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INDYCAR 2017

Takuma Sato Wins Belle Isle Race 2 Pole

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Takuma Sato kept the momentum from his historic Indianapolis 500 win going, winning the Verizon P1 Award and pole position for this afternoon’s second race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear doubleheader in record fashion.

The driver of the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda ran a sizzling lap of 1 minute, 13.6732 seconds (114.831 mph) on the 2.35-mile, 14-turn Raceway at Belle Isle Park temporary street course to secure the first starting position for the 70-lap race that airs at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.

Sato’s lap tops the track record set Saturday in qualifying for the first race by Graham Rahal, 1:13.9681 (114.374 mph). It is the sixth pole position of Sato’s eight-year Verizon IndyCar Series career and first since he was fastest in qualifying for the second Belle Isle race three years ago.

“The (No.) 26 car was a rocket ship,” Sato said. “Going through my (fast) lap, I mean, I gave 100 percent everything. There was nothing left on the inches. I was nearly hit the wall twice, but I was happy, I was confident. It’s absolutely team credit.

“To set the track record in this challenging track, it means a lot to me, and I’m very, very happy.”

Takuma Sato Verizon P1 Award news conference for Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race 2

SOURCE: INDYCAR

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 2 Starting Grid

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The official starting grid for 2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 2 on Sunday, June 4, 2017, is as follows:

Row 1

1. (26) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:13.6732 (114.831)
2. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:15.2833 (112.376)

Row 2

3. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:13.8105 (114.618)
4. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:15.5279 (112.012)

Row 3

5. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:13.8264 (114.593)
6. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:16.0371 (111.261)

Row 4

7. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:13.9449 (114.410)
8. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:16.1727 (111.063)

Row 5

9. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:14.0339 (114.272)
10. (4) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:16.1732 (111.063)

Row 6

11. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:14.0765 (114.206)
12. (83) Charlie Kimball, Honda, 01:16.1800 (111.053)

Row 7

13. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:14.1814 (114.045)
14. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:16.2884 (110.895)

Row 8

15. (10) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 01:14.3287 (113.819)
16. (8) Max Chilton, Honda, 01:16.5150 (110.567)

Row 9

17. (19) Ed Jones, Honda, 01:14.7786 (113.134)
18. (21) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 01:18.6272 (107.596)

Row 10

19. (18) Esteban Gutierrez, Honda, 01:15.0055 (112.792)
20. (16) Oriol Servia, Honda, 01:21.4485 (103.869)

Row 11

21. (20) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 01:15.8491 (111.537)
22. (14) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)

The odd-numbered starting positions for today’s race are filled with the other cars in Sato’s group, based on their qualifying times. The even-numbered positions in the 22-car field are filled by those in Hunter-Reay’ group, also based on qualifying times.

Coverage of this afternoon’s 70-lap race begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, WatchESPN and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

The official on-track schedule is as follows.

  • 2:59 p.m. – Driver introductions
  • 3:43 p.m. – Command to start engines
  • 3:50 p.m. – Chevrolet Dual in Detroit 2 (70 laps/164.5 miles), ABC (live)

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 2 Qualification Results

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2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1, Group 1, Qualification Results

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1, Group 2, Qualification Results

Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Qualifications – Sunday, June 4, 2017

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 2 Grid

Starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, aero kit-engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (26) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:13.6732 (114.831)
2. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:15.2833 (112.376)
3. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:13.8105 (114.618)
4. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:15.5279 (112.012)
5. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:13.8264 (114.593)
6. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:16.0371 (111.261)
7. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:13.9449 (114.410)
8. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:16.1727 (111.063)
9. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:14.0339 (114.272)
10. (4) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:16.1732 (111.063)
11. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:14.0765 (114.206)
12. (83) Charlie Kimball, Honda, 01:16.1800 (111.053)
13. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:14.1814 (114.045)
14. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:16.2884 (110.895)
15. (10) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 01:14.3287 (113.819)
16. (8) Max Chilton, Honda, 01:16.5150 (110.567)
17. (19) Ed Jones, Honda, 01:14.7786 (113.134)
18. (21) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 01:18.6272 (107.596)
19. (18) Esteban Gutierrez, Honda, 01:15.0055 (112.792)
20. (16) Oriol Servia, Honda, 01:21.4485 (103.869)
21. (20) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 01:15.8491 (111.537)
22. (14) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)

Rahal, Hinchcliffe and Dixon Post 2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Conference

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Graham Rahal Post Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 News Conference

After winning the first race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, Graham Rahal spoke with the media.

Hinchcliffe and Dixon Post Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 News Conference

James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon spoke with the media following the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Race 1.

Graham Rahal Wins 2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 From Pole

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Graham Rahal and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing win Race 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix — Photo by: Chris Owens

Graham Rahal said at the beginning of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear weekend that his team had uncovered a solid street-course car setup earlier this season. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver proved it today with a dominant victory in the first race of the Verizon IndyCar Series weekend doubleheader.

Rahal led 55 of the 70 laps on the Raceway at Belle Isle Park’s 2.35-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. The 28-year-old Ohioan crossed the finish line 6.1474 seconds ahead of Scott Dixon to become the seventh different driver to win in as many series races this season. The second race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday.

“Everything went according to plan today,” said Rahal, who started from the pole position after capturing the Verizon P1 Award with a track-record lap this morning. “We were pretty in control.

“We’ve shown some speed at times this year, but we haven’t had a lot of luck. Today, we had a combination of speed, the yellows didn’t come out at bad times for us and we certainly had the pace. Pretty pleased with that and hopefully tomorrow we can do the same.”

Driving the No. 15 SoldierStrong / TurnsforTroops.com Honda, Rahal collected the fifth win of his 11-year Indy car career. It is Rahal’s first triumph on a temporary street course since his maiden Verizon IndyCar Series victory at St. Petersburg in 2008, when he became the youngest winner in Indy car annals at 19 years, 3 months, 2 days.

It is also the first street-course victory by the Rahal team since co-owner Bobby Rahal won the inaugural Belle Isle race 25 years ago.

“It’s always wonderful to see your son win or your team win, frankly,” Bobby Rahal said. “To lead 55 out of 70 laps, that’s pretty special.

“If you give Graham the car, he’s going to be tough to beat. I think we saw that today. I don’t think he could have driven any better, I don’t think a statement could be made any stronger. This was our race.”

SOURCE: INDYCAR

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Results

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DETROIT, Michigan – Results from Saturday of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Dual 1 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.35-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park, with the order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, aero kit-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Graham Rahal, Honda, 70, Running
2. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 70, Running
3. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 70, Running
4. (9) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 70, Running
5. (4) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 70, Running
6. (20) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 70, Running
7. (2) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 70, Running
8. (3) Takuma Sato, Honda, 70, Running
9. (21) Ed Jones, Honda, 70, Running
10. (17) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 70, Running
11. (8) Max Chilton, Honda, 70, Running
12. (13) Marco Andretti, Honda, 70, Running
13. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 70, Running
14. (14) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, 70, Running
15. (15) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 70, Running
16. (7) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 70, Running
17. (18) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 70, Running
18. (11) Will Power, Chevrolet, 69, Running
19. (19) Esteban Gutierrez, Honda, 69, Running
20. (22) Oriol Servia, Honda, 69, Running
21. (10) Charlie Kimball, Honda, 69, Running
22. (16) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 25, Mechanical                                                                                

Race Statistics

Winner’s average speed: 103.015 mph
Time of Race: 1:35:48.7028
Margin of victory: 6.1474 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 6 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers

Lap Leaders

  • Rahal 1-23
  • Aleshin 24
  • Castroneves 25-35
  • Rahal 36-47
  • Hinchcliffe 48
  • Dixon 49-50
  • Rahal 51-70

Verizon IndyCar Series point standings

  1. Dixon 275
  2. Castroneves 273
  3. Sato 258
  4. Pagenaud 248
  5. Rossi 220
  6. Newgarden 218
  7. Jones 207
  8. Hinchcliffe 206
  9. Kanaan 203
  10. Power 198

SOURCE: INDYCAR

Graham Rahal Wins Belle Isle Race 1 Pole, First in Eight Years

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Graham Rahal broke an eight-year pole position drought in style this morning, setting a Raceway at Belle Isle Park track record to win the P1 Award and first starting position for today’s first race of the 2017 Detroit Grand Prix.

Rahal, driving the No. 15 SoldierStrong / TurnsforTroops.com Honda, scorched around the 14-turn, 2.35-mile temporary street course in 1 minute, 13.9681 seconds (114.374 mph). It bettered the record of 1:14.0379 set last year by Simon Pagenaud.

It is the third pole position in Rahal’s 11-year Indy car career, but first, since he was the top qualifier at Kansas Speedway in April 2009. It also marks the first Verizon IndyCar Series pole position for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing since Scott Sharp took the honor at Texas Motor Speedway 10 years ago.

“It’s a little uncharted territory for me the last handful of years,” Rahal said. “We’re used to having to charge from the back. This is a pretty welcomed sight.”

Qualifying consisted of two groups receiving 12 minutes of track time each instead of the typical three rounds of knockout qualifying seen at Verizon IndyCar Series street- and road-course events. Rahal established the standard in Group 1.

Helio Castroneves clocked a lap of 1:13.8901 (114.494 mph) in the second group that would have won the pole, but was penalized by INDYCAR for not reducing his speed in the area of a local yellow and had his fast lap negated. Mikhail Aleshin (No. 7 SMP Racing Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) brought out the local caution in the Turn 7 area of the 14-turn, 2.35-mile temporary street course. Per Rule 7.1.3.2 of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series Rule Book, other drivers must decrease their speed by at least 15 percent when traveling through a local yellow area. INDYCAR stewards ruled that Castroneves did not obey the rule.

Castroneves’ next-best lap in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet of 1:14.0414 was still good enough to be fastest in his group, so he will start outside Rahal on Row 1 in this afternoon’s race. Rahal and Castroneves each earned a championship point for being fastest in their groups.

SOURCE: INDYCAR

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Starting Grid

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The official starting grid for 2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 on Saturday, June 3, 2017, is as follows:

Row 1

1. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:13.9681 (114.374)
2. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:14.0414 (114.260)

Row 2

3. (26) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:14.0428 (114.258)
4. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:14.0875 (114.189)

Row 3

5. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:14.1801 (114.047)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:14.2855 (113.885)

Row 4

7. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:14.3150 (113.840)
8. (8) Max Chilton, Honda, 01:14.9991 (112.801)

Row 5

9. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:14.3805 (113.739)
10. (83) Charlie Kimball, Honda, 01:15.0664 (112.700)

Row 6

11. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:14.6312 (113.357)
12. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:15.0991 (112.651)

Row 7

13. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:14.6719 (113.296)
14. (14) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, 01:15.2060 (112.491)

Row 8

15. (10) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 01:15.2668 (112.400)
16. (4) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:15.2228 (112.466)

Row 9

17. (20) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 01:15.6261 (111.866)
18. (21) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 01:15.2334 (112.450)

Row 10

19. (18) Esteban Gutierrez, Honda, 01:15.6276 (111.864)
20. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:15.2430 (112.436)

Row 11

21. (19) Ed Jones, Honda, 01:15.8343 (111.559)
22. (16) Oriol Servia, Honda, 01:15.2758 (112.387)

The odd-numbered starting positions for today’s race are filled with the other cars in Rahal’s group, based on their qualifying times. The even-numbered positions in the 22-car field are filled by those in Castroneves’ group, also based on qualifying times.

Coverage of this afternoon’s 70-lap race begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, WatchESPN and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

The official on-track schedule is as follows.

  • 3:03 p.m. – Driver introductions
  • 3:43 p.m. – Command to start engines
  • 3:50 p.m. – Chevrolet Dual in Detroit 1 (70 laps/164.5 miles), ABC (live)

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Qualification Results

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2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1, Group 1, Qualification Results

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1, Group 2, Qualification Results*

* Note: Lap Penalty (Loss of Infraction lap), Car 3 (Helio Castroneves) – Reduce Speed 15% in Local Yellow Zone ( 7.1.3.2). This resulted in Graham Rahal earning the Pole for Race 1.

2017 INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Grid

Starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, aero kit-engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:13.9681 (114.374)
2. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:14.0414 (114.260)
3. (26) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:14.0428 (114.258)
4. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:14.0875 (114.189)
5. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:14.1801 (114.047)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:14.2855 (113.885)
7. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:14.3150 (113.840)
8. (8) Max Chilton, Honda, 01:14.9991 (112.801)
9. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:14.3805 (113.739)
10. (83) Charlie Kimball, Honda, 01:15.0664 (112.700)
11. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:14.6312 (113.357)
12. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:15.0991 (112.651)
13. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:14.6719 (113.296)
14. (14) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, 01:15.2060 (112.491)
15. (10) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 01:15.2668 (112.400)
16. (4) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:15.2228 (112.466)
17. (20) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 01:15.6261 (111.866)
18. (21) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 01:15.2334 (112.450)
19. (18) Esteban Gutierrez, Honda, 01:15.6276 (111.864)
20. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:15.2430 (112.436)
21. (19) Ed Jones, Honda, 01:15.8343 (111.559)
22. (16) Oriol Servia, Honda, 01:15.2758 (112.387)