2016 Kohler Grand Prix

The 2016 Kohler Grand Prix was the 9th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. The event took place over 50 laps around Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race was the first for IndyCars at the circuit since 2007 during the final season of the Champ Car World Series. It was the 26th time that the circuit had been used for IndyCar racing.

United States 2016 Road America
Race details
9th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season
DateJune 26, 2016
Official nameKohler Grand Prix
LocationRoad America
CoursePermanent racing facility
4.014[1] mi / 6.458 km
Distance50 laps
200.7 mi / 322.9 km
Pole position
DriverWill Power (Team Penske)
Time1:42.2105
Fastest lap
DriverMax Chilton (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time1:44.1196 (on lap 45 of 50)
Podium
FirstWill Power (Team Penske)
SecondTony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing)
ThirdGraham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing)

Prior to the race weekend, doubts surrounded whether Josef Newgarden would be able to race due to injuries sustained during the 2016 Firestone 600. However, he was cleared by doctors to participate in opening practice and, later, for all sessions of the grand prix.[2] In qualifying, Will Power went fastest, setting a time of 1:42.2105 to beat out Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Championship leader Simon Pagenaud qualified fourth. Josef Newgarden and James Hinchcliffe both lost their two fastest times of their sessions, Newgarden for bringing out a red flag after spinning in turn 9 and Hinchcliffe for impeding the laps of Juan Pablo Montoya and Alexander Rossi. They started 20th and 22nd respectively.[3][4]

At the start of the race, the first four positions remained as they qualified, while Graham Rahal moved up into fifth. In the rear of the field, Jack Hawksworth spun in turn five, moving him to the back of the field. Sébastien Bourdais came into the pits with damage to the rear wing assembly at the end of the first lap, putting him a lap down and ending his chances of taking victory. On lap 7, Scott Dixon pulled off course and rolled to a halt in turn five with engine failure, leaving him with a last place finish. With Dixon gone, Will Power was free to extend his lead over Tony Kanaan before the first round of pit stops. At the first round of stops, Power easily emerged back in the lead, but Kanaan was challenged by Graham Rahal for second place. The running order remained largely the same through the second round of pit stops, though Rahal would briefly pull into second after a quick pit stop before Kanaan passed him again later in the lap. However, both would fall back as Simon Pagenaud, on red tires, charged past both to move into second. As the race approached lap 40, the last round of pit stops came, with the running order remaining Power, Pagenaud, Kanaan, Rahal.

On lap 40, the race's only caution period came out after the rear suspension on Conor Daly's car failed, sending him off course and into the wall in turn one. This bunched the field up for a shootout to the end of the race. On the restart on lap 44, Power held his lead, while Tony Kanaan moved past Simon Pagenaud into second. In a repeat of the Indianapolis 500, Pagenaud reported that his engine had developed a misfire, causing him to drop quickly down the running order. At the front of the race, Kanaan was able to close the gap to Power down to only half a second by the final lap. However, Power had conserved most of his push-to-pass presses, allowing him to use them for most of the final lap and hold of Kanaan for the victory. Power's win was his second consecutive win and his 27th career victory, tying him for 13th with Johnny Rutherford for most career IndyCar victories. The victory also put Power in serious contention for the championship despite missing the first race of the season. Kanaan's second was his first podium finish since the previous season's race at Auto Club Speedway. Graham Rahal completed the podium as the highest finishing Honda driver in the race. Pagenaud's engine issue plummeted him all the way down the order to 13th, turning what seemed like a huge points day with Scott Dixon's engine failure into only a small gain. The highest finishing rookie of the race was Spencer Pigot, who came across the line in ninth.[5][6][7] Josef Newgarden, despite his injuries, managed to finish in eighth place.[8]

Report

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Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

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Pos No. Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
1 12   Will Power 2 1:44.0025 1:42.4430 1:42.2105
2 9   Scott Dixon 1 1:42.4888 1:42.1451 1:42.3759
3 10   Tony Kanaan 2 1:43.5253 1:42.4093 1:42.7279
4 22   Simon Pagenaud 2 1:44.2585 1:42.4142 1:42.8573
5 3   Hélio Castroneves 1 1:42.8944 1:42.5556 1:42.9449
6 15   Graham Rahal 1 1:43.1585 1:42.5540 1:43.7782
7 8   Max Chilton R 1 1:43.1957 1:42.7519
8 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 1:42.9735 1:42.8318
9 18   Conor Daly R 2 1:43.4693 1:43.1073
10 26   Carlos Muñoz 1 1:43.1519 1:43.2001
11 83   Charlie Kimball 2 1:43.7253 1:43.2649
12 11   Sébastien Bourdais W 2 1:43.8669 1:43.3291
13 7   Mikhail Aleshin 1 1:43.4024
14 2   Juan Pablo Montoya 2 1:44.3570
15 14   Takuma Sato 1 1:43.5357
16 98   Alexander Rossi R 2 1:45.0840
17 20   Spencer Pigot R 1 1:43.6432
18 41   Jack Hawksworth 2 1:45.5110
19 19   Gabby Chaves 1 1:43.6672
20 21   Josef Newgarden 2 4:19.1862
21 27   Marco Andretti 1 1:43.7289
22 5   James Hinchcliffe 2 4:29.0408
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source for individual rounds:[9]

Race Results

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Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Pts.1
1 12   Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 50 1:39:10.3044 3 1 46 54
2 10   Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50 +0.7429 3 3 40
3 15   Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 50 +5.9608 3 6 2 36
4 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 50 +9.3597 3 8 32
5 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 50 +10.5340 3 5 30
6 83   Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50 +10.9966 3 11 28
7 2   Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 50 +12.6191 3 14 26
8 21   Josef Newgarden Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 50 +13.8835 3 20 24
9 20   Spencer Pigot R Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 50 +15.7290 3 17 22
10 26   Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 50 +17.1132 3 10 20
11 41   Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 50 +18.7152 4 18 19
12 27   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 50 +19.9030 4 21 18
13 22   Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 50 +21.1530 3 4 2 18
14 5   James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 50 +22.1333 4 22 16
15 98   Alexander Rossi R Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 50 +22.5908 4 16 15
16 7   Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 50 +23.5531 3 13 14
17 14   Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 50 +35.3665 5 15 13
18 11   Sébastien Bourdais W KVSH Racing Chevrolet 49 +1 Lap 4 12 12
19 19   Gabby Chaves Dale Coyne Racing Honda 49 +1 Lap 6 19 11
20 8   Max Chilton R Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48 +2 Laps 3 7 10
21 18   Conor Daly R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 39 Contact 3 9 9
22 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 6 Mechanical 0 2 8
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes

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:[5]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

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  1. ^ "Kohler Grand Prix race results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. INDYCAR. June 26, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  2. ^ "NEWGARDEN CLEARED TO PRACTICE AT ROAD AMERICA". IndyCar Series. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: INDYCAR. June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. ^ Robinson, Mitch (June 25, 2016). "POWER TAKES VERIZON P1 AWARD AT ROAD AMERICA". IndyCar Series. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: INDYCAR. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  4. ^ Malsher, David (June 25, 2016). "Power beats Dixon to take pole at Road America". Motorsport.com. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Malsher, David (June 26, 2016). "Power holds off charging Kanaan to win in Road America". Motorsport.com. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  6. ^ Pruett, Marshall (June 26, 2016). "INDYCAR: Power holds off Kanaan at Road America". Racer.com. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  7. ^ Robinson, Mitch (June 26, 2016). "POWER TAKES KOHLER GRAND PRIX VICTORY AT ROAD AMERICA". IndyCar Series. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: INDYCAR. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  8. ^ Pruett, Marshall (June 26, 2016). "INDYCAR: Newgarden IronMan's his way to eighth". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  9. ^ "Race Report: 2016 Kohler Grand Prix". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. June 21, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
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Official Pit Stop Data Archived 2016-08-21 at the Wayback Machine

Official Race Broadcast


Previous race:
2016 Chevrolet Dual in Detroit
IndyCar Series
2016 season
Next race:
2016 Iowa Corn 300
Previous race:
2007 Generac Grand Prix
Kohler Grand Prix Next race:
2017 Kohler Grand Prix