IndyCars - Detroit: Last rumble on the Isle

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Every year at this time the IndyCars head to Detriot’s Belle Isle for the first series race following the Indy 500. Next year, the race will return to the downtown streets of Detroit, so this year will be the last year for the beautiful state park to be the home of…

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

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The venue is the street course set up on the 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 and speedy straights, combined with bumps and tight corners. The IndyCars has been doing the race on Belle Isle since 2013, and many improvements and changes have been made to the track in that time, but it is still a bumpy and challenging course where passing will take courage. The races on Belle Isle have always been exciting as that courage is often displayed.

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This weekend IMSA joins the IndyCars for their own race, as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series will hold their own event on Saturday, with the top DPi class and the GTD class both racing at the same time. In addition, the Indy Lights will hold a double-header this weekend in support, with a race on Saturday and a race on Sunday. The IndyCar race will be on Sunday - the final event of the weekend.

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Let’s look at the other two series that will be on Belle Isle this weekend…

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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 4 rounds, the points leader is Swedish sophomore Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports, who WON Round 2 at Barber Motorsports Park and Round 4 at the GMR Grand Prix on the Road Course at Indianapolis in early May.

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Linus Lundqvist

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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. There are a number of former and even 1 current IndyCar driver racing in the IMSA race, this weekend.
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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 Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio and a podium at Daytona. On their tails are Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis in the # 60 Acura for Meyer Shank Racing, but Belle Isle has always favored Cadillacs and there are 4 Caddys in this race, this weekend.
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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 is Brit Stevan McAleer in the # 32 Mercedes AMG GT3 for Team Korthoff Motorsports, leading with consistency, rather than race WINS. Stevan is paired with Mike Skeen. Hot on Stevan’s tail, however, are former IndyCar driver Jan Heylen and his co-driver Ryan Hardwick in the # 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with WINS at Daytona and Laguna Seca.

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Stevan McAleer - a 12-point lead

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Friday will be a day of practice for all three series competing this weekend. Let’s get this thing GOING!!

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[MarkyS]

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Friday morning on Belle Isle - The IMSA gang hold two practice sessions…

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Both classes racing this weekend of the WeatherTech series were on track for a morning 90-minute session and a mid-day 2-hour session. Everyone went faster in the P-2 session, and we have the TOP THREE performers from each class in that session here:

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DPi class - TOPS for the day was IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais in the # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R for Chip Ganassi’s Cadillac Racing with a time of 1:19.307 seconds for a speed of 106.674mph. Sebastien bested Ricky Taylor in the # 10 Acura ARX-05 for Wayne Taylor Racing by 0.213 seconds. Posting 3rd was Alex Lynn in the # 02 Cadillac for Chip Ganassi.

Sebastien shares the # 01 Caddy with Renger van der Zande while Ricky shares the # 10 with Filipe Albuquerque. Co-driver in the # 02 with Alex is Earl Bamber, who TOPPED the P-1 session.

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

Sebastien Bourdais

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GTD class - TOPS in practice for the day was current IndyCar driver and Indy Lights Champion Kyle Kirkwood in the # 17 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan with a time of 01:29.993 seconds for a speed of 94.007mph. Kyle got the better of both Mike Skeen in the # 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Team Korthoff Motorsports and IndyCar driver Jan Heylen in the # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports - virtually tied on time, a mere 0.003 seconds back in remarkable parity between the TOP THREE cars!

Kyle is subbing for IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth, who has a hand injury from a motorcycle accident. His co-driver in the Lexus is Ben Barnicoat, while Mike shares the Mercedes with points-leader Stevan McAleer and Jan shares the Porsche with Ryan Hardwick.

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The # 17 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan - TOPS in practice…barely!

Kyle Kirkwood

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The IMSA gang will come out for qualifying late in the day, today. Next up, the Indy Lights hold their one and only practice session…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday at Belle Isle - The Indy Lights hold practice…

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The Lights will have just this one session before qualifying on Saturday morning, so it’s important to get things right for a race-pace set-up that has also to be fast enough to grid well.

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

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1 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:22.8943s for a speed of 102.058mph

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2 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:21.0010s for a speed of 101.926mph

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3 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 1:21.1351s for a speed of 101.762mph

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4 - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:21.2477s for a speed of 101.624mph

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5 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:21.4802s for a speed of 101.341mph.

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6 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
7 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports
8 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports
9 - Kyffin Simpson [R], TJ Speed Motorsports
10 - Antonio Serravalle, HMD Motorsports

11 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
12 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy
13 - James Roe [R], TJ Speed Motorsports
14 - Ryan Phinny, Abel Motorsports

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Notable:

• For most of the 1-hour session HMD Motorsports boys Linus Lunqvist and Benjamin Pedersen led the parade, but in the last ten minutes Brabham and then Robb for Andretti went to the top and stayed there, with teammate Hunter McElrea pulling in 3rd in the last lap.

• Sting Ray was the only guy to top 102 miles per hour on speed. In 2021 Sting Ray posted P10 in both races, so he has learned a lot to be leading this group.

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Sting Ray Robb

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The Indy Lights will qualify on Saturday morning for Race 1 for 12 minutes and then qualify for Race 2 in another 12-minute session. Race 1 will then be held midday on Saturday. Next up, the IndyCars hold their first practice session…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday at Belle Isle - The IndyCars get their first bite of the apple…

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…as they do the P-1 practice session on a windy afternoon. Kyle Kirkwood posted the fastest GTD-class lap in the IMSA practice session for Vasser Sullivan, earlier today, and then he did the same for AJ Foyt Enterprises in the IndyCar session.

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

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1 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises - time of 01:16.1345s for a speed of 111.119mph

2 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:16.1556s for a speed of 111.088mph

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3 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:16.5146s for a speed of 110.567mph

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4 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:16.6177s for a speed of 110.418mph

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5 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:16.6574s for a speed of 110.361mph

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6 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
7 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
8 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
9 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
10 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
12 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
13 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
14 - Will Power, Team Penske
15 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
16 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
17 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
18 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
19 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
22 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Santino Ferrucci, Juncos Hollinger Racing
24 - Tatiana Calderon [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
26 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

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Notable:

• Kirkwood lingered near the top for most of the session, then dropped to P17 about 3/4ths through and then laid down a flier with three minutes to go to steal the show from former race WINNER Pato O’Ward, who had been on top for about half the session.

• Alexander Rossi came to the TOP TWO for most of the session, as if to say, “Hello, my 2023 teammate” to Pato, as well as “Goodbye, and thanks” to his current team at Andretti Autosport.

• Former race WINNER Marcus Ericsson was also a bottom-lingerer for much of the session, but near the end he put in a great lap, despite a very hectic week of media after his Indy 500 WIN. The guy hasn’t forgotten how to go fast, here.

• Andretti put three of four cars in the TOP TEN with Devlin DeFrancesco in P13, while Meyer Shank put both their cars in the TOP TEN. Ganassi was able to get two of four in the TOP TEN with Alex Palou in P-12 and Jimmie Johnson in P25. Scott McLaughlin was the best Penske car and the only one on the TOP TEN. Struggling across the board are the three guys from Rahal Letterman Lanigan and the two guys from Ed Carpenter, while Dale Coyne Racing is a mixed bag.

• Returning to action this weekend is Tatiana Calderon for AJ Foyt and in for injured Callum Ilott at Juncos Hollinger is Santino Ferrucci.

• In the pits at Ed Carpenter Racing to observe was Simona de Silvestro, who will return to IndyCar racing next weekend at Road America, as part of an Ed Carpenter / Paretta Autosport joint venture.

• About halfway through the session Felix Rosenqvist found the tire barrier at Turn 1 and slapped it hard enough to end his practice and bring out a red flag to clean it up.

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Felix Rosenqvist (left) and Simona de Silvestro

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Kyle Kirkwood - TOPS in two series in one day!

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The IndyCars will come back out for their 2nd practice session on Saturday morning, before they qualify later in the day. Next, the IMSA gang qualify for Saturday’s Chevrolet SportsCar Classic…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Belle Isle - The IMSA gang qualify…

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…for Saturday’s Chevrolet SportsCar Classic, and two IndyCar guys grab the class poles.

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DPi class - Pole was taken by IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais - his 4th pole of the season - in the # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Racing with a time of 1:18.818s for a speed of 107.335mph, despite brushing a wall a few laps before his pole-setting lap. Sebastien bested Tom Blomqvist in the Meyer Shank Racing # 60 Acura ARX-05 by 0.110 seconds. Starting third will be Ricky Taylor in the # 10 Acura for Wayne Taylor Racing.

Seb shares the Caddy with Renger van der Zande while Tom shares the Meyer Shank Acura with Oliver Jarvis. Ricky’s co-driver in the WTR Acura is Filipe Albuquerque.

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Sebastien Bourdais - 4th pole of 5 season races

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GTD class - IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood - like Sebastien Bourdais - backed up his TOP practice speed with pole for the # 17 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan with a time of 1:29.096s for a speed of 94.953mph. Kyle beat out Roman de Angelis in the # 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 by 0.118 seconds. Starting 3rd will be Madison Snow in the # 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3.

Kyle is sharing the Lexus with Brit Ben Barnicoat while Roman is sharing the Aston with Ross Gunn. Madison’s co-driver in the Bimmer is Bryan Sellers.

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Kyle Kirkwood (left) with Ben Barnicoat and the # 17 Lexus for Vasser Sullivan

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IMSA will hold a non-broadcasted warm-up on Saturday morning from 9:50am to 10:10am EASTERN time. Then, the Chevrolet SportsCar Classic will be shown LIVE on USA network on Saturday, starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time, with concurrent broadcasting on Peacock premium.

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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 qualify for their races…

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The Road to Indy brought out the Lights first thing in the morning for two 12-minute sessions of qualifying - one for each of the two races of the weekend. There was a about a five minute break between sessions to allow teams to make quick adjustments and tire changes. We have the results of both sessions here.

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Here is the way the Indy lights will grid for Season Round 5, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:23.1190s for a speed of 101.782mph

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P2 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:23.6137s for a speed of 101.180mph

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Row 2

P3 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.0186s for a speed of 100.692mph

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P4 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:24.0519s for a speed of 100.652mph

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Row 3

P5 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.4305s for a speed of 100.201mph

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P6 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:24.5219s for a speed of 100.092mph

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Row 4

P7 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports
P8 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing

Row 5

P9 - James Roe [R], TJ Speed Motorsports
P10 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy

Row 6

P11 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
P12 - Kyffin Simpson [R], TJ Speed Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Antonio Serravalle, HMD Motorsports
P14 - Ryan Phinny, Abel Motorsports

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Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 6, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:22.6778s for a speed of 102.325mph

P2 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:23.1821s for a speed of 101.705mph

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Row 2

P3 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:23.1352s for a speed of 101.530mph

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P4 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 01:23.5284s for a speed of 101.283mph

Row 3

P5 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:23.5505s for a speed of 101.256mph

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P6 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports - time of 01:24.0160s for a speed of 100.695mph

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Row 4

P7 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports
P8 - Antonio Serravalle, HMD Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy
P10 - Kyffin Simpson [R], TJ Speed Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - James Roe [R], TJ Speed Motorsports
P12 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports
P14 - Ryan Phinny, Abel Motorsports.

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Notable:

• Linus and Benjamin Pedersen were the only guys to break 1:23 in the first session and Linus then went on the cream everyone in the 2nd session with his 1:22 - the lowest time of the weekend, so far. This makes 5 poles in six races for the Swede, this year.

• Several cars found run-offs in the 1st session but the 2nd session was a bit more tidy. Benjamin Pedersen stalled on track, however, and brought out a red flag with about two minutes to go - just as everyone was about to do their last-minute fliers. The session ended early as a result, so we will never know if anyone could have challenged Linus for the pole.

• Pedersen lost his best lap time as a result of the red flag, which moved him back to P13 for Race 2.

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Indy Lights Race 1 of the weekend is scheduled for 11:20 am this morning and will be available on Peacock premium. Next up, the IndyCars do their P-2 practice session…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Belle Isle - The IndyCars hold their 2nd practice of the weekend…

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This practice was the first time anyone could try out their alternate tires and put in a qualifying simulation, in anticipation of qualifying, later today.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-2 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.8101s for a speed of 111.595mph

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2 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:15.8803s for a speed of 111.491mph

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3 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:15.9118s for a speed of 111.445mph

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4 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:16.0412s for a speed of 111.255mph

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5 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports - time of 01:16.1180s for a speed of 111.143mph

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6 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
7 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
8 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
9 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport

11 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
12 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
13 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
14 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
15 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
16 - Santino Ferrucci, Juncos Hollinger Racing
17 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
18 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
19 - Will Power, Team Penske
20 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
22 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
23 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
24 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Tatiana Calderon [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• This was a sloppy session with no less than 4 red flags that chopped it up and made getting good laps in nearly impossible. First to crash was Kyle Kirkwood who lost his brakes going into Turn 7 while attempting to pass David Malukas on the inside. Malukas managed to come away unscathed and later turned in a great lap, (P5), but Kyle, who nosed straight in, had to be towed to the pits. There, they found the reason for the brake loss and to repair that ended their session. The car will be ready for qualifying.

• Next, Dalton Kellett missed Turn 13, right before Pit In, and damaged the left side of his K-Line Chevrolet, adding more work to the AJ Foyt crew. Later, Will Power spun at Turn 7 but managed to keep the car from hitting anything. Finally, Simon Pagenaud stopped on track late in the session.

• While the red alternate tires produced the expected faster times over the P-1 session, there was so little time to amass laps it will be interesting to see who was able to get enough good information for qualifying on them.

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Alexander Rossi

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The IndyCars will qualify for Sunday’s race a little later today, with the sessions broadcast LIVE on Peacock premium starting at 12:35pm EASTERN time. Next, the IMSA gang hold their warm-up for today’s race…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Belle Isle - IMSA holds their warm-up…

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The post-qualifying warm-up for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series saw each class deliver a different car than the pole-sitter to the TOP SPOT.

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DPi class - TOPPING the Warm-up was Earl Bamber in the # 02 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Racing with a time of 1:21.075s for a speed of 104.347mph. Earl bested Filipe Albuquerque in the # 10 Acura ARX-05 for Wayne Taylor Racing by 0.306 seconds. Third quickest was IndyCar driver Pipo Derani in the # 31 Whelen Caddy for Action Express.

Earl shares the # 02 with Alex Lynn while Filipe shares the # 10 with Ricky Taylor. Pipo’s co-driver in the # 31 is Olivier Pla, who will be in the car for the rest of the season, replacing Tristan Nunez.

The # 02 Cadillac DPi V.R for Cadillac Racing - TOPS in the Warm-up

Earl Bamber

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GTD class - TOPPING the Warm-up was Ross Gunn in the # 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the Heart of Racing Team with a time of 1:29.528s for a speed of 94.495mph. Ross beat out Ben Barnicoat in the # 17 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan by 0.035 seconds. Third quickest was IndyCar driver Aaron Telitz in the # 12 Lexus for Vasser Sullivan.

Ross shares the Aston with Roman de Angelis while Ben shares the # 17 with pole-sitter and IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood. Aaron’s co-driver in the # 12 is Frankie Montecalvo.

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The # 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the Heart of Racing Team - TOPS in the Warm-up

Ross Gunn

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The Chevrolet SportsCar Classic will be shown LIVE on USA network today, starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time, with concurrent broadcasting on Peacock premium. Next, the Indy Lights hold Race 1 of the weekend. the grid for this is in post # 7…

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Saturday at Belle Isle - The Indy Lights hold a wild one…

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Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports controlled Race 1 at the front from pole to checkers and never looked in trouble, but behind him it was a wild one with almost every other position up for grabs. Coming in P2 was Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports driver Benjamin Pedersen from a P2 start while P3 went to Matthew Brabham for Andretti Autosport from his P6 start.

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As soon as the green flag flew Linus hit the button and checked out from the pack. Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports passed Matty Brabham for P6 while Ernie Francis for Force Indy passed James Roe for TJ Speed Motorsports for P9. On lap 2 both positions were returned as before while Linus jumped out to a 2.3 second lead over Benjamin. On lap three, Jacob Abel and Christian Rasmussen for Andretti came together in Turn 7, sending Jacob hard into the tires and bringing out a full course caution. Rasmussen was deemed responsible and sent to the rear of the field. Jacob was out. On the lap 7 restart Andretti’s Hunter McElrea passed HMD’s Danial Frost for P4 while Ernie had to pit for a flat tire and a broken wing from contact somewhere out there.

By lap 8 Rasmussen was passing TJ Speed’s Kyffin Simpson for P9 while Christian Bogle for HMD was passing James Roe for P7. On lap 11 Rasmussen was also by Roe to take over the P8 spot. At that point teammates Simpson and Roe battled hard for the P9 spot through several corners, but both survived. Sting Ray Robb for Andretti in P3 was going hard after Pedersen for several laps and not finding a way into P2. On lap 13 in an attempt at an outside pass in Turn 7 Robb hit the tire barriers with his left rear and did huge damage. He was able to soldier into the pits for repairs. On lap 14 Hunter became the next victim of Turn 7 and also pitted for repairs. One lap later Rasmussen brushed the wall hard in Turn 5 and destroyed the right side of his car, bringing out another full-course caution.

On the lap 22 restart Linus again got away clean as Matt Brabham went after Danial Frost for P3. The two battled hard through several turns, often side-by-side. On lap 23 Danial suddenly slowed with a broken half-shaft and the rest of the field rolled by as he struggled to the pits. That was the last position change of the 25-lap race and Linus crossed the line 3.72 seconds ahead of Ben who was 1 second ahead of Matty.

Action almost front to back in this one!

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Notable:

• This is Lunqvist’s 3rd WIN of the season and he is beginning to assemble almost unassailable points.

• This was Christian Bogle’s best career finish in P4 and Kyffin Simpson’s best in P5. It was Benjamin Pedersen’s 8th career podium.

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Your happy podium in front of the James Scott Memorial Fountain - That’s Benjamin Pedersen in P2 on the left, Linus Lundqvist in P1 in the middle and Matthew Brabham in P3 on the right:

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Race 2 for the Lights is scheduled for take-off at 12:00 Noon on Sunday and will be broadcast on Peacock premium. Next up, the IndyCars qualify…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Belle Isle - The IndyCars are qualified!..

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…and on pole for the last belle Isle run is Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

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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 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:15.2153s for a speed of 112.477mph

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P2 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 01:15.3490s for a speed of 112.278mph

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Row 2

P3 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:15.3951s for a speed of 112.209mph

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P4 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:15.4538s for a speed of 112.122mph

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Row 3

P5 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:16.3301s for a speed of 110.834mph

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P6 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports - time of 01:16.6104s for a speed of 110.429mph

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Row 4

P7 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
P8 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 5

P9 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
P10 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske

Row 6

P11 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P12 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport

Row 7

P13 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
P14 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 8

P15 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
P16 - Will Power, Team Penske

Row 9

P17 - Santino Ferrucci, Juncos Hollinger Racing
P18 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 10

P19 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 11

P21 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
P22 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 12

P23 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P24 - Tatiana Calderon [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 13

P25 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P26 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

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Notable:

• A remarkable qually session, with both Dale Coyne cars and both Meyer Shank cars in the Firestone Fast Six. The real thriller of the day was David Malukas. The 20-year-old rookie topped his Q1 session and posted P2 speed in the Q2 session - both in the 1:14s on time. David seemed to lose that speed in the Q3 session, as the rears finally got too loose for him to surpass others. Nevertheless, it was his best qually ever and the first trip into the Fast Six for him.

• Newgarden was also extremely loose in all his sessions, but he just managed to miss walls by fractions of an inch.

• Not so lucky was Romain Grosjean who clipped the barrier inside Turn 12, breaking a toe link in the suspension and causing the car to spin and make hard contact with the barrier on the outside of the corner. Romain was unhurt, but the car suffered heavy damage.

• Felix Rosenqvist was doing great in the Q1 session and looked to advance into Q2 but his team sent him out of the pits in front of Jimmie Johnson on a flier and Felix was assessed a penalty that had him lose his two best laps.

• Dalton Kellett put in no time as his car was still being repaired from his P-2 session shunt.

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Felix Rosenqvist (left), Romain Grosjean and Dalton Kellett (right)

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Here are qually highlights:

2022 QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS // CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX

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The IndyCars will have their Warm-up at 10:15am EASTERN time on Sunday, broadcast on Peacock premium. The race is scheduled for broadcast on USA Network and Peacock premium on Sunday, starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time. Next up, the IMSA gang hold their race…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Belle Isle - The IMSA WeatherTech race…

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The Chevrolet SportsCar Classic was a big success for Cadillac Racing, as the Chip Ganassi team took P1 in DPi class and overall with starter and IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais and closer Renger van der Zande in the # 01 Cadillac DPi V.R and also took P3 with the # 02 Cadillac of starter Alex Lynn and closer Earl Bamber, while P2 went to the # 60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX -05 of starter Tom Blomqvist and closer Oliver Jarvis.

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Bourdais (left) and van der Zande - pole to checkers.

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The # 01 used a 1-stop strategy that required they lead while saving fuel and Bourdais did exactly that, handing the car over to Renger with the lead. The # 60 Acura was on the same strategy, but the # 31 Whelen Caddy for Action Express used a two-stop strategy that allowed starter Olivier Pla and closer and IndyCar driver Pipo Derani to go all out for the catch-up and the possible WIN.

When Pipo got in the car he quickly erased a 30-second deficit to the lead cars and the last several minutes of the race saw 4 DPi-class cars running almost nose-to-tail as they decided the contest. Pipo was able to pass Earl Bamber but the Kiwi was also able to regain the spot in the final few laps. Oliver Jarvis was able to keep pace with Renger, but not able to pass him. The top four DPis were separated by less than two seconds at the line!

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GTD class was WON by IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood who started and Ben Barnicoat who closed in the # 17 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan, from pole, though they did not lead the whole race. Early on, Canadian ace Roman De Angelis was able to get the lead in the # 27 The Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3, but Kirkwood put in an overcut strategy that had him stay out 1 more lap than the Aston and pour on the coals, so that when he took the car to Barnicoat, Ben came out of the pits in the lead. Despite a complete unfamiliarity with the track, the Brit held onto the lead for the rest of the race. De Angelis’ co-driver, Ross Gunn brought the Aston home in P2 while P3 went to the # 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of closer Bryan Sellers and starter Madison Snow.

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in DPi class points leaving Detroit:

1 - Oliver Jarvis, Tom Blomqvist - 2027
2 - Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor - 2017
3 - Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber - 1931
4 - Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais - 1884
5 - Richard Westbrook, Tristan Vautier - 1868

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in GTD class points leaving Detroit

1 - Stevan McAleer - 1520
2 - Jan Heylen, Ryan Hardwick - 1487
3 - Bill Auberlen, Robby Foley - 1391
4 - Frankie Montecalvo - 1314
5 - Roman De Angelis - 1289

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The next outing for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series will be the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen, New York, June 23-26th, with support from the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.

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This was the last on-track activity of the day
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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning on Belle Isle - The IndyCars hold their Warm-up…

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The Warm-up is a post-qualifying practice - the last chance to check things for the race ahead. No one is testing a qualifying set-up. That is done. They will be testing tire wear, track conditions, race set-ups and fuel mileage, among other thing, and we don’t know what each team is testing, so the session is hard to read. We do know that the fast guys in the Warm-up will be fast guys in the race. We just don’t know if they will be the ONLY fast guys in the race.

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Here was the order of speed for the P-3 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:15.5816s for a speed of 111.932mph

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2 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:15.9213s for a speed of 111.431mph

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3 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:15.9755s for a speed of 111.352mph

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4 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 01:16.1116s for a speed of 111.153mph

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5 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:16.1747s for a speed of 111.060mph

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6 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
7 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
9 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
10 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

11 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
12 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
13 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
14 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
15 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
16 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
17 - Will Power, Team Penske
18 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
19 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
20 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

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

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Notable:

• This is the 2nd session this weekend that Alexander Rossi has topped. The announcement of his move to Arrow McLaren SP in 2023 seems to have somewhat revived the Californian or his Andretti crew or both.

• Three of four Ganassi cars are in the TOP FIVE. It’s clear that the Ganassi team is currently the best in IndyCar and one of the best in the world of racing, given their success in SportsCars, as well.

• It’s good to see Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahl in the TOP TEN. The RLL team used to own Belle Isle. Jack Harvey is near the bottom, but we do not know what he was testing in this warm-up. Rookie Lundgaard is almost always the best performing Rahal Letterman Lanigan car, lately.

• All the Team Penske guys are under-performing here, but again, we do not know what they hoped to accomplish this morning.

• Kyle Kirkwood hurt his right hand in his nose-in shunt during the P-2 practice. He drove to the WIN of the IMSA race with it, yesterday, so it is sore. It may have an effect on his racing, today.

Kyle Kirkwood

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Alexander Rossi

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on USA Network and Peacock premium, starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time. Next up, The Indy Lights hold Race 2 of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 7…
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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Belle Isle - The Indy Lights close out their weekend…

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…with Race 2 and Linus Lundqvist has a perfect weekend with a sweep - both poles and both WINS for HMD Motorsports. Taking P2 was Andretti’s Hunter McElrea while P3 went to teammate Sting Ray Robb.

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On lap 1 Linus took off cleanly from pole. Hunter and teammate Christian Rasmussen passed Sting Ray to take P2 and P3, with Robb dropping to P4. Danial Frost for HMD Motorsports took P6 from Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports. On lap 2 Benjamin Pedersen for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports took P9 from Ernie Francis for Force Indy while Christian Bogle for HMD took P12 from James Roe for TJ Speed Motorsports. One lap later Ben passed Jacob for the P7 spot. On lap 7 Kyffin Simpson for TJ Speed passed Antonio Serravalle for HMD and took the P9 spot. By this time Linus was out with a 5.3 second lead.

On lap 9 Christian Bogle tagged the wall hard in Turn 13 and destroyed the left side of his car, bringing out a full-course caution. Ryan Phinny for Abel Motorsports used the caution to pit for repairs to his suspension from an earlier wall hit. On the lap 12 restart Linus again got off well. Ernie Francis was soon awarded the P10 spot when it was deemed Antonio blocked him. By lap 18 Linus was back out to a 5 second lead, as the Andretti squad all battled for spots P2 through P5.

On lap 19 Christian Rasmussen hit the wall in Turn 5 and fell out of P3, out of the race, and bringing out yet another caution. On the lap 21 restart Linus again got away from Hunter as Jacob Abel slowed on track and fell out from P7 with what appeared to be a half-shaft. He limped to the pits. On lap 23 ernir spun on his own but hit nothing and rejoined in P10.
Linus went on to WIN on lap 30 by 3.7 seconds over Hunter who was only 0.31 seconds ahead of Sting Ray.

A dominating weekend for the Swede.

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Notable:

• Linus now has 4 series WINS and without some bad luck is poised to run away with the title.
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Your happy and wet podium in the James Scott Memorial Fountain - That’s Hunter McElrea in P2 on the left, Linus Lundqvist in P1 in the middle and Sting Ray Robb in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Linus Lundqvist, 283
2 - Benjamin Pedersen, 199
3 - Danial Frost, 191
4 - Sting Ray Robb, 191
5 - Matthew Brabham, 186

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The next outing for the Lights will be next weekend at Road America in support of the IndyCar race. Next up, the IndyCar race. The grid for this is in post # 11…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Belle Isle - The IndyCar race…

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The final IndyCar race on Belle Isle saw Will Power take his Chevrolet to victory in the home of Chevrolet with a WIN from his P16 start for Team Penske. Coming in P2 with a superb effort to chase down Power was Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport from his P11 start. P3 went to Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing from his P9 start.

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Teammate and pole-sitter Josef Newgarden led the first stint of the race but by lap 14 Power had passed him on track and led for 55 laps, counting on a two-stop strategy that would have him running the end of the race on alternate reds - a dangerous gamble that he could keep the quickly-degrading tires useable for some 23 laps of racing. It turns out he could! His nemesis Rossi was using a three-stop strategy instead, removing the reds from his car after just three laps of running and then counting on the stout primary tires to take the abuse of hard running to negate the time for the extra stop. It almost worked. Rossi had erased a 16-second deficit in in his last stint and was only 1 second behind Power when Will crossed the finish line. One more lap might have been all Alexander needed to catch and pass the Australian.

There were many such stories played out among the various strategies tried all day and there were many big movers in the race, like Power, using their tires and their skills at the right time to make huge leaps by passing cars, as there were no cautions flown during the race to jumble positions due to the luck of a yellow flag falling. This one was WON and LOST on passing cars and set the all-time record for passes, here, at 280 passes, with 148 of them for position - pure and simple racing and a fitting end to a great legacy of street racing.

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Notable:

• This was Will Power’s 41st IndyCar WIN. All he needs is one more to equal Michael Andretti’s remarkable record of WINS. It was also “redemption” as Power said over his radio, for the loss in 2021 when his car failed to start after he stopped for a red flag while in the lead.

• This was also the record-setting fastest IndyCar race in the 30-year Belle Isle history, aided by both technology and the lack of yellow flags. Rinus VeeKay actually hit tire barriers in Turn 6 on the final lap and the yellow flew just after Power passed the timing line to WIN the race, so even if the race had lasted one lap more, Rossi would not have been able to pass Power. This one was fated for Will and it delivered the points lead to him.

• There were a number of incidences that might have caused a yellow flag but in all cases - damage to both Graham Rahal and Kyle Kirkwood, a recalcitrant steering wheel for Helio Castroneves and a miscue by Scott McLaughlin - the cars were able to return to action or to the pits on their own, and the race stayed green.

• Kirkwood was poised to give AJ Foyt their best finish in years - a TOP FIVE and maybe better - before he tagged a wall and busted his half-shaft on cold tires. He was deeply dismayed over it.

• Despite his eventual P4 finish Josef Newgarden was also deeply upset over picking the right strategy - a two-stopper - but the wrong choice for when to run the reds. He felt like another WIN at Belle Isle was taken away from him by circumstances - just as had happened in 2021.

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Here are race highlights:
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2022 RACE HIGHLIGHTS // CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX

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Your happy podium - That’s Alexander Rossi on the left in P2, Will Power in the middle in P1 and Scott Dixon in P3 on the right:

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…and Will and his Penske crew in the James Scott Memorial Fountain for the last time:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Belle Isle:

1 - Will Power, 255
2 - Marcus Ericsson, 252
3 - Pato O’Ward, 243
4 - Alex Palou, 241
5 - Josef Newgarden, 208

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The move to downtown Detroit in 2023 for this race was purely a corporate move as Belle Isle has never been the corporate showcase the race promoters wanted it to be, and never delivered the fan numbers that a downtown race may, but for 30 years it has always delivered as a race track. It was tough to tame, tough to survive on and equally tough to WIN on, but one that everyone wanted to WIN on. To a man and woman, the IMSA and IndyCar drivers who have raced here say they will greatly miss it. So will we. We HOPE the new venue is half the race that Belle Isle has been.

Thank you, Belle Isle!

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The next race for the IndyCars will be next weekend, as they do the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America - one of North America’s greatest race tracks. The race will be supported by the Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000, as well as the Blue Marble Radical Cup series and vintage IndyCars.

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