F1 Fanatic

Enjoy the IndyCar season while it lasts – not just because there’s been some great races but also because there’s not much of it left. With the China race cancelled and no replacement there’s just five remaining after this weekend.

Dario Franchitti’s hopes of retaining his title are looking increasingly desperate as he languishes in eighth in the standings, 70 points behind Will Power.

He’s done all he can so far this weekend to put that right by taking pole position at Toronto but who’s second on the grid? That’s right, Will Power…

On row two are Justin Wilson and Sebastien Bourdais – Wilson, of course, injured some of Bourdais’ pit crew earlier this weekend when he crashed in pit lane.

Toronto qualifying also showed up the shortcomings in the split qualifying format. The second group was much stronger and those drivers generally set better times than those in the first group and were under-rewarded for their efforts.

Takuma Sato was 11th after being stripped of times for holding up Power, and Rubens Barrichello was down in 20th.

Here’s the classification before penalties are applied (PDF):

http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2012/TOR–Honda_Indy_Toronto_Qual_Results.pdf

As usual we’ll be following the race on F1 Fanatic Live tomorrow.

Ryan Hunter-Reay made it three in a row with an opportunistic win at Toronto. It hinged on an early safety car period which scuppered the races of several drivers who were yet to stop.

That included Will Power, who had taken the lead early on after passing Justin Wilson and Dario Franchitti.

Charlie Kimball took second, aided by a brilliant double pass on Simon Pagenaud and Tony Kanaan at the tight turn three where it’s normally hard enough for two cars to get through side-by-side.

Both the cars he passed were running low on fuel. Pagenaud eventually pitted but not before Josef Newgarden had gone off at turn three trying to pass him.

Kanaan fell to tenth but a chaotic restart promoted him to fourth at the flag. Sebastien Bourdais was knocked out of third place when Mike Conway tipped Kimball into him. Conway went on to take third.

Highlights here:

It must be a while since we last had an American one-two in IndyCar?

It’s six years since we last had an American leading the championship – Sam Hornish in 2006. Hunter-Reay leads the standings with five races to go.

Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon are still very much in contention but James Hinchcliffe’s chances suffered a blow when he retired with a technical problem:

1. Ryan Hunter-Reay – 335
2. Will Power – 301
3. Helio Castroneves 289
4. Scott Dixon – 281
5. James Hinchcliffe – 268
6. Tony Kanaan – 267

The next race is at Edmonton in two weeks’ time.

I missed the end as I had to switch from SkyGo to F12011 for my club’s evening race, so thanks for the highlights video link there Keith. It was a remarkably quiet race in terms on cautions, for the most part, at least. I’m liking that the run to the end of the championship is mostly street/road tracks, as I’m not overly fussed about the ovals. It’s going to be very close for the championship, and it’s nice to not see Franchitti up there for a change.

I was going to post on that, glad I didn’t create a thread. Once again you were quick Keith!

I feel it’s unfair, even more unfair that Wilson’s win at Texas. Wilson’s problem didn’t give as big an advantage on the track as Conway’s. In such a tight and short street circuit a bigger fuel tank means less stops and a huge advantage. With a bigger tank I bet Pagenaud would’ve won, and then what? A fine and that’s it? It’s a matter of time until teams stop seeing these things as “fines” and start seeing it as “fees”.