2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

The 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The race was run on April 15, 2012 in Long Beach, California, United States at Streets of Long Beach.

United States 2012 Long Beach
Race details
3rd round of the 2012 IndyCar Series season
DateApril 15, 2012
Official nameToyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
LocationStreets Of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
CourseTemporary street circuit
1.968 mi / 3.167 km
Distance85 laps
167.280 mi / 269.211 km
WeatherTemperatures up to 68 °F (20 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1] with partly cloudy skies
Pole position
DriverRyan Briscoe (Team Penske)
Time1:08.6089
Fastest lap
DriverTony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology)
Time1:09.3541 (on lap 73 of 85)
Podium
FirstWill Power (Team Penske)
SecondSimon Pagenaud (Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports)
ThirdJames Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport)

Report

edit

Background

edit

The first two races of the 2012 IndyCar Series season were held in St. Petersburg and Barber. The races were dominated by Team Penske with two poles and two wins in a row. In St. Petersburg, Will Power took the pole and Hélio Castroneves won the victory, but at Barber things were reversed. Going into Long Beach, Castroneves led in the drivers' championship with 86 points, while Chevrolet led the manufacturers' championship.

Before the first practice, all Chevrolet entries were penalized because of unauthorized engine changes. This penalty moved the polesitter, Ryan Briscoe, from starting in the first position down to the 11th spot. Dario Franchitti, in the quickest non-Chevrolet car, started in the first position.[2]

Classification

edit

Starting grid

edit
 
Dario Franchitti started on pole after all Chevrolet-powered cars were penalized 10 grid positions.
Row Inside Outside
1 10   Dario Franchitti 67   Josef Newgarden (R)
2 18   Justin Wilson 77   Simon Pagenaud (R)
3 9   Scott Dixon 15   Takuma Sato
4 14   Mike Conway 38   Graham Rahal
5 83   Charlie Kimball 98   Alex Tagliani
6 2   Ryan Briscoe 12   Will Power
7 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay 19   James Jakes
8 5   E. J. Viso 27   James Hinchcliffe
9 78   Simona de Silvestro 3   Hélio Castroneves
10 11   Tony Kanaan 4   J. R. Hildebrand
11 26   Marco Andretti 8   Rubens Barrichello
12 22   Oriol Servià 20   Ed Carpenter
13 7   Sebastien Bourdais 6   Katherine Legge (R)
Briscoe, Power, Hunter-Reay, Viso, Hinchcliffe, Castroneves,
Kanaan, Hildebrand, Andretti, Barrichello, Servià, Carpenter,
Bourdais and Legge penalised 10 places for changing engine
[3]

Race results

edit
 
Will Power won his second straight race.
 
Simon Pagenaud (left) finished second. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third on the road, but was penalized for avoidable contact.
 
James Hinchcliffe finished third after Hunter-Reay's penalty.
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points1
1 12   Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 85 1:54:01.6082 12 15 50
2 77   Simon Pagenaud (R) Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda 85 + 0.8675 4 26 42
3 27   James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 85 + 13.2719 16 0 35
4 11   Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 85 + 18.1951 19 0 32
5 4   J. R. Hildebrand Panther Racing Chevrolet 85 + 22.9947 20 0 30
6 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 85 + 42.5631 13 4 28
7 2   Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Chevrolet 85 + 1:40.1271 11 5 27
8 15   Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 84 + 1 lap 6 16 24
9 8   Rubens Barrichello KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 22 0 22
10 18   Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 84 + 1 lap 3 15 20
11 19   James Jakes Dale Coyne Racing Honda 84 + 1 lap 14 0 19
12 5   E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 15 0 18
13 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 84 +1 lap 18 0 17
14 20   Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 83 + 2 laps 24 0 16
15 10   Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 82 + 3 laps 1 4 15
16 22   Oriol Servià Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Lotus 82 + 3 laps 23 0 14
17 7   Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Racing Lotus 82 + 3 laps 25 0 13
18 83   Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 80 + 5 laps 9 0 12
19 6   Katherine Legge (R) Dragon Racing Lotus 80 + 5 laps 26 0 12
20 78   Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing Lotus 74 Mechanical 17 0 12
21 98   Alex Tagliani Team Barracuda – BHA Lotus 46 Mechanical 10 0 12
22 14   Mike Conway A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 41 Mechanical 7 0 12
23 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 27 Mechanical 5 0 12
24 38   Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 23 Contact 8 0 12
25 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 22 Contact 21 0 10
26 67   Josef Newgarden (R) Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 0 Contact 2 0 10
Hunter-Reay and Castroneves penalised 30 seconds for avoidable contact
[4]
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.

Standings after the race

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  2. ^ Morales, Robert (April 15, 2012). "No. 1 qualifier Ryan Briscoe pays price for Chevy's decision at Long Beach Grand Prix". Press-Telegram. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
  3. ^ "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Starting Lineup" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  4. ^ "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2012.


Previous race:
2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
IndyCar Series
2012 season
Next race:
2012 São Paulo Indy 300
Previous race:
2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Next race:
2013 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach