DETROIT – Team Penske may have started 1-2-3 in the first Chevrolet Dual in Detroit race, but it was Sebastien Bourdais and KVSH Racing that earned the spoils of victory after the 70-lap race on the Raceway at Belle Isle Park.
Winning by 2.0401 seconds over Conor Daly, Bourdais collected the 35th win of his Indy car career – and second straight at Belle Isle – to move into a tie with legendary Bobby Unser for sixth on the all-time list. Driving the No. 11 Team Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Chevrolet, Bourdais led the final nine laps after Daly had to stop for a splash of fuel in the No. 18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality Honda for Dale Coyne Racing.
“All we needed was clean air to come back from the pretty average qualifying and I really couldn’t dream of that,” Bourdais said. “I don’t even know how we got there. We just ran most of the race and it worked out so I couldn’t be any happier for Chevrolet and Hydroxycut today.”
For Daly the runner-up finish was the best of his young career, topping his previous best finish of sixth – which he claimed most recently at last month’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The Verizon IndyCar Series rookie also led laps for the third time in his seven starts this season for Dale Coyne Racing.
“It’s just sweet,” Daly said. “We’ve been through a lot this year, especially coming off of Indy. That was such a punch in the gut. We had a great car there too. We’re always having to fight from the back. We’re only making things difficult on ourselves. But it’s just small things, small gremlins every time. It’s still a rookie at this so there’s a lot for me to learn but gosh the guys on the stand called a beautiful race.”
Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya led twice during the race for 13 laps and ended his day on the podium with a third-place finish.
After a clean start, multiple drivers including Bourdais made their first pit stop in the early laps to switch to the more durable Firestone primary tires, shuffling the order almost immediately. The first caution of the race came on Lap 10 when Max Chilton’s No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet made contact with the wall heading into Turn 7.
Championship leader Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Team Penske) was one of the few who didn’t pit early, leading from the start until his first stop on Lap 23. He retook the lead on Lap 32 after teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power ran wide battling for the lead in Turn 3.
Pagenaud relinquished the lead after the caution flag came back out on Lap 42, this time for James Hinchcliffe’s No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Honda spinning in Turn 7 and hitting the outside tire barrier.
When the pits opened on Lap 43, Pagenaud and several leaders took to pit road, but Montoya (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) stayed on track and inherited the lead, followed by Graham Rahal (No. 15 United Rentals Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda), four-time series champion Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 2015 Detroit Race 2 winner Sebastien Bourdais (No. 11 Europa KVSH Racing Chevrolet) and Daly.
Just before the restart, Will Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet veered off course when his left rear wheel nut popped loose, extending the caution and taking the Australian out of the race. The field restarted on Lap 46, and with weather threatening, the top three began to gap the rest.
With the top six on separate strategy, it was a matter of when – not if – the leaders would hit pit road for the final scheduled time. Rahal and Gabby Chaves (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Dale Coyne Racing Honda) stopped on Lap 51, followed by Montoya on Lap 53. Dixon would pit on Lap 55, but an electrical issue in the car forced him to stop a lap upon exiting the pits, and would finish the race in 19th.
Bourdais pitted from the lead on Lap 57, but came out ahead of the following pack of Castroneves and Pagenaud, who were desperately saving fuel. Meanwhile, Daly took the top spot for the third time on the season.
Daly hit the pit lane for fuel only on his final stop on Lap 61, and came back out just behind Bourdais. Behind them, Montoya and Rahal were able to get around Castroneves and Pagenaud, but were out of time to catch the front two.
Using strategy and pace, the Frenchman Bourdais was able to collect his 35th career Indy car win, with Daly and Montoya joining him on the podium. The result marks Daly’s best career finish.
The Verizon IndyCar Series does it all over again Sunday, with Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. Qualifying for Race 2 begins at 10:45 a.m. ET, and coverage for Race 2 begins 3:30 p.m. on ABC. Radio coverage of the 70-lap race can also be found, starting at 3 p.m. on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
Source: INDYCAR.com
|
Pos |
SP |
Car |
Driver |
C/A/E/T |
Lap |
Laps Down |
Time Down |
Pit Stops |
Elapsed Time |
Avg Speed |
Pts |
Running/Reason Out |
|
1 |
13 |
11 |
Bourdais, Sebastien |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
–.—- |
4 |
01:40:51.6838 |
97.857 |
51 |
Running |
|
2 |
16 |
18 |
Daly, Conor |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
2.0401 |
5 |
01:40:53.7239 |
97.824 |
41 |
Running |
|
3 |
3 |
2 |
Montoya, Juan Pablo |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
5.7067 |
3 |
01:40:57.3905 |
97.765 |
36 |
Running |
|
4 |
10 |
15 |
Rahal, Graham |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
7.4793 |
3 |
01:40:59.1631 |
97.736 |
32 |
Running |
|
5 |
2 |
3 |
Castroneves, Helio |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
40.0139 |
2 |
01:41:31.6977 |
97.214 |
30 |
Running |
|
6 |
5 |
26 |
Munoz, Carlos |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
40.7592 |
2 |
01:41:32.4430 |
97.202 |
28 |
Running |
|
7 |
15 |
28 |
Hunter-Reay, Ryan |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
42.2990 |
3 |
01:41:33.9828 |
97.178 |
26 |
Running |
|
8 |
8 |
83 |
Kimball, Charlie |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
44.4699 |
4 |
01:41:36.1537 |
97.143 |
24 |
Running |
|
9 |
7 |
10 |
Kanaan, Tony |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
45.5832 |
4 |
01:41:37.2670 |
97.125 |
22 |
Running |
|
10 |
17 |
98 |
Rossi, Alexander (R) |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
48.2961 |
3 |
01:41:39.9799 |
97.082 |
20 |
Running |
|
11 |
11 |
14 |
Sato, Takuma |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
51.1067 |
4 |
01:41:42.7905 |
97.038 |
19 |
Running |
|
12 |
20 |
19 |
Chaves, Gabby |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
51.3256 |
3 |
01:41:43.0094 |
97.034 |
18 |
Running |
|
13 |
1 |
22 |
Pagenaud, Simon |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
52.5313 |
2 |
01:41:44.2151 |
97.015 |
21 |
Running |
|
14 |
14 |
21 |
Newgarden, Josef |
D/C/C/F |
70 |
0 |
1:06.2350 |
4 |
01:41:57.9188 |
96.798 |
16 |
Running |
|
15 |
12 |
7 |
Aleshin, Mikhail |
D/H/H/F |
70 |
0 |
1:14.1421 |
4 |
01:42:05.8259 |
96.673 |
15 |
Running |
|
16 |
19 |
27 |
Andretti, Marco |
D/H/H/F |
69 |
1 |
– |
5 |
01:41:03.5772 |
96.270 |
14 |
Running |
|
17 |
21 |
20 |
Pigot, Spencer (R) |
D/C/C/F |
69 |
1 |
– |
6 |
01:41:45.3662 |
95.611 |
13 |
Running |
|
18 |
4 |
5 |
Hinchcliffe, James |
D/H/H/F |
65 |
5 |
– |
3 |
01:40:20.4340 |
91.339 |
12 |
Running |
|
19 |
6 |
9 |
Dixon, Scott |
D/C/C/F |
56 |
14 |
– |
4 |
01:23:45.9814 |
94.262 |
12 |
Electrical |
|
20 |
9 |
12 |
Power, Will |
D/C/C/F |
44 |
26 |
– |
3 |
01:04:43.5726 |
95.850 |
11 |
Mechanical |
|
21 |
18 |
8 |
Chilton, Max (R) |
D/C/C/F |
8 |
62 |
– |
1 |
00:11:05.4585 |
101.704 |
9 |
Contact |
|
22 |
22 |
41 |
Hawksworth, Jack |
D/H/H/F |
0 |
70 |
– |
0 |
00:00:00.0000 |
0.000 |
8 |
Mechanical |