IndyCars - Toronto: Big show in the shadow of the Princes' Gate

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Saturday morning at Toronto - the big cars hold their P-3 practice session…

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…and everyone went even faster than before as all drivers turned in their best times of the weekend, in anticipation of qualifying, later today.

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

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1 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 00:58.6777s for a speed of 109.575mph

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2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:58.7750s for a speed of 109.393mph

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3 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:58.8758s for a speed of 109.206mph

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4 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:58.8997s for a speed of 109.162mph

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5 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:58.9529s for a speed of 109.063mph

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6 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
8 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
9 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
10 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
12 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan
13 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
14 - James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
15 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
16 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
17 - Max Chilton, Carlin
18 - Jordan King [R], Ed Carpenter Racing
19 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises
20 - Conor Daly, Harding Racing

21 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
22 - Rene Binder [R], Juncos Racing
23 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin

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Notable:

  • This is a nice mix of Hondas (2) and Chevys (3) in the TOP FIVE. For the previous session Scott Dixon looked invincible, besting everyone by a fair margin, but now others have caught up and passed him.

  • The TOP FOUR cars all beat the qualifying track record, but unofficially. Qualifying may be in the rain, so the record is likely safe for another year.

  • Spencer Pigot’s P2 finish at Iowa seems to have given him some mojo. He’s been fast all weekend.

Top dawg Takuma Sato

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The big cars will qualify later this afternoon. Next, the first race of the weekend, as Pro Mazda compete. The grid for this race is in post # 6…

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Saturday morning at Toronto - Pro Mazda hold Race 1 of their weekend…

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The first actual competition of the weekend was another Mazda Road to Indy barn-burner, with a ton of action throughout the field. Making a great bid to catch up to what was a run-away season for Parker Thompson, the pride of the Netherlands, Rinus VeeKay, for Juncos Racing pulls down his third WIN of the season. 3rd in points Carlos Cunha performed heroics to end up P2 on the podium for Juncos while P3 went to series newbie Raul Guzman, a young Mexican driving for RP Motorsport Racing, in just his 3rd series start.

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Rinus van Kalmthout, victorious again.

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At the start, Rinus took off from pole with David Malukas for BN Racing in P2 and points-leader Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport in P3. At turn 1 Harrison Scott for RP Motorsports from a P9 start forced his teammate, Raul Guzman to the left and into Rob Megennis for Juncos Racing, who was then stuffed into the wall in Turn 2. Before the course could go yellow the field was high-speeding it down the back straight, heading for Turn 3. (Guzman would later need to pit for a new wing). Carlos Cunha took advantage of all the movement to go from a P11 start to P4. Then the BIG one happened.

As the field steamed up to Turn 3 Harrison contacted the wall on his right, apparently pushed over by Antonio Serravalle for Exclusive Autosport. That destroyed Scott’s right side, taking out his braking, and he shot over the top of Sting Ray Robb and Andres Gutierrez, both for Team Pelfrey. Scott was well and truly airborne and spinning upside down all the way through Turn 3 and into the run-off.

Here is a fan’s view of this spectacular shunt:

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Scott was OKAY, thanks to the stout Tatuus PM-18 chassis. The track went full-course yellow. Also taken out in the incident were Robb, Serravalle and Gutierrez. On the lap 7 restart the top three were in order Rinus, Parker Thompson and David Malukas, but when Malukas and Thompson entered Turn 1 David tried a banzai move to the inside that took BOTH he and Thompson into the walls - a great gift to VeeKay, having his main rivals out.

After clean-up, the race restarted on Lap 10. P2 was now Cunha and P3 was Oliver Askew for Cape Motorsports, but at the end of the lap Nikita Lastochkin, also for the Capes, took Askew in Turn 8 to take over P3. On lap 15 Kris Wright for BN Racing hit the wall after Turn 8 to bring out the 3rd caution.

On the lap 17 restart Oliver went around Nikita in Turn 1 but Raul Guzman snookered them both to take the P3 spot. That set up the podium and thankfully nothing else with quite the drama happened to change things and the race ended on lap 25.

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Notable:

  • VeeKay started the day 2nd in the points but 46 out from Parker. With Parker being taken out it closed Rinus to within 26 points of Thompson. VeeKay will start on pole tomorrow, while Thompson will start dead last, due to an electrical gremlin in qualifying. The day could greatly close up the title hunt.

  • Post race, penalties were issued to Harrison Scott, Antonio Serravalle and David Malukas. All are on probation to the end of the season.

  • There were only 6 cars running at the end, due to all the carnage. That allowed gentleman driver Charles Finelli for FatBoy Racing! to earn his best-ever finish in Pro Mazda - a P6.

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Here is your happy and surviving podium - That’s Carlos Cunha in P2 on the left, Rinus VeeKay in P1 in the middle and Raul Guzman in P3 on the right:

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The next race for Pro Mazda will be on Sunday morning, when they do Season Round 11. Next up is the Race 1 for USF2000. the grid for this race is in post # 10…

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Saturday morning at Toronto - USF2000 does Season Round 8…

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…and with it, Jupiter, Florida’s Kyle Kirkwood for Cape Motorsports puts what amounts to a stranglehold on the title, as he WINS his 6th race of the year and fifth in a row. P2 was Dakota Dickerson for ArmsUp Motorsports and P3 was Kaylen Frederick for Pabst Racing.

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Kyle Kirkwood - simply unstoppable

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Dakota Dickerson led the field from pole on the start but as soon as the cars entered Turn 1 Kirkwood, from his P3 start, was beside and then past Kaylen Frederick and Dickerson to take P1. In the same turn, Rasmus Lindh for Pabst Racing took what was now P3 from Kaylen while Jose Sierra for DEForce Racing went from P8 to take the P5 spot, pushing Darren Keane for Newman Wachs back to P6 and Keith Donegan for BN Racing to P7. Jose and Darren would battle for the next full lap and on lap 2 they tangled in Turn 4, sending Keane to the pits and “Pepe” Sierra into the wall, and out. Keith Donegan would take over P5.

On the lap 5 restart the battle between Lindh and Frederick continued as Kaylen reclaimed P3 in Turn 5, but Rasmus was on his rear wing almost touching it for virtually the rest of the race. Meanwhile, Lucas Kohl for Pabst and Igor Fraga for Exclusive Autosport began their march forward from P18 and P17, respectively. By Lap 8 Lucas was P9 and Igor was P10. Lap 10 saw them move to P8 and P9. On lap 15 Igor finally took Lucas to claim P8. On lap 18 Igor took teammate Danial Frost for P7 - a remarkable gain from his P17 start and all on-track passes.

On the same lap Kory Enders for DEForce racing stuffed his car into the tires at Turn 8, bringing out a caution. The clean-up took the remaining two laps and the race ended under yellow.

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Notable:

  • After the race Jose Sierra was docked 10 points for the contact that took him out and sent Darren Keane to the pits for repairs. Keane would finish 6 laps down.

  • While failing to WIN, Dakota Dickerson was delighted to once again be racing competitively in USF2000, which he had to let go of in 2017, due to budget. He confirmed that he will be at both Mid-Ohio and the finales at Portland.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Dakota Dickerson in P2 on the left, Kyle kirkwood in P1 in the middle and Kaylen Frederick in P3 on the right:

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USF2000 will have Race 2 of their weekend on Sunday morning - first race of the day. Next, the Indy Lights do season Round 11. The grid for this race is in post # 19…
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Saturday morning at Toronto - The Indy Lights race!..

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…and the race turned into a bit of a rain race on slicks, adding to the drama. In the end Pato O’Ward for Andretti Autosport survived to WIN the race and reclaim the series points lead. P2 was Santiago Urrutia for Belardi Auto Racing and P3 was Ryan Norman for Andretti Autosport, in his 2nd podium of the year.

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Pato leads a drizzly race to the end

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Pole-sitter and points-leader Colton Herta for Andretti Steinbrenner started the race with a true handicap, as during the morning qually session Colton stuffed his car into the tire barriers at Turn 8 and unfortunately sustained a non-displaced fracture at the base of his thumb. He was fitted with a brace and cleared to race.

As the field took the green flag to start it was evident that rain was beginning to lightly fall and the track would be treacherous from then on. As Colton tried to accelerate up the straight his tires spun and that allowed Santi Urrutia in P3 to close on Colton and hit him in the rear, taking off the very tip of the Urrutia car nose. Santi dropped to P7 while Colton dropped to P4, as Pato took the lead with Aaron Telitz for Belardi in P2 and Ryan Norman in P3.

On lap 3 Colton took P3 from Ryan in Turn 3 while Santi took P6 from Dalton Kellett for Andretti. Lap 4 saw Santi take P5 from Victor Franzoni for Juncos Racing in Turn 8. A lap later he was by Ryan Norman for P4 and after Colton. On lap 7 Victor took P4 from Ryan. On lap 12 Dalton slid into the tires at Turn 8, but was able to back up and go to the pits for a new nose. On lap 13 Colton was by Aaron to take P2 and went after Pato while Santi and Victor had an epic battle going for the P3 spot for several laps.

Lap 23 saw the end of Herta’s efforts as while chasing down O’Ward he clouted the wall between Turns 5 and 6. While the clean-up was going on the rain intensified slightly but no one would pit for rain tires. On the lap 29 restart Santi took the P2 spot from Aaron in Turn 3, taking off Aaron;s front wing in the doing. He would pit for a new one. Now closing on Pato on lap 31, Santi spun in Turn 8, but hit nothing. Victor and Ryan would pass him as he recovered. On lap 32 Santi would take back P3 from Ryan. On the same lap Victor hit the wall between Turns 5 and 6 - just where Colton had. That brought out a caution that also ended the race.

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Notable:

  • Many questioned whether or not the race should have been called a wet race, necessitating a start on rain tires, but the drizzle was never heavy and every driver had the option to pit for rain tires during the race and none did. Victor blamed the conditions for his shunt.

  • The TV camera crew were able to actually catch Colton Herta lose the grip on his steering wheel the moment before he hit the wall. His injury in qualifying clearly hurt his race and helped to put him in the wall. He started the race 8 points ahead of O’Ward. He is at the moment 8 points behind him.

  • The usually dour Santiago Urrutia was giddy with delight at his P2 despite losing a little ground to points-rival O’Ward, just because of the great drive he put in to claim P2 from dead last and after a spin, too.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Santi Urrutia in P2 on the left, Pato O’Ward in P1 in the middle and Ryan Norman in P3 on the right. It’s nice to see Santi smiling, for once:

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The Lights will qualify for Race 2 bright and early Sunday morning - first on-track activity - and then race just before Noon. Next, the IndyCars qualify!..

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It’s time for the IndyCars to qualify!..

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… and that means it’s time for the qualifying explanation page. We offer this attempt to explain the strange way IndyCar qualifies on street and road course to guide newbies who will otherwise have no clue should they try to follow this on TV. In that, it is much like trying to explain American football to a European soccer fan. It can be painful and even lead to hooliganism - on both sides! But here we go…

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So, how does this work? Around ovals qualifying is simple: One car at a time runs the fastest they can for 2 hot laps (after a warm-up lap) and the fastest average speed is the pole sitter, but…

On road and street courses it gets complicated - The Firestone Fast Six
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Qualifying is done in three segments of TEN MINUTES for the first two and SIX MINUTES for the last. Today, there are 23 cars attempting to qualify. In Segment One, the first 11 of 23 cars will be sent out for ten minutes. During that time they will run as fast as they can, being timed. The fastest SIX advance to Segment Two. Then, the 12 remaining cars are sent out for ten minutes to do the same. The fastest SIX from that group also advance to Segment Two. The 11 cars that did NOT advance line up in grid spots P13 through P23, based on their times.

In Segment Two, the 12 that advanced once again run as fast as possible for ten minutes. The fastest 6 of this group advance to Segment Three. The other 6 line up on the grid on spots P7 through P12, based on their times.

Segment Three is also known as The Firestone Fast Six. These cars go out and run as fast as they can for only six minutes and then line up P1 through P6 on the grid, based on their times, and that is how pole is set.

Don’t screw it up! - You have to go as fast as you can but you CANNOT afford to over-cook it: If a car causes a red or full course yellow condition in any segment, the car’s best two timed laps of the segment will be disallowed and that car will not be allowed to advance to the next segment. If a car causes two red or full course yellow conditions in any segment, all segment times shall be voided and the car shall not be permitted to participate in the remainder of qualifying.

Qualifying can be very exciting to watch, as it looks like a very fast race going on, but the cars try to stay separated from each other, so as to get the best possible time without someone mucking up their hot laps. You will see the pole switch SEVERAL TIMES from car to car, as the time runs down.

The pole winner not only gets to start on pole but wins the Verizon P1 Award and the valuable series point that goes with it.

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In 2017 pole was taken by Simon Pagenaud for Team Penske with a time of 00:58.9124 seconds for a speed of 109.138 miles per hour.

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Saturday afternoon at Toronto - The IndyCars are qualified!..

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There was a bit of rain at both the beginning and at the end of qualifying but it didn’t stop the show and we have our grid for Sunday’s race.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for the Honda Indy Toronto, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:59.4956s for a speed of 108.068mph

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P2 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:59.6920s for a speed of 107.713mph

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Row 2

P3 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 00:59.7630s for a speed of 107.585mph

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P4 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:59.8818s for a speed of 107.372mph

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Row 3

P5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:00.6273s for a speed of 106.051mph

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P6 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:00.6615s for a speed of 105.991mph

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Row 4

P7 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P8 - Jordan King [R], Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 5

P9 - James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
P10 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Conor Daly, Harding Racing
P12 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises

Row 7

P13 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P14 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta

Row 8

P15 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
P16 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 9

P17 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan
P18 - Max Chilton, Carlin

Row 10

P19 - Rene Binder [R], Juncos Racing
P20 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin

Row 11

P21 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
P22 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport

Row 12

P23 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing

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Notable:

  • The qualifying started out in rainy conditions ad that had the effect of changing everything for the first group, much to their detriment. A number of drivers who have done well in practice did not advance out of Q-1.

  • The track dried for the Q-2 session but again the sprinkles started in Q-3, the Firestone Fast Six, but no one opted for rain tires.

  • Harding Racing was delighted that Conor Daly was able to get the # 88 Chevy to the Q-2 session - one of the car’s best qualifying spots, so far.

Conor Daly - great effort in bad conditions

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time with the pre-race show and the race at 3:30pm EASTERN time. One can also see this qualifying session starting at 2:00pm EASTERN time.

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Next, the Pinty’s Series race. The top qualifiers for that are in post # 15…

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Saturday afternoon at Toronto - The Pinty’s Series race!..

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When the stockers finished it was the two IndyCar old-timers from the CART days on top as Andrew Ranger took the WIN in his # 27 Dodge while Alex Tagliani took P2 in his # 18 Chevrolet. P3 was JF Dumoulin in the # 04 Dodge.

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Alex Tagliani led the race from pole with Ranger haunting him, nose to tail for the first 36 laps, but on the first lap of NASCAR overtime Ranger took P1 from Tagliani with a bold inside pass in Turn 1 on the restart. After that Tagliani spent the rest of the overtime defending himself from Dumoulin and the two ended up with significant body damage but Tag was able to hold JF off and also claim his 2nd podium of the season.

P2 Alex Tagliani (left) and P3 JF Dumoulin

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Notable:

  • This is Andrew’s 3rd WIN at Toronto and the 24th WIN of his Pinty’s Series career - the most of any driver in the series.

  • With this WIN Andrew ties JF’s younger brother, LP Dumoulin, for the series points lead, but Andrew now has 2 WINS to LP’s one WIN.

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.The next race for the Pinty’s series will be the Velocity Prairie Thunder Twin 125s at Wyant Group Raceway, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, July 25th. Next, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada gang hold race 1 of the weekend. The top qualifiers are identified in post # 16…

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Saturday afternoon at Toronto - The Porsche GT3 Cup guys race!..

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…and when it was over Ottawa’s Zacharie Robichon extended his series points lead with yet another victory from pole in the # 98 Mark Motors Racing Porsche. P2 - his 5th of the season - was teammate Roman de Angelis in the # 78 and P3 was Mazda Road to Indy alum Stefan Rzadzinski for DFC Motorsport / Speedstar Motorsport in the # 8 car.

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Zacharie on his way past the Princes’ Gate

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On the opening lap there was a three-car pile-up that not only caused a full-course caution but also deposited oil all over the track. For the rest of the race all the competitors had to make up a new way around the slick portions of the surface. De Angelis, who started P2, was never far behind and haunted Robichon for the whole race, but couldn’t find a way past him.

Stefan started the race from P7 and advanced through the field to finally take the P3 spot from Jeff Kingsley in the # 16 Policaro Motorsport / SportsCarBoutique Porsche in the last few minutes of the event.

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Notable:

  • Zacharie now leads de Angelis by 23 points heading to Race 2 on Sunday, where he will again start on pole and de Angelis will again start P2.

  • Stefan earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award for gaining the most positions throughout the race from his P7 start.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Roman de Angelis in P2 on the left, Zacharie Robichon in P1 in the middle and Stefan Rzadzinski in P3 on the right. Way to go, Stefan! Proud of you!:

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The Porsche Cup boys will hold Race 2 right before the IndyCar race on Sunday. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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IndyCar has released a Day 2 Highlights reel, including qualifying…

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Spotter’s Guide - changes in livery since Iowa…

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A number of cars bring new livery to Toronto and a few cars will have different drivers. Let’s see what is what:

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Ed Jones was in the two-tone blue DC Solar car for Iowa but returns to the familiar all-blue NTT Data car for Canada:

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Graham Rahal was in the Luther car for Iowa but always drives the locally-sponsored Rousseau Metals car when in Toronto:

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Sebastien Bourdais has been in the yellow and black SealMaster car for much of the season but this weekend he’s in the Molex car of black and blue:

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Jordan King returns to the fray for Ed Carpenter Racing in the # 20 car but the livery is still the same black and white Fuzzy’s car.

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Spencer Pigot was in the green Fuzzy’s car for Iowa but jumps into the blue Preferred Freezer Services car for Toronto:

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continued…

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Spotter’s Guide - changes in livery since Iowa… (part 2) …

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Simon Pagenaud was in the bright yellow Menard’s car at Iowa but jumps into the subdued black and white DXC Technology car for Canada:

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Charlie Kimbal has been in the green and black Tresiba car for most of the season but for Toronto he jumps into the blue and white Novo Nordisk Canada Diabetes car:

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Rene Binder returns to battle for Juncos Racing. The livery is the same as always but “Binderholz” is on the side:

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Conor Daly takes over driving duties in the Harding Racing # 88 for Toronto, but the livery is the same as always:

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Marco Andretti was in the US Concrete car for Iowa but jumps into the Oberto car of white and red for Canada:

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Sunday morning at Toronto - The Indy Lights qualify for Race 2 of the weekend…

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The Lights were the first guys out on track today to qualify for Season Round 12, to be run just before Noon, today. The weather - unlike yesterday - is clear, with no chance of rain, today.

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Here is the way Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 12, with times for all: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Santiago Urrutia, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 01:03.9714s for a speed of 100.507mph

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P2 - Pato O’Ward [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:04.1030s for a speed of 100.301mph

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Row 2

P3 - Colton Herta, Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 01:041594s for a speed of 100.113mph

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P4 - Aaron Telitz, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 01:04.5792s for a speed of 99.561mph

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Row 3

P5 - Ryan Norman, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:04.9314s for a speed of 99.021mph

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P6 - Dalton Kellett, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:05.2402s for a speed of 98.553mph

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Row 4

P7 - Victor Franzoni [R], Juncos Racing - time of 01:06.3380s fpr a speed of 96.922mph

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Notable:

  • Victor Franzoni only put in 6 laps during qualifying and seemed not to ever get up to speed. Ricardo Juncos allowed that he was “broken” but he wasn’t referring to mechanics, but rather Victor’s spirit, following his late-race crash, yesterday. What this means we cannot say.

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The Lights race will be just before Noon, today. Next, USF2000 hold Race 2. the grid for this race is in post # 18…

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Sunday morning at Toronto - The IndyCars do their morning warm-up for the race, today…

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…and there were a few incidents, including Jordan King for Ed Carpenter going off in turn 10, doing some damage to his machine. It was deemed repairable for the race.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCar morning warm-up, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:59.1394s for a speed of 108.719mph

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2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:59.3684s for a speed of 108.300mph

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3 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:59.4536s for a speed of 108.154mph

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4 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:59.5365s for a speed of 107.994mph

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5 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 00:59.5645s for a speed of 107.943mph

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6 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Conor Daly, Harding Racing
8 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
9 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
10 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises

11 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises
12 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing
13 - Will Power, Team Penske
14 - Max Chilton, Carlin
15 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
16 - Rene Binder [R], Juncos Racing
17 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
18 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin
19 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan
20 - James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

21 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
22 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
23 - Jordan King [R], Ed Carpenter Racing

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Here is video of Jordan’s adventure:

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Notable:

  • Also spinning in turn 10 was Tony Kannan but he hit nothing, while Ryan Hunter-Reay had to escape up the run-off in Turn 3 but also hit nothing.

  • Warm-up is hard to read, because one never knows what program the cars are doing. Are they trying to confirm race set-up or are they throwing the kitchen sink at it, trying to salvage something, and will that work?

Jordan King (left) and Tony Kanaan

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time with the pre-race show and the race at 3:30pm EASTERN time. One can also see this qualifying session starting at 2:00pm EASTERN time.

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Sunday morning at Toronto - USF2000 hold Race 2…

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…and the WINNER for his 7th race - 6th in a row - is Kyle Kirkwood for Cape Motorsports. But this one was well-earned and hard fought for Kyle. P2 was Igor Fraga for Exclusive Autosport while Rasmus Lindh for Pabst Racing was P3.

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Kyle Kirkwood - another WIN

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Kaylen Frederick for Pabst Racing led the field away from pole, with Keith Donegan for BN Racing hot on his heels. As the scrum hit Turn 3 Keith went to the inside but was unable to make the turn and stuffed it into the tires. As Kaylen checked up to avoid him several cars piled up, nose to tail in the corner, bringing out a lengthy caution to clean up and restart as many cars as possible. Before the yellow flew Kyle Kirkwood was able to sneak past and into the lead from his P5 start, with Igor in P2 and Danial Frost for Exclusive Autosport in P3. Piled up were Kaylen, Rasmus, Calvin Ming, Lucas Kohl, Darren Keane, Colin Kaminsky, Russ McDonough, Kory Enders and Dakota Dickerson. All would eventually rejoin except Colin, Russ and Keith Donegan.

On the lap 7 restart Igor jumped Kyle in Turn 3 and took the lead. Kaylen jumped from P11 to P7. By lap 8 he was into P4 and Rasmus was up to P6. Igor and Kyle were running nose to tail for many, many laps as Kirkwood tried to regain the lead. He would try several passes but was unable to make them stick. On lap 13 Rasmus was going by Kaylen in Turn 8 to take P4. Two laps later the Swede was passing Danial Frost to take P3 in Turn 1, while Julian Van der Watt for Team Pelfrey went past teammate Bruna Tomaselli for P6.

On lap 16 Kaylen overcooked it going into Turn 3, trying to pass Danial Frost and dropped top P11. He would eventually recover to finish P8. On lap 18 Kyle was finally able to find his way back to P1 past Igor in Turn 8 and while Rasmus was catching Igor for the rest of the race, he ran out of time and pulled in P3, 3 seconds off Fraga.

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Notable:

  • In this case Kyle Kirkwood was very lucky to inherit P1 on that opening lap melee, but he also raced Igor very, very hard to retake the lead, after losing it. It was GREAT racing between the two for many laps.

  • Kirkwood can take the title with a decent showing in the first race at Mid-Ohio, and then not race for the last 4 races of the season. That’s how dominant he is in points. Really, the only thing left to decide is Vice-Champion.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Igor Fraga in P2 on the left, Kyle Kirkwood in P1 in the middle and Rasmus Lindh in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Kyle Kirkwood 279
2 - Kaylen Frederick 148
3 - Igor Fraga 145
4 - Rasmus Lindh 141
5 - Alex Baron 123

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The next outings for USF2000 will be at Mid-Ohio, July 27-29, where they will do Rounds 10, 11 and 12 in support of the IndyCars. Next up. Pro Mazda holds their final race of the weekend. The grid for this race is in post # 14…

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Sunday morning at Toronto - Pro Mazda finish out their weekend with a wild one…

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…and the WINNER at the end was Rinus VeeKay, sweeping the weekend for Juncos Racing. P2 was 2017 USF2000 Champion Oliver Askew, driving for Cape Motorsports and P3 was Robert Megennis for Juncos Racing.

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Rinus van Kalmthout - sweeper!

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As the race started with Rinus on the pole Harrison Scott for RP Motorsport Racing pulled straight off in Turn 1 - the hard work to repair his car following his big crash on Saturday was apparently not quite enough. At the same time Rob Megennis went from P3 to P2 past David Malukas for BN Racing. Points-leader Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport went from dead last to P10 and Oliver Askew went to P4 from his P6 start. By lap 3 Parker was in P9. Rinus in the lead took off and was never challenged again.

Then, the big one, as on lap 4 Raul Guzman for RP Motorsport Racing made contact with the wall in Turn 11 and his car split in two, with the engine and transmission going one way and the tub going another, depositing fluids all over the front straight. Raul walked away. It took all the way to lap 12 to restart the race and on that lap Oliver took P4 from Sting Ray Robb for Team Pelfrey. On lap 12 Parker had to pit following a brush with the wall and a broken suspension. He rejoined in P8, two laps down

On lap 15 Oliver passed David Malukas to take P3. On lap 20 Askew was past Rob Megennis to take P2. From that point on Rob was involved in a great battle for P3 with David Malukas and Carlos Cunha for Juncos Racing. The three ran virtually nose to tail for several laps. By lap 26 Nikita Lastochkin for Cape Motorsports pulled in to join that fight. On lap 28 Carlos went wide in Turn 3 and David went straight into the runnoff, handing P4 to Nikita and bringing out a caution.

The race restarted on lap 31 and completed on lap 32.

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Notable:

  • For Rinus Veekay it was a perfect weekend with two poles and two wins. While Parker still leads in the points his rough weekend whittled down his 47 point lead to only 7 points.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Oliver Askew on the left in P2, Rinus VeeKay in P1 in the middle and Rob Megennis in P3 on the right:

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Following this event, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Toronto:

1 - Parker Thompson 263
2 - Rinus VeeKay 256
3 - Carlos Cunha 226
4 - David Malukas 198
5 - Oliver Askew 195

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.The next outings for Pro Mazda will be at Mid-Ohio in support of the IndyCars, July 27-29, where they will do Rounds 12 and 13. Next, the Indy Lights do Race 2 of the weekend. the grid for that race is in post # 32…
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Sunday morning at Toronto - The Lights close out the weekend…

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Season Round 12 for the Indy Lights will be known for what happened off the track, rather than for what happened on it. The WINNER from pole was Santiago Urrutia for Belardi Auto Racing. P2 was Pato O’Ward for Andretti Autosport and P3 was Aaron Telitz for Belardi.

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Santi cruises to the WIN

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The races started with Colton Herta sitting in the pit lane, instead of his P4 starting position. It was deemed by his team too dangerous to his thumb injury from the final practice to let him race on the bumpy streets with others. The field took off in order, Santi, followed by Pato followed by Aaron followed by Ryan Norman and then Dalton Kellet, both for Andretti, and those five stretched out, and ended exactly the same way, without a pass on track in the race. In 6th place on the track was Victor Franzoni for Juncos Racing.

Once the race started Colton emerged from the pits, drove 1 official lap and then pitted again just to acquire P7 points. Within 3 laps Franzoni, making no attempt to race, pulled into the pits and parked his car. Colton then went out again, just to acquire more laps than Victor and take away P6 points while Victor took P7. Once officially in P6 Colton retired again, to heal and fight another day.

The rest of the field completed the race, and while all ran hard, no one made anymore changes to the running order. Santi WON with a 1.2-second gap to Pato who was 0.85 seconds ahead of Aaron.

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Notable:

  • After the race Victor explained that because of his limited budget, he could not afford to wreck the car, as he had done in Race 1 in the drizzle, and thus he could not afford to race at all in Race 2. He was devastated at that and vowed to find the money he needed to race at Mid Ohio.

  • Colton explained that the team decided it was better to give up points than risk further injury to his broken thumb and hoped to be healed well enough to race again at Mid-Ohio. The difference is that Colton is almost assured of an IndyCar ride next year, whether he wins the title or not, while Victor is assured of nothing.

Victor Franzoni (left) and Colton Herta

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Pato O’Ward in P2 on the left, Santiago Urrutia in P1 in the middle and Aaron Telitz in P3 on the right"

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

1 - Patricio O’Ward 331
2 - Colton Herta 313
3 - Santiago Urrutia 291
4 - Victor Franzoni 245
5 - Ryan Norman 230

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The next outings for Indy Lights will be at Mid-Ohio for season Rounds 13 and 14, in support of the IndyCars, July 27-29. Next, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada guys hold Race 2 of the weekend…

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Sunday afternoon at Toronto - The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada crew hold Race 2…

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…and the series points-leader Zacharie Robichon SWEEPS the weekend with another WIN in the # 98 for Mark Motors Racing. P2 at the end was Remo Ruscitti in the # 96 for Open Road Racing while P3 went to Michael Di Meo in the # 35 for Policaro Motorsport / SportsCarBoutique

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Zachary pulls a weekend SWEEP!

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Zacharie led the field away cleanly for the first lap of the race with teammate Roman de Angelis close after him in P2. but on the 2nd lap de Angelis overcooked it trying to get by Robichon in Turn 3 and locked up the front brakes, trying to avoid the walls. He would manage to do that but was passed by several cars before he could get going again for a trip to the pits for new tires and an inspection. He would drop to P10 and eventually work his way back up to P5 by the end.

After that, the field remained in qualifying order - minus de Angelis - for the rest of the race. That put Mazda Road to Indy alum Stefan Rzadzinski in the # 8 for DFC Motorsport / Speedstar Motorsport in P4 at the end, just off the podium.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Remo Ruscitti in P2 on the left, Zacharie Robichon in P1 in the middle and Michael Di Meo in P3 on the right:

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With this result here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Toronto:

1 - Zacharie Robichon 277
2 - Roman de Angelis 245
3 - Remo Ruscitti 220
4 - Stefan Rzadzinski 210
5 - Jeff Kingsly 204

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The next outings for Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada will be at the Grand Prix Trois-Rivières, August 25-26. Next up the IndyCars race!. The grid for this race is in post # 26…

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Sunday afternoon at Toronto - The Ice Man plays it cool…

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Today’s IndyCar race had everything a race fan could want and then some. When it was over Scott Dixon in the # 9 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing pulled in his 3rd WIN of the season and 44th WIN of an incredible career, cementing his legacy and increasing his points lead over his closest rival, as he attempts his 5th IndyCar title. P2 at the end was Simon Pagenaud in the # 22 Chevrolet for Team Penske while P3 went to a junilent Robert Wickens in the # 6 Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, giving Canadians everywhere a thrill.

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Josef Newgarden for Team Penske led the first 25 laps of the race, with Dixon in close proximity. On lap 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport brought out the first yellow when he slid into the Turn 3 tire barrier in the # 28 Honda. On the restart Josef slid on the tire marbles and into the wall exiting Turn 11 as Dixon took off down the front straight. He would lead from then to the end. Newgarden would recover and finish the race P9.

There were other incidents, as well. On the restart following Josef’s wall-banging Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan bumped into the back of Max Chilton for Carlin, setting off a chain reaction that also collected Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi for Andretti, Will Power for Team Penske and Sebastien Bourdais for Dale Coyne. All would eventually get repairs and rejoin.

Several cars had their own one-on-one battles at several places on the track and a fan could find action anyplace, anywhere. This one will be remembered.

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Notable:

  • Dixon had a great day, not just because he WON but because his points rivals all seemed to suffer at the same time.

  • Having great days were Charlie Kimball for Carlin who gave the team its best finish this season - a P5, Conor Daly for Harding Racing who gave them their best street-course finish in P13 and Tony Kanaan who sailed in P6 for AJ Foyt Enterprises

  • Andretti’s Zach Veach went from P22 to finish in P7. At one point he passed four cars in the space of five corners and he seemed to thread the needle through every bad situation without getting caught out.

  • Making the locals even happier was the fact that Ontario’s James Hinchcliffe posted a P4 and Montreal’s Zachary Claman DeMelo went to P14 from dead last at P23.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Simon Pagenaud in P2 on the left, Scott Dixon in P1 in the middle and Robert Wickens in P3 on the right:

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With this result here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Toronto

1 - Scott Dixon 464
2 - Josef Newgarden 402
3 - Alexander Rossi 394
4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 373
5 - Will Power - 371

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The next outing for the IndyCars is the big race weekend at Mid-Ohio, July 27-29, with full support from the Mazda Road to Indy.

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IndyCar has released a raceday highlights reel…

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And what a great race that was!

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