Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
On Wednesday, June 10, the trophies that will be given to the top-three finishers in the Honda Indy Toronto were unveiled.
Honda Indy Toronto President Charlie Johnstone, along with William Ashley President Jackie Chiesa and KV Racing Technology driver Stefano Coletti pulled the covers off of the trophies as part of an unveiling ceremony at William Ashley’s flagship location at 55 Bloor Street in Toronto, Ontario.
The 2015 Honda Indy Toronto marks the fifth year that William Ashley has sponsored the trophies, commissioning Waterford Crystals to craft the trophies.
“It’s a wonderful national, global international event so we’re so happy to be the sponsor of the trophies,” Chiesa commented. “The trophies done by Waterford, which is a 230 year old Irish company. All the trophies are done by crafted by hand and you’ll see when we show you the first place winner trophy, it’s beautifully hand-engraved with the skyline of Toronto so it’s a wonderful artisan piece from Waterford.”
The trophies are crystal shaped bowls, varying in size and depth of design, depending on the winner. The main winner’s trophy features two IndyCars on the front of the bowl, cut into the glass carefully, with the Toronto skyline along the back of the bowl. They’ve also incorporated the Honda Indy Toronto logo as the bottom of the stem. Up-close photos of the trophies can be viewed in the OnPitRoad.com Photo Gallery.
“The trophies are very unique, and present Toronto well,” Johnstone commented. “It’s very exciting to continue to work with Waterford Crystal and William Ashley.”
This year’s edition of the 85-lap event marks the first time that Coletti has raced on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto.
“I’ve raced in Canada before, but I haven’t raced in Toronto,” he commented. “I think coming again to a street circuit, something that I like, so I just have to take it easy at the beginning, learn the track and see what we can do.”
Nine races into his rookie season in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Coletti posted a best finish of eighth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. He calls it an up-and-down season thus far, with only two finishes inside the top-15.
“The car has been fast,” he stated. “The problem is just haven’t had the luck to go with it. The speed is always there, so just have to put everything together and the results will come.”
He’ll look to have a “clean, nice weekend without any problems” this weekend in hopes of taking home one of the three trophies on Sunday afternoon.
