2016 Grand Prix of Indianapolis

United States 2016 GP Indianapolis
Race details
5th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season
DateMay 14, 2016
Official nameAngie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis
LocationIndianapolis Motor Speedway
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.439 mi / 3.925 km
Distance82 laps
200 mi / 321.87 km
Pole position
DriverSimon Pagenaud (Team Penske)
Time1:08.6868
Fastest lap
DriverAlexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport)
Time1:09.5535 (on lap 67 of 82)
Podium
FirstSimon Pagenaud (Team Penske)
SecondHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
ThirdJames Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports)

The 2016 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, officially known as the 2016 Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis for sponsorship reasons, was the fifth round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season. The race took place over 82 laps on the infield road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race also served as part of the festivities surrounding the 2016 Indianapolis 500. The car count for the race slightly increased from other races during the season due to some entries participating in the Indianapolis 500 electing to also run in the Grand Prix.

Race Recap

Logo of 2016 Grand Prix of Indianapolis

For the second race in a row, Simon Pagenaud qualified in pole position, this time with a time of 1:08.6868. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Charlie Kimball surprised with a qualifying run good enough to place him second.[1] Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden, who had qualified third and fifth respectively, had their times disallowed and were moved to the back of the starting grid for failing to meet minimum car weight regulations in post-qualifying inspection.[2]

The race was run in cold temperatures and overcast skies. At the start, Simon Pagenaud held the lead, while James Hinchcliffe moved into second. As the field moved into the first turn, Tony Kanaan and Sébastien Bourdais made contact, bringing out a full course caution and bringing an end to Kanaan's day before he could complete a lap. The race restarted after four caution laps with much cleaner results. On lap six, Will Power lost control of his car entering turn seven while trying to defend from Alexander Rossi. No caution resulted from the spin and Power would finish a lowly 19th. The first round of pit stops came around lap 20. Graham Rahal would lead briefly due to extending fuel farther than anyone else, but would fall back following his own pit stop. The lead was briefly handed to Charlie Kimball, who had beat Pagenaud out of the pits. Pagenaud would not take long to find a way by, however, and was quickly back in the lead.

On lap 37, the second caution of the day came out when Sébastien Bourdais rolled to a halt on track. Most of the leaders pitted under the caution, but Hélio Castroneves and Conor Daly, who had made their first stops early and went off sequence from the leaders, stayed out, handing Castroneves the lead. On the restart, Daly was able to get by Castroneves and take the lead, which he held for 14 laps before coming in for his final pit stop. After Castroneves pitted two laps later, Simon Pagenaud resumed the lead and was able to gain enough of an advantage to not lose it again after his pit stop. Pagenaud took victory by roughly 4.5 seconds over his teammate Castroneves, giving Pagenaud his third consecutive victory and a comfortable lead in the point standings. James Hinchcliffe took the final step of the podium, coming across about half a second after Castroneves. Graham Rahal, despite starting at the back of the field, finished fourth. Despite fading in the last laps of the race, Conor Daly still placed a respectable sixth, making him the highest finishing rookie in the race.[3]

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Pos No. Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Firestone Fast 6
1 22 France Simon Pagenaud W 2 1:08.6748 1:08.7696 1:08.6868
2 83 United States Charlie Kimball 1 1:09.2451 1:09.0607 1:08.9816
3 5 Canada James Hinchcliffe 2 1:09.0244 1:09.0086 1:09.2260
4 41 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth 1 1:09.1601 1:09.0611 1:09.5141
5 10 Brazil Tony Kanaan 2 1:09.0845 1:09.2511
6 2 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 1 1:09.3260 1:09.2645
7 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon 1 1:09.2004 1:09.4010
8 11 France Sébastien Bourdais 1 1:09.2463 1:09.4436
9 7 Russia Mikhail Aleshin 1 1:09.2537 1:09.6771
10 12 Australia Will Power W 2 1:08.6746 1:09.9297
11 8 United Kingdom Max Chilton R 1 1:09.3289
12 98 United States Alexander Rossi R 2 1:09.1475
13 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 1 1:09.4947
14 61 Australia Matthew Brabham R 2 1:09.2944
15 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 1:09.5276
16 6 United States J. R. Hildebrand 2 1:09.4377
17 26 Colombia Carlos Muñoz 1 1:09.6457
18 16 United States Spencer Pigot R 2 1:09.4591
19 27 United States Marco Andretti 1 1:09.7478
20 14 Japan Takuma Sato 2 1:09.4659
21 35 Canada Alex Tagliani 1 1:10.4109
22 18 United States Conor Daly R 2 1:09.4795
23 19 Colombia Gabby Chaves 2 1:09.7720
24 15 United States Graham Rahal 2 Times Disallowed
25 21 United States Josef Newgarden 2 Times Disallowed
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source for individual rounds:[4]

Race Results

Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Status Pit
Stops
Grid Laps
Led
Pts.1
1 22 France Simon Pagenaud W Team Penske Chevrolet 82 1:50:18.5823 3 1 57 54
2 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 82 +4.4748 3 13 7 41
3 5 Canada James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 82 +5.0807 3 3 35
4 15 United States Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 82 +7.0715 4 24 2 33
5 83 United States Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 82 +7.4234 3 2 2 31
6 18 United States Conor Daly R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 82 +12.1838 3 22 14 29
7 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 82 +12.9226 3 7 26
8 2 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 82 +13.6912 4 6 24
9 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 82 +15.1933 3 15 22
10 98 United States Alexander Rossi R Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 82 +16.3134 3 12 20
11 16 United States Spencer Pigot R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 82 +20.5172 3 18 19
12 26 Colombia Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 82 +29.6369 3 17 18
13 7 Russia Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 82 +43.3093 3 9 17
14 8 United Kingdom Max Chilton R Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 82 +43.3785 3 11 16
15 27 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 82 +44.6339 3 19 15
16 61 Australia Matthew Brabham R Pirtek Team Murray Chevrolet 82 +45.5107 3 14 14
17 19 Colombia Gabby Chaves Dale Coyne Racing Honda 82 +47.0326 4 23 13
18 14 Japan Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 82 +56.3389 5 20 12
19 12 Australia Will Power W Team Penske Chevrolet 82 +57.4410 4 10 11
20 41 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 82 +1:03.7229 3 4 10
21 21 United States Josef Newgarden Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 82 +1:08.6234 5 25 9
22 6 United States J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 81 +1 Lap 4 16 8
23 35 Canada Alex Tagliani A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 81 +1 Lap 5 21 7
24 11 France Sébastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Chevrolet 20 Mechanical 1 8 6
25 10 Brazil Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0 Contact 0 5 5
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Notes

All cars ran Dallara chassis with aerokits supplied by their respective engine manufacturer.

1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Source for time gaps:[3]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

  1. ^ Miller, Robin (May 13, 2016). ""INDYCAR: Pagenaud on pole for Indy GP"". Racer.com. Speedway, Indiana: Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  2. ^ "INDYCAR: Rahal, Newgarden fail post-qualifying inspection". Racer.com. Speedway, Indiana: Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. May 13, 2016. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Malsher, David (May 14, 2016). ""Pagenaud perfect again, scores third straight victory"". Motorsport.com. Speedway, Indiana: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  4. ^ "Race Report: 2016 Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. May 9, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.


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2015 Grand Prix of Indianapolis
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