Date: Sunday, June 14, 2015
Track: Streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place, an 11-turn, 1.755-mile temporary street course
Entry List: Honda Indy Toronto (PDF)
Race distance: 85 laps / 149.175 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 10 activations for 20 seconds each
Firestone tire allotment: Four sets primary, three sets alternate
Twitter: @HondaIndy @IndyCar, #IndyTO, #IndyCar
Event website: www.HondaIndyToronto.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2014 race winners: Sebastien Bourdais (Race 1) and Mike Conway (Race 2)
2014 Verizon P1 Award winners: Sebastien Bourdais (Race 1), 58.9479 seconds, 107.179 mph, and Helio Castroneves (Race 2), Entrant Points
Qualifying record: Gil de Ferran, 57.143 seconds, 110.565 mph, July 17, 1999
NBCSN television broadcasts: Qualifying, 5 p.m. ET Saturday, June 13; Race, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, June 14. Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for the NBCSN broadcasts this weekend alongside analysts Steve Matchett and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Jon Beekhuis, Kevin Lee, Katie Hargitt and Robin Miller.
Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Paul Page is the chief announcer with analyst Davey Hamilton. Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying and races are broadcast live on network affiliates, Sirius 212, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.comand on the INDYCAR 15 app. Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR 15 app.
Video streaming: All practice sessions for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season are available on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.
INDYCAR 15 app: The Verizon INDYCAR 15 app has new features to keep fans in the know of the latest race-day action. Exclusive features of the INDYCAR 15 app for Verizon Wireless customers will stream live through the app and include interactive 3D Live View with real-time leaderboard and car telemetry to see where a fan’s favorite driver is positioned, leaderboard with enhanced 2D “marching ants” and car telemetry, in-car camera video streams from cameras that move 360 degrees and driver-pit crew chatter as drivers talk strategy with their pit crews during the race.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, June 12
10:45-11:30 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice
2:45-3:30 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice
Saturday, June 13
10:40-11:25 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice
2:30-3:45 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying (three-rounds, knockout qualifying), NBCSN (taped, 5 p.m. ET).
Sunday, June 14
11-11:30 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series warmup
3 p.m. – NBCSN on air
3:37 p.m. – Honda Indy Toronto (85 laps/149.175 miles), NBCSN (live)
Race notes:
* There have been seven different winners in nine Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2015: Juan Pablo Montoya (Streets of St. Petersburg and Indianapolis 500), James Hinchcliffe (NOLA Motorsports Park), Scott Dixon (Streets of Long Beach and Texas Motor Speedway), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park), Will Power (Grand Prix of Indianapolis), Carlos Munoz (Raceway at Belle Isle-1) and Sebastien Bourdais (Raceway at Belle Isle-2). In 2014, there were a record-tying 11 different race winners. Dixon’s win at Long Beach on April 19 gave him sole possession of fifth on the all-time Indy car victory list with 36. He is the active leader in wins with 37 after his victory at Texas on June 6.
* The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 31st Indy car race on the streets of Exhibition Place. Bourdais and Mike Conway split a same-day doubleheader in 2014.
* This is the eighth road/street course race of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule with a different driver winning the previous seven races: Montoya (Streets of St. Petersburg), Hinchcliffe (NOLA Motorsports Park), Dixon (Streets of Long Beach), Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park), Power (Grand Prix of Indianapolis), Munoz (Raceway at Belle Isle-1) and Bourdais (Raceway at Belle Isle-2).
* Bourdais, Dixon and Power have each won twice at Toronto, the most wins by an active Indy car driver at the track. They are among the four past Toronto winners entered in this year’s race, along with Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012). Michael Andretti has the most wins at the track with seven.
* The Verizon IndyCar Series champion has won in Toronto in four of the last six seasons. Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dixon all won on the streets of Toronto before eventually claiming the championship. Franchitti won in 2009 and again in 2011. Hunter-Reay won in 2012 and Dixon swept both races in 2013. Seven other drivers have claimed the Indy car championship in the same season they won at Toronto. They are: Bobby Rahal (1986), Al Unser Jr. (1990), Michael Andretti (1991), Alex Zanardi (1998), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Paul Tracy (2003) and Bourdais (2004).
* Drivers who have won poles at Toronto entered in this year’s race are: Bourdais (2014 Race 1, 2007, 2005, 2004), Dixon (2013 Race 2), Power (2011) and Helio Castroneves (2000). Castroneves also started on pole in Race 2 in 2014 but was awarded the pole based on entrant points.
* Twenty drivers entered in the event have competed in Indy car races at Toronto. Castroneves and Tony Kanaan (12) have the most starts among the entered drivers. Ten of those drivers have led laps at the track (Bourdais 188, Power 121, Dixon 95, Castroneves 62, Hunter-Reay 36, Simon Pagenaud 30, Graham Rahal 23, Newgarden 7, Kanaan 4 and Charlie Kimball 2).
* Kanaan seeks to start his 243rd consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car-record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Teammate Dixon has made 184 consecutive starts heading into the weekend.
* Chip Ganassi Racing has won six times at Toronto: Michael Andretti (1994), Zanardi (1998), Franchitti (2009 and 2011) and Dixon (2013, both races).
* Team Penske has two wins at the track (Tracy 1993 and Power 2010). It has six pole positions at the track: Danny Sullivan (1988 and 1990), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Castroneves (2000), Gil de Ferran (2001) and Power (2011).
* Bourdais has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his 11 races at Toronto, including his wins in 2004 and 2014 Race 1. He has finished on the podium in three of the last four Toronto races.
* Dixon has finished on the podium in three of the last six races at Toronto. He has seven top-five finishes in 10 starts.
* The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season marked the competition debut of aerodynamic bodywork kits designed, manufactured and supplied by Chevrolet and Honda. Cars are differentiated by their shape as the manufacturers have designed separate aero kit specifications for road and street course/short ovals and superspeedways for the Dallara IR-12 chassis. References to the cars incorporate the name of the corresponding manufacturer.
* With a total pit lane time of 1 minute, 47.013 seconds, the No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda crew of Andretti Autosport and driver Carlos Munoz won the Firestone Pit Stop Performance Award during the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. The win marks back-to-back Pit Stop Performance Awards for Andretti Autosport (No. 28 crew at Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2), and the team’s third overall win of the season (No. 27 crew at the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama). The AndrettiTV Cinsay Andretti Autosport crew will receive its $10,000 award during pre-race festivities at Honda Indy Toronto.
HONDA INDY TORONTO PRE-RACE QUOTES:
WILL POWER (No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “Anytime you race at Toronto, you need to have a bit of luck on your side. Obviously a fast car helps tremendously, but it seems inevitable that you will have some contact during the race. You just hope it doesn’t put you out. You have to race side by side into some of the corners – especially after the long straight – and sometimes both of you don’t come out of it unscathed. Hopefully we qualify our No. 1 Verizon Chevy on the pole, lead every lap and run away with it. The speed is there every weekend, but we need to close the deal like we did at the (Angie’s List) Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Toronto is a great place to win. The fans are fantastic and it’s just a great venue. Really looking forward to getting back there this weekend and picking up another win.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet): “I can’t wait to bring back the PPG Automotive Refinish colors to the No. 2 Chevrolet this weekend. They have been very good to me in the past, including my first win with Team Penske last year at Pocono. While I know the car will look fantastic, we need it to be fast as well. Toronto is a very tough circuit. It requires patience because the corners do not have a lot of room, but you have to make passes when you have the opportunity. I’ve been known as an aggressive driver and I’m fine with that. You have to be aggressive in the Verizon IndyCar Series because the cars are so close together. But you have to know when to be aggressive and I have learned that over the years. Toronto is known to have a lot of contact, but I hope we can keep the No. 2 PPG Chevy clean and in the mix for the win.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): “Unfortunately, Toronto has never been very good to me. I don’t know why. I love Canada. You know, it’s just a very tough track, much like all of the temporary street courses in the Verizon IndyCar Series. I’m encouraged by the way we have run on those types of tracks this year. We opened the season very strong at St. Petersburg and backed that up with a very strong weekend in Long Beach. A lot of unusual things usually happen at Toronto and it’s very hard to stay out of trouble there because the pace and flow of the race can be very aggressive. I know we will have a fast No. 3 Hitachi Chevrolet. With a little good fortune, we will be fine.”
STEFANO COLLETI (No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): “Back to street racing and something that I am used to and much more comfortable with. We did a great job in Detroit in terms of speed, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t on our side. I am sure the team will give me a great car again and we will do well this weekend in Toronto, so I think it will be a fun weekend.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 8 AFS Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): “I can’t wait to rejoin the No. 8 team for the Toronto race. The (Ganassi) teams have been making big gains in speed the last few races. I feel a lot of momentum coming off the Texas race, where Scott (Dixon) and Tony (Kanaan) finished 1-2, so things are definitely clicking. I know the cars are usually good at Toronto after watching Dario (Franchitti) and Dixon win consistently there the last several years. My foot is back to 100 percent after (it was injured in a crash at) Indianapolis and I’ll be ready to go race this weekend.”
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Jurassic World Chevrolet): “Toronto is a fun place. You’re right down almost by city center and you’re right there on the water. The track is fantastic and it’s got great flow. The circuit is great for racing. It has passing opportunities, a big, long straight, and I think it’s probably one of the most exciting races that we’ve ever had in the series. It’s really got it all – with the hairpin and late restarts. Two years ago we were lucky to win, actually back to back, the doubleheader there, which was a fantastic race weekend for us and one that helped us go on to win the championship. Last year, we didn’t do so great and we didn’t have a good result there. But overall I love Toronto, the people, the race fans there and the city itself. It’s just a cool place to go.”
TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): “The whole team is coming off of a great weekend in Texas with some solid momentum leading into Toronto. I’ve had some decent results there over the years, especially last year with a third and a second during the doubleheader, but I wasn’t able to quite make it to the top of the podium. With the way the team has been performing and the way the car has felt, I feel really good heading into this weekend. I love the city of Toronto and I’m just excited to get out there this weekend.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Team Hydroxycut-KVSH Racing Chevrolet):“Obviously the Toronto street circuit is one I enjoy racing on. We have had some good results there including the win last year, which was special because it was my first since coming back to INDYCAR. It is also a very important race for the KVSH Racing team because our sponsor, Hydroxycut, has its headquarters nearby in Oakville, so it is like a home race for us and we are expecting a lot of support at the track. Toronto is always a great event. The city really supports the race, the track is challenging and the fans are knowledgeable. The Hydroxycut-KVSH Racing Chevrolet car has been fast on the street circuits this year and hopefully we can have a good result for the sponsors, their employees and guests and make up some ground in the championship standings.”
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): “Toronto is one of the most tricky ones among the bumpy street courses. It has a lot of surface changes in the corner and in some cases there are three changes in one turn. But that makes this track unique and certainly it has created exciting races over the years. To have success there, the car needs a lot of mechanical grip, good stability under braking and good traction coming out of it as the track has several big braking areas.”
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Rousseau Metal Honda): “I have high expectations for Toronto. I think this is a place I have been fast at before and run up front, but always ran into some sort of issues. I have had some really good days there, and some bad. However with the team’s reenergized spirit and focus, I think we should be able to have a really good weekend and hopefully close back up in points to those in front of us. I do feel pretty good about where we are heading lately. I am just excited to get out there this year and hopefully have our best result yet. It’s always a very tricky course because the amount of concrete-to-pavement transitions on the track is a really difficult thing to get a handle on. I think we are up to the task, for sure, but I always find this track difficult because of the variation in speed of the corners and the bumps that exist mid-corner due to pavement changes. It’s a great track, though. I am happy with where we are right now in the standings, but disappointed after Texas. I expect the most of myself and the team and, unfortunately, we made a mistake in not running enough downforce there. However, I do think we can make a charge in the coming weeks and get the points chase back where it should be. I know we can contend with those we are around and we will be doing our best to make sure we are right there in the hunt.”
LUCA FILIPPI (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka CFH Racing Chevrolet): “Toronto will be the first race this year that I have previously been a part of. I will be able to push from the beginning instead of having to learn the circuit, so we can attack right from the first practice. We have found a good street-course balance so I have very high expectations for this weekend.”
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 Avaya Team Penske Chevrolet): “I really enjoy the challenge of Toronto. It’s a very demanding circuit that requires you to be razor sharp at all times. I’ve been able to get a couple of top-five finishes there and lead some laps, but this weekend I look forward to closing the deal with the No. 22 Avaya Chevrolet. The Canadian fans are great and this race has become one of our marquee events. I’m confident that Ben (Bretzman, lead engineer) will bring another fast car to the track this weekend. In addition, it is hard to find a better setting in North America to race in than Toronto. It’s a city with a great vibe.”
CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda): “So we’re heading back to Toronto, back to a street course. It’s a great circuit, inside and outside. Toronto is a great city. I think this weekend will be similar to Detroit and we’ll have to push really hard and see where we are compared to our competitors with the other aero package.”
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Snapple Honda): “Toronto is definitely on my top three list of places where a win would mean the most – along with Indy and Long Beach. The Canadian fans are so passionate about racing and it’s always a great weekend. We really need to keep a streak of top-five or (top)-six finishes going, but I really want to win.”
JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): “Toronto is probably my favorite circuit on the calendar. It has a lot of history, it always attracts a great crowd and the circuit itself is extremely challenging. There are lots of surface changes and bumps that make it a real old-school street track. Handling over the bumps is extremely important, especially in the big braking zones. You need good grip through the many medium-speed corners but also good speed on the long back straight, which makes it a very challenging type of track in terms of aero efficiency.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil CFH Racing Chevrolet): “I’m really excited about Toronto. It’s a place we’ve run strong before from a speed aspect, so we should have good cars there. We have a really good game plan going in, the guys have been working hard and we are all really prepared. Luca (Filippi) likes Toronto a lot as well, so I am hoping the both of us can roll off the truck really strong. If we do that, we can carry that momentum through the weekend and secure good results. That would be great right now for everyone involved with CFH Racing.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch Chevrolet): “Every season I look forward to going back to Toronto for the Honda Indy Toronto. It’s a tough, tight course, but one that tends to suit my driving style. The Canadian fans always come out and really make it a great event, too. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team has had some good results on the streets of Toronto in the past, including a podium, so I think with the right strategy and a stronger qualifying session we’ll have more success this weekend. After a really competitive race in Texas, we’ll be looking to build on that momentum and get the No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch car running up front again.”
GABBY CHAVES (No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda): “We are coming off two top 10s in a row (Belle Isle 2 & Texas), which is really progress for the team and myself. So I’m really looking forward to putting the hammer down in Toronto, hopefully for a top five or a podium. I’m really just happy with the work the Bowers & Wilkins team has been doing. We’ve been getting better and better together, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how strong we can get through the remainder of the season. It looks good from here. We’ll keep working hard.”
