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2016 IndyCar series: Toronto talking points

You don't race with Will Power. You strap yourself in and feel the Gs. (SarahStierch / Wikimedia Commons)
Roar Guru
18th July, 2016
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For the thirtieth year, the cars and stars of the IndyCar Series headed north of the border to Ontario, Canada for the popular race on the demandingly bumpy street circuit around downtown Toronto’s Exhibition Place.

It’s one of the biggest events of the year, always in front of a huge Canadian crowd. Here’s all you need to know from IndyCar’s only Canadian stop:

Maximum power
He’s done it again! For the third time in four races, Australia’s Will Power had landed himself in the winner’s circle. After back-to-back victories in Detroit and Road America, the Queenslander finished second last week in Iowa, and stormed to the front in Toronto to take another win, finishing 1.5275 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, teammate Helio Castroneves.

To be honest, though, this was an unlikely win for Power. The 85-lap race was dominated by Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the #9 Chevrolet. Dixon, the Queensland-born New Zealander, was running away with the event when a late race caution fell at the worst possible time. On the last round of stops, Dixon’s crew had left him out one lap longer than the rest of the front-runners, and a yellow flag for Josef Newgarden’s accident sent the defending IndyCar Series champion outside the top ten.

Conversely, Power’s crew brought him in just before the caution, allowing the 2014 IndyCar Series champion to cycle to the front as everyone else pitted. Runner-up Castroneves was on the same strategy – whether it was insane luck or absolute knife-edge timing, we’ll never know – and followed Power home. It was a popular third place finish for Canada’s favourite racing son, James Hinchcliffe.

You have to feel desperately sorry for Dixon, who had everyone’s measure for the bulk of the event, leading 56 of 85 laps. Were it not for an unlucky call, the Kiwi would almost certainly have been celebrating his second victory of the year – he won the second race of the season on the Phoenix oval – but instead had to settle for an eighth place finish, after a barnstorming final stint, charging from thirteenth.

There was some great, hard side-by-side racing through the field – particularly the early battle between Newgarden and Juan Pablo Montoya, and seemingly at every restart – in front of a huge Canadian crowd befitting the event’s thirtieth birthday. This is a great event, and we should all hope that IndyCar continues to visit Toronto for many years to come.

Points race
Alongside Dixon in being caught out by the Newgarden accident and the subsequent yellow flag was points leader, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. A ninth-place run for the Team Penske driver resulted in him losing a major chunk of his sizeable points lead to Power. Newgarden’s accident allowed Power to slide into second place in the championship hunt, just forty-seven markers back with five races left.

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Make no mistake, Power in that silver #12 for Team Penske is right in the hunt.

Oh, Canada
It was a good day for James Hinchcliffe in his home race. A masterful job stretching fuel resulted in a two-stop race thanks to timely cautions, and a trip to the Toronto podium. It was a popular result with the locals and a good one for Hinch, who has had some awful luck in Canada during his career.

Canadians have a good history of winning in Toronto – local Paul Tracy won twice during his glittering career – and I’d love nothing more than to see Hinchcliffe win in front of his adoring fans one year soon.

Josef Newgarden
The Iowa winner took a shot as he ploughed into the outside wall on lap 58 to bring out the race-defining caution. Remember that the American has been racing with a broken hand and collarbone. He was visibly in pain after the accident, and the DNF will just about put an end to his championship aspirations.

Back to front
Driving for AJ Foyt, Japan’s Takuma Sato scythed through the field to gained fifteen positions during the race to finish an impressive fifth. Sato is either hot or cold. There’s no in between for him. Today, he was hot, and it was great to see the likeable Japanese native, who is one half of the strangest driver-owner combination in the IndyCar Series paddock, up near the front.

Marco Andretti was similarly impressive coming through the field, charging from twenty-second to tenth in his Andretti Autosport Honda. It was Marco’s strongest non-oval run in recent memory.

The mad Russian
Robin Miller said it best on NBC’s pre-race show – the Mad Russian is the new cult hero of IndyCar racing. After a strong run in Iowa last Sunday night, Schmidt Peterson Motorsport’s Mikhail Aleshin spent most of the day leading the Honda charge, overtaken only by his teammate Hinchcliffe.

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Aleshin’s sixth-place finish was a highlight of the day. He’s getting better week by week, and doubtless benefits from having Hinchcliffe as a teammate.

Mid-Ohio is next
The IndyCar Series has a week off before entering the home stretch of the 2016 season, reconvening at the natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio over the last weekend in July. Ohio native Graham Rahal is the defending champion.

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