can be unbeatable and a savior for AJ Foyt Enterprises. With 25 cars on track this weekend, finding space to shine will be difficult for all.

• Pato added his Chevrolet to Will’s and Sebastien’s cars, in homage to the race sponsors. The first Honda was Scott Dixon.

• Santino Ferrucci had the two races at Belle Isle added to his workload only after a great showing at the Indy 500, where he went from P23 to P6. He will need to do better than this to excite Hy-Vee Groceries - his sponsor - into even more appearances, this season.

• The mean streets of Belle Isle were unkind to rookies Jimmie Johnson and Scott McLaughlin, both of whom spun and brought out red flags in the session. Jimmie hit nothing but had to sit out his 5 minute penalty for the flag, while Scott hit the wall and suffered some damage. Neither can afford the lack of time on track.

• Rinus VeeKay also took an off-road excursion during practice and even took flight for a time but skillful driving and a bit of luck from the racing gods kept him off the wall. Rookie Romain Grosjean also displayed fast hands and feet to keep himself from disaster.

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Rinus takes a trip

INDYCAR on NBC

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Romain learns all about Michigan pavement

INDYCAR on NBC

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Will Power - Have no doubt. It’s all there, still

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The IndyCars will qualify for Race 1 in the late morning and then race in the mid afternoon. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Belle Isle - The Indy Lights hold their second qually…

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First out on the track this morning was the gang from Indy Lights, qualifying for Race 2, to be held on Sunday.

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Here is the grid for Indy Lights Season Round 8, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:23.5678s for a speed of 101.235mph

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P2 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:23.7287s for a speed of 101.041mph

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Row 2

P3 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport - time of 01:23.9163s for a speed of 100.815mph

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P4 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.3663s for a speed of 100.277mph

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Row 3

P5 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.5082s for a speed of 100.109mph

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P6 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Racing - time of 01:24.6706s for a speed of 99.917mph

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Row 4

P7 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports
P8 - Alex Peroni [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 5

P9 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
P10 - Nikita Lastochkin [R], HMD Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Racing
P12 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 7

P13 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

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Notable:

• Early in the session Antonio Serravalle found the wall in a turn and brought out a red flag to retrieve his stricken machine, nosed into the tires. By the time it was cleared there were only 8 minutes left in the session and there was a mad scramble to qualify, with the top spot changing many times.

• With about 20 seconds remaining Devlin DeFrancesco hit the wall in about the same spot as David Malukas had done yesterday. Dev did extensive damage to the left side of the machine and the Andretti guys will scramble to get it ready for Race 1, this Noonish. The crash ended the session immediately, with only the TOP FIVE covered by 1 second.

• The TOP THREE guys are also in the TOP THREE in points, so you are looking at your title contenders, right here, though in no particular order. Anyone of these guys has a shot at it.

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Linus Lundqvist - on pole for Race 2

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This grid is for Race 2 on Sunday but the Lights are scheduled to run Race 1 of the weekend at just after Noon today. Next up, the WeatherTech gang hold morning warm-up for the Chevrolet SportsCar Classic, to run late this afternoon - rain or shine…and it is likely to rain…

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[MarkyS]

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Satruday morning on Belle Isle - The WeatherTech gang hold their final warm-up…

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…for the Chevrolet SportsCar Classic, to run late this afternoon. The weather for the race is looking like rain, but the warm-up was in the dry - not so helpful. We have the TOP THREE from both DPi class and GTD class here. The two GTLM class Corvettes came out but only toodled around at a leisurely pace.

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DPi class - the RABBIT in warm-up was Brit Harry Tincknell in the # 55 Mazda RT24-P for Mazda Motorsports, with a time of 01:21.021 seconds. Harry bested Dane Cameron in the # 60 Acura ARX-05 for Meyer Shank Racing by 0.339 seconds. placing 3rd was IndyCar driver Tristan Vautier in the # 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi V.R for JDC-Miller Motorsports.

Harry shares the Mazda with fellow Brit Oliver Jarvis while Dane shares the Acura with Frenchman Olivier Pla. Tristan’s co-driver is fellow Frenchman Loic Duval.

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The # 55 Mazda RT24-P for Mazda Motorsports - quickest in warm-up

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Harry Tincknell

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GTD class - the HOT SHOE for the class in warm-up was IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth in the # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan with a time of 01:30.494 seconds. Jack beat out Bill Auberlen in the # 96 BMW M6 GT3 for Turner Motorsport by 0.183 seconds. 3rd quickest in warm-up was Ross Gunn in the # 23 Aston Martin Vantage for Heart of Racing Team.

Jack’s co-driver is fellow IndyCar guy Aaron Telitz while Bill’s co-driver in the Bimmer is Robby Foley. Ross shares the Aston with Roman De Angelis.

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The # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan - quickest in warm-up

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Jack Hawksworth

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Next up, the IndyCars qualify for Race 1 of the weekend…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Belle Isle - The IndyCars are qualified for Race 1…

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…to be run later today. The qualifying format was shortened a bit, due to the compressed schedule of the double header weekend. Instead of three sessions that whittle down to the Firestone Fast Six, there were just two sessions and the Firestone Fast Twelve competed for pole.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for season Round 7, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:15.5776s for a speed of 111.938mph

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P2 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.6584s for a speed of 111.818mph

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Row 2

P3 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 01:15.7433s for a speed of 111.693mph

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P4 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan - time of 01:15.8119s for a speed of 111.592mph

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Row 3

P5 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:15.8697s for a speed of 111.507mph

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P6 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:16.0832s for a speed of 111.194mph

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Row 4

P7 - Will Power, Team Penske
P8 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
P10 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 6

P11 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
P12 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 7

P13 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
P14 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 8

P15 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P16 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 9

P17 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
P18 - Max Chilton, Carlin

Row 10

P19 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P20 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 11

P21 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
P22 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 12

P23 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
P24 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske

Row 13

P25 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• This is Pato’s 3rd pole of the season and gives him 1 valuable point to catch and match Scott Dixon for 2nd in the current points. He set the fastest lap with about a minute to go, and despite attempts to dethrone him, he held on to it.

• What a great session for Dale Coyne Racing, to have the 2nd row sewn up. Ed Jones was quick all during the sessions but Romain Grosjean just has no business being this quick on a totally new and extremely difficult track. He led the session until O’Ward stole it at the end, with Rossi following him through.

• Conversely, Rahal Letterman Lanigan is struggling and has all three cars mired in the back end, with Takuma Sato best at a P16 start.

• Points leader Alex Palou also struggled, and to make matters worse, he will incur a 6-spot penalty for a late engine change at the Indy 500 that will put him last on the grid for the start of the race.

Alex Palou

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC starting at 2:00PM eastern TIME. Next up, the Indy Lights hold Race 1 of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 5…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Belle Isle - the Indy Lights race…

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…was a solid and error-free drive from pole to victory for rookie Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport. Making it dangerous the whole way was P2 starter, finisher and fellow rookie Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports. P3 went to P3 starter and sophomore Toby Sowery for Juncos Racing.

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The race started with Christian Bogle for Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development getting tapped in the rear into a spin that sent him to the pits, to rejoin later 3 laps down. Rob Megennis for Andretti got by Benjamin Pedersen for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports to take over P7. On lap 2 Sting Ray Robb for Juncos Racing took 9th from Nikita Lastochkin for HMD Motorsports, with Devlin DeFrancesco quickly foolowing Robb through and relegating Nikita to P11. By lap 6 Kyle had pulled out a 1.2 second lead over Linus, who was battling with Toby for the P2 spot. By lap 8 Kirkwood was more than the 1.5 seconds ahead he needed to be to keep Linus from being able to use Push-to-Pass to attack.

Over the next several laps Toby and Linus traded the race Fastest Lap until by lap 17 Linus not only had it, but was again putting Kirkwood in danger of getting passed, and Lundqvist began to inch forward on him. By lap 18 he was only 1.07 seconds back. A lap later he was only .86 seconds back. On lap 19 Linus erred, and dropped back a bit to 1.5 seconds back, but by lap 22 he was again only 1.2 seconds back. On the same lap Alex Peroni for Carlin / JHDD was all over Toby, trying to take P3, while Danial Frost for Andretti was also all over David Malukas for HMD Motorsports trying to get the P5 spot. The racing had tightened up, substantially.

On the penultimate lap Linus reset Fastest Lap and inched to .74 seconds off Kirkwood while Devlin got by Sting Ray, making contact on the way, to take over P8 with Nikita following through and leaving Robb in P10. On the final lap Devlin again took a spot past Rob Megennis for P7. Linus made his last attempt to close and pass all around the cicuit but Kyle held him off, WINNING by a half second, with Lundqvist on his gearbox. Toby came home 5 seconds off Linus.

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Notable:

• Kirkwood attributed much of his success to the data he was able to acquire from the Andretti big car squad. It pays to run a Lights car when you are also running big cars.

• Despite having Push-to-Pass available to him for much of the race, Lundqvist found that at Detroit it is easier to catch up than it is to pass, as the straights are not long. Heroics are often not rewarded. Better to wait for the mistakes of others to provide opportunities…But Kirkwood made no mistakes.

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Your happy podium - That’s Linus Lundqvist on the left in P2, Kyle Kirkwood in the middle in P1 and Toby Sowery on the right in P3:

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…and the now-traditional bath in the James Scott Memorial Fountain:

INDY NXT

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The Lights will race again on Sunday morning, right after the IndyCars qualify for Race 2. Next up, the IndyCar Race 1. The grid for this is in post # 10…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday on Belle Isle - IndyCar Race 1…You want yer drama???..

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…well, we got yer DRAMA!!. This one will go down as one of the most memorable races of the year, as it had damn near everything you can see from a race - great passing, great competition, anger and aggression, pushing and shoving, a major shunt and a minor shunt, TWO red flags, a three-lap dash to the finish, a near-sure WIN taken away by a mechanical and another NEW IndyCar WINNER - the 7th different WINNER in 7 races and the 4th first-timer on the year.

When the checkered flag finally flew the first-time WINNER was 3rd-year pilot Marcus Ericsson for Chip Ganassi Racing from his P15 start. P2 went to Rinus VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing from a P12 start while holding off a hard-charging Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP in P3 from his pole position.

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The eventual NBC highlight reel will tell much of the story but a main moment was the huge crash of Felix Rosenqvist for Arrow McLaren SP who was approaching Turn 6 when his throttle stuck wide open, sending him into a tire barrier and wall so hard that he pushed the concrete ARMCO barrier over, with is Chevrolet ending up at a 45-degree angle on top of the mess. It took the AMR Safety Team several minutes to carefully extricate the Swede, who appeared to be in a lot of pain but concious and able to move all his extremities. Felix went to the infield care center and then on to an area hospital for a better check, but IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows was encouraging about his condition.

The shunt brought out a red flag to clean up the mess and repair the wall. Upon resuming the race, the field had been shaken up substantially by the timing of the full-course caution and red flag. Eventually, it was clear that Will Power for Team Penske was in the cat-bird seat and he led most of the back half of the race, with Ericsson in close pursuit. With 6 laps to go Romain Grosjean for Dale Coyne had a front tire let go, sending him into the wall. The race was immediately red flagged again, to allow for a decent finish under green.

As Power sat on the pit lane in the front of the field, apparently his engine’s ECU fried under the hot conditions and when the race was ready to restart his engine would not fire. After a few attempts to get it lit, IndyCar ordered Ericsson and the rest of the field to pass around Power and resume the race. From there, Ericsson led the last few laps to the WIN with Pato O’Ward all over but unable to pass VeeKay.

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Marcus on his WIN:

INDYCAR on NBC

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Notable:

• Rahal Letterman Lanigan had the best day as a team, as they finished Takuma Sato P4, Graham Rahal P5 and Santino Ferrucci P6, from P16, P20 and P22 respectively.

• Eventually, we got word from Felix himself that he is mighty sore, but otherwise okay. For the race tomorrow, Arrow McLaren SP has asked Oliver Askew - the car’s driver from 2020 - to fill in for Felix and Oliver will be there.

Oliver Askew

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Here was Will Power’s reaction to the end of the race:

INDYCAR on NBC

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And here is the traditional bath…

Chip Ganassi Racing

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Next up, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon on Belle Isle - The Chevrolet SportsCar Classic…

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…gave Chip Ganassi Racing another WIN on the day as the # 01 Cadillac Dpi V.R for Cadillac Chip Ganassi took the DPi class and overall WIN on the streets of Belle Isle, with closer Renger van der Zande and starter Kevin Magnussen aboard, from pole. Coming in P2 in class and overall was the # 31 Whelen Cadillac of Action Express with closer Felipe Nasr and starter Pipo Derani, a former Indy Pro 2000 driver. P3 went to the # 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi for Wayne Taylor Racing of starter Ricky Taylor and closer Filipe Albuquerque.

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Caddy over Caddy at the finish

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The # 01 led from pole for 64 of the 66 laps of the race. A late-race caution with nine minutes to go bunched the field and set up a last-minute dash for the checkers. Meanwhile, CarBahn with Peregrine Racing scored a breakthrough victory in GTD class with closer Jeff Westphal and starter Richard Heistand in the # 39 Audi R8 LMS GT3. Starting from pole, Heistand held the class lead through his stint prior to the mid-race pit stop and driver change to Westphal, who maintained P1, chased by Bill Auberlen in the # 96 BMW for Turner Motorsport, until Auberlen lost power and stopped on track in the final nine minutes.

Taking over P2 in class to the end was the # 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of closer Ross Gunn and starter Roman De Angelis while P3 went to the # 19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Marco Mapelli and Misha Goikhberg.

The WIN by CarBahn w/Peregine Racing was their first in only their 2nd WeatherTech start.

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The CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi - GTD class WINNERS

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With these results the points leaders in Dpi class remain Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor. No points were awarded in GTD class.

Next up for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen at Watkins Glen, New York - the 3rd of four Michelin Endurance Cup races in the series. Supporting will be the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series.

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This was the last on-track activity of the day. Sunday will start with the IndyCars qualifying for Race 2, to be held later in the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Race Highlights from the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix, Race 1…

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NBC has released the highlight reel for Season Round 7:

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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This one had it all and all’s well that ends well, as Romain Grosjean is perfectly fine and Felix Rosenqvist is sore but otherwise fine. He may even come to the track to watch Oliver Askew drive his car in today’s race.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning on Belle Isle - The IndyCars qualify for Race 2…

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The weather is slightly cooler and will still be cooler than yesterday, come race time. Everyone needs that. With the aeroscreen, the cars are reaching 120 degrees in the driver’s seat.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for Season Round 8, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:14.1094s for a speed of 114.156mph

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P2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:14.4300s for a speed of 113.664mph

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Row 2

P3 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 01:14.8180s for a speed of 113.074mph

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P4 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:14.8432s for a speed of 113.036mph

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Row 3

P5 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 01:14.9060s for a speed of 112.942mph

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P6 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:14.9231s for a speed of 112.916mph

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Row 4

P7 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P8 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 5

P9 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P10 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske

Row 6

P11 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P12 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 7

P13 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P14 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Max Chilton, Carlin
P16 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 9

P17 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P18 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 10

P19 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Will Power, Team Penske

Row 11

P21 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
P22 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 12

P23 - Oliver Askew, Arrow McLaren SP
P24 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 13

P25 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Notable:

• Newgarden’s time was more than a second quicker than Pato O’Ward’s pole for Race 1 - the value of the extra 10 degrees cooler it was this morning compared to yesterday.

• Santino Ferrucci hit the wall hard in a last lap attempt to take pole. The crew will try to get him ready for the race, barring any tub damage.

• Pato O’Ward hit the wall slightly with his left rear and bent the tow link, ending his attempts one lap short of his goal.

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The IndyCars will do Race 2 - another 70 lapper - starting just before 1:00pm with broadcast on NBC starting at 12:00 Noon EASTERN time. Next up, the Indy Lights hold Race 2 of the weekend. The grid for this race is in post # 8…

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Belle Isle - The Indy Lights Race 2…

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…will be remembered for the passing, of which there was plenty in the race, all the way through the field. The most important passes were up front, where Kyle Kirkwood became the first driver to pass into the lead of a race all season, so far. He went on to WIN from his P3 start for Andretti Autosport, sweeping the weekend. Coming home P2 was pole-sitter Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports while P3 went to P2 starter David Malukas for HMD Motorsports.

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INDY NXT

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The first significant pass was at the drop of the green flag, when Kyle jumped on David Malukas and passed him for P2 at Turn 1-2, slotting in right behind pole-sitter Linus Lundqvist. At the same time Danial Frost for Andretti got by teammate Rob Megennis for P4, with Toby Sowery for Juncos Racing following, leaving Megennis in P6. Devlin DeFrancesco for Andretti Steinbrenner took P7 from Alex Peroni for Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development. On lap 2 Kyle made the move on Linus in Turn 7 and took the lead. He then set about trying to open up a gap, to make himself safe from Push-to-Pass from Linus.

On lap 4 Toby got by Danial to take P4. On lap 7 Devlin took P6 from Rob Megennis, with Alex Peroni trying to follow Devlin through, but unable to. On lap 8 a frustrated Peroni tried to make an outside pass on Megennis in Turn 3 but the car became unglued and went hard into the tire barriers, taking Alex out and bringing out the first full-course caution, bunching up the field. On the lap 12 restart Kyle made a great start, getting a small gap from Linus and he again started to open it up. On lap 13
Sting Ray Robb for Juncos was the next guy to get past Megennis for the P7 spot in Turn 7.

On lap 14 Christian Bogle for Carlin / JHDD began to move forward and took P10 from Nikita Lastochkin for HMD Motorsports in Turn 7. By lap 15 Kyle was once again more than 1.5 seconds in the lead and safe from Push-to-Pass from Linus, who was more concerned that David Malukas would get by him for P2. David was watching Toby Sowery in his mirrors, as well. It was tight up front. On lap 17 Benjamin Pederson for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports passed Megennis for P8 and 3 laps later Bogle was by Rob to take P9.

On lap 26 Danial Frost in P5 lost it in Turn 11 trying to chase down Toby and smacked the wall, bringing out the 2nd full-course caution. On the lap 30 restart - the final lap - Linus stuck close to Kyle and made a feint in Turn 1 to take the lead, but didn’t have enough to get by. As Kyle again motored off, Sting Ray Robb dropped from P6 to P10. Kyle took the checkered flag 1 second ahead of Linus, with David a half second behind the Swede.

A great passing duel throught the field.

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Notable:

• As noted, this was the first race of the season that the WINNER got there by passing the leader. The weekend sweep for Kirkwood puts him very close to the points lead. Kirkwood, Lundqvist and Malukas, now covered by 4 points, will be battling fot the title for the rest of the season.

• With his P2 Linus takes over the points lead by 1 point over David Malukas.

• This was the best race of the season for Cajun Christian Bogle who came home P7.

• Conversely, this was the worst race of the season for Alex Peroni, who drops out of the TOP FIVE in points with this DNF.

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Your happy podium - That’s Linus Lundqvist in P2 on the left, Kyle Kirkwood in P1 in the middle and David Malukas in P3 on the right:

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…and the bath in the James Scott Memorial Fountain…

Detroit Grand Prix

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Belle Isle:

1 - Linus Lundqvist, 191
2 - David Malukas, 190
3 - Kyle Kirkwood, 187
4 - Toby Sowery, 146
5 - Devlin DeFrancesco, 130

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The next two outings for the Indy Lights will be at Road America, June 17-20, where the full Road to Indy slate will be in support of the IndyCar race.

Next up, the IndyCars close out the weekend racing with Race 2. The grid for this is in post # 15…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Belle Isle - MAGICAL!..The IndyCar race nothing short of stunning…

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…and the main reason was the incredible drive of Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP from a P16 start to P1 with only two laps to go, after a dominating drive by Team Penske’s pole-sitter Josef Newgarden, who had to settle for P2 after leading 67 of the race’s count of 70 laps. Coming in P3 was Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing, from his P4 start.

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Team Penske’s strategy was to have Josef start the race on the better and longer-lasting primary black tires, stay with them for the 2nd stint and then switch to the mandatory alternate reds for the final hopefully shortest stint. It almost worked, as Newgarden was wonderful on the blacks, taking off to an eventual 12 second lead, but an errant wheel nut from Dalton Kellet’s AJ Foyt car on the end of pit lane forced Newgarden to pit earlier than he wanted to, in fear that a caution for Dalton’s car would bite him. (Kellett was cleared without one, after all). That eventually led up to Josef needing to drive on the alternates about 7 laps more than he wanted to at the race’s end and that sealed his fate.

O’Ward started the day on the alternates and he was immediately feisty, passing six cars and jumping to 10th in the opening five laps. For the rest of the day he was on the hunt and was in P5 when Romain GrosJean for Dale Coyne had a small brake fire and had to pull off, bringing out the final caution of the day, with 7 laps to go at the restart.

The conventional wisdom was that Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport in P2 was going to challenge Newgarden for the WIN, but when the race restarted O’Ward quickly dispatched Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan for P4 and then just as quickly took Alex Palou for P3 and Colton Herta for P2, a lap later. Colton tried to recover but locked up his tires and fell off the pace. Pato then went after Newgarden, who was visibly out of tires and he took him for the lead in Turn 7 on lap 68. (They bumped each other). While Pato motored off to a 6.7 second lead in the final two laps Palou took Herta for 3rd place.

STELLAR!!

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Notable:

• With the WIN Patricio becomes the first two-time WINNER in 2021 and takes over the series points lead by one point over Alex Palou. O’Ward has now WON on a super speedway and a street course. He only needs a natural road course to do the IndyCar trifecta.

• Pato revealed that he had spoken by phone to teammate Felix Rosenqvist, on the mend from his nasty shunt on Saturday, and promised to WIN the race for him. He did, as “…a man of my word!”

• Palou was glad to grab another podium and salvage the weekend after his P15 finish on Saturday, and lamented the loss of a 16-point lead in the series points, but happy it wasn’t worse.

• Deeply disappointed was Josef Newgarden who thought they had the best strategy, but also had rotten luck with the way the stints fell, due to the cautions. Team Penske has never had a drought this long in series WINS in a season. Almost as disappointed was Colton Herta, who also thought he had a WIN.

• Everyone wants to know what Arrow McLaren SP has found that allows them to have such great restarts on cold tires. It may be just that they found Pato O’Ward.

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Newgarden drips with disappointment:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Here is the post-race interview with Pato:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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…and the bath in the James Scott Memorial Fountain:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Finally, NBC’s highlight reel from the race…and it isn’t enough!

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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With these results, here are the TOP TEN in points leaving Belle Isle:

1 - Patricio O’Ward, 299
2 - Alex Palou, 298
3 - Scott Dixon, 263
4 - Josef Newgarden, 248
5 - Rinus VeeKay, 243
6 - Simon Pagenaud, 243
7 - Marcus Ericsson, 211
8 - Graham Rahal, 209
9 - Colton Herta, 202
10 - Takuma Sato, 181

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The next outing for the IndyCars is next weekend at Elhart Lake, as the IndyCars go to Road America, with full support from the Road to Indy, June 17-20.

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Thank you, Belle Isle, for a very dramatic weekend.

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