• James Hinchcliffe produces podium finish with third-place run
• Graham Rahal’s charge from the back of the field nets fourth-place finish
• Conor Daly leads 14 laps, finishes sixth, takes rookie lead
James Hinchcliffe continued his rise in the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Saturday at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, taking his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda to a third-place finish for his first podium result of the season.
Starting third, Hinchcliffe remained in the thick of the lead group throughout today’s 82-lap contest, running as high as second and never lower than fourth. After passing fellow Honda driver Conor Daly for third place on Lap 70, Hinchcliffe closed on leaders Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves for the final 12 tours, but was unable to complete a pass prior to the checkers. In the last three races, the Canadian driver has finished eighth, sixth and third, respectively, and has climbed to eighth in the drivers’ championship.
After qualifying third on Friday, Graham Rahal was moved to the rear of the field when his car was found to be underweight in post-qualifying technical inspection. Starting 24th, Rahal worked his way forward throughout the race, breaking into the top 10 after just 26 laps, and into fifth by Lap 50. His eventual fourth-place finish also moved him up in the drivers’ championship, to fifth.
Clever pit strategy from the Dale Coyne Racing team and a timely caution flag saw Daly emerge as leader – and a potential race winner – just past mid-race. The rookie went on to lead 14 laps before fading with tire wear in the final laps. Still, his sixth-place result moved Daly to the lead in the chase for series Rookie of the Year honors.
Video recaps from this month’s Honda racing activities at Indianapolis, including this weekend’s road race and the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, are being posted on the “Honda Racing/HPD” YouTube channel. Produced by the Carolinas Production Group, the video packages can be found in the 2015 HPD Trackside Video Playlist at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.
With the completion of the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the focus of Indy car drivers and teams now turns to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Activities on the famed 2.5-mile oval begin Monday with the first of five full days of practice for the May 29th event, and qualifying starting on Saturday, May 21.
Verizon IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship Standings (after 5 of 16 rounds):
1. Simon Pagenaud 242 (3 wins) 6. Tony Kanaan 111
2. Scott Dixon 166 (1 win) Charlie Kimball 111
3. Juan Pablo Montoya 160 (1 win) 8. James Hinchcliffe 110
4. Helio Castroneves 159 9. Ryan Hunter-Reay 109
5. Graham Rahal 123 10. Will Power 105
James Hinchcliffe (#5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) started 3rd, finished 3rd, first podium result of 2016: “We had a great car all weekend, and the way the race developed made it a lot of fun. We were able to push the entire time without having to worry about saving fuel. Honda has done some impressive work since the start of the season, and my guys were killer in the pits today. Our stops were awesome. At the end, we definitely had pace on the leaders, but there weren’t enough laps left to get to them. But it was a good day, and it’s great to be back on the podium.” [Note: Hinchcliffe is donating his race purse earnings today to the victims of the Ft. McMurray wildfire in Canada]
Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) started 24th, finished 4th: “To have a result like this is pretty awesome. That’s about the best we could have imagined for today. Obviously I’m disappointed about the [post qualifying] penalty still. I think that if we had started up front we could have won this thing. Look at the ground we made up. Days like today are the ones that are going to get us a championship one day. With the cold I have, I’m going to sleep good tonight. This one [race] took it all out of me. I’m really proud of the Steak ‘n Shake boys; they do a great job. We had a great strategy again with topping off [on fuel] on that early yellow then going long on that stint and getting in the top-eight. After that we kind of just chugged away. And Honda is working hard and it shows.”
Art St. Cyr (President, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race: “I can’t say I’m satisfied with our results today, but widespread performance gains from all of our teams today bode well for the Indianapolis 500 and the rest of the season. ‘Hinch’, just one year removed his life-threatening accident here; Graham and his never-give-up drive from the back of the field to fourth; Conor leading laps and being a genuine threat for victory; a string of incredibly fast laps from Alexander Rossi, including fastest race lap; and finishing with three Honda drivers in the top six: these are all positives that we can take away from today’s race. Now, focus shifts to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, and our goal is to score our 11th victory here.”