Toronto IndyCar: Josef Newgarden benefits from yellow to win
Penske's Josef Newgarden claimed his second IndyCar win of 2017 after inheriting a lead via a well-timed yellow in Toronto
Newgarden moved into first place due to pitting one lap before a caution period, performing a similar strategy to Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe - who joined him on the podium.
All three benefited when Tony Kanaan locked up his rear black Firestone tyres at Turn 1 when coming out of the pitlane on lap 23 of 85.
The front wing of his car became submerged in the tyres, requiring a caution period so marshals to push it out.
This turned the race away from Helio Castroneves, who had taken the lead at Turn 1 of the opening lap, going down the inside of polesitting Penske team-mate Simon Pagenaud from third place.
Castroneves then pulled away and looked set to claim back-to-back victories but having to pit under the yellow dropped him into the midfield.
Once ahead, Newgarden held a consistent gap of around three seconds to Rossi for much of the race, ultimately finishing 1.8704s ahead as the race ran green for the rest of its duration.
The runner-up finish is only Rossi's second podium in IndyCar beyond his 2016 Indianapolis 500 victory.
Hinchcliffe was third for a second-successive year at his home track.
Marco Andretti finished fourth just ahead of Pagenaud, while Ryan Hunter-Reay completed the top six.
Max Chilton controlled late pressure from Castroneves, who salvaged eighth, with Graham Rahal ninth.
Championship leader Scott Dixon recovered 10th, and maintained a three-point gap over Castroneves, after a collision with Will Power at the end of the back straight on the first lap.
He moved left approaching Turn 3 to avoid Rahal but went into the path of Power, who hit the left-hand wall.
Dixon needed a left rear brake replacing after the incident and dropped to the back of the field, while Power's car suffered steering damage and was eventually retired.
A drive-through penalty was also given to Dixon because of excessive work carried out while the pitlane was closed.
Sebastian Saavedra finished 11th in his surprise appearance replacing Mikhail Aleshin at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Kanaan was classified in 19th, two laps down.
RESULTS - 85 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1h35m05.3522s |
2 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 1.8704s |
3 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 4.7020s |
4 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 18.7408s |
5 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 19.4274s |
6 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 27.3905s |
7 | Max Chilton | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 28.3386s |
8 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 28.9415s |
9 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 29.7693s |
10 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 30.3369s |
11 | Sebastian Saavedra | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 32.7668s |
12 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 36.4821s |
13 | J.R. Hildebrand | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 52.8910s |
14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 53.9858s |
15 | Carlos Munoz | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 57.2777s |
16 | Takuma Sato | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m01.8457s |
17 | Conor Daly | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m02.3752s |
18 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
19 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 2 Laps |
20 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | Mechanical |
21 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | Contact |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Scott Dixon | 423 |
2 | Helio Castroneves | 420 |
3 | Simon Pagenaud | 404 |
4 | Josef Newgarden | 400 |
5 | Will Power | 359 |
6 | Graham Rahal | 359 |
7 | Takuma Sato | 351 |
8 | Alexander Rossi | 330 |
9 | Tony Kanaan | 306 |
10 | James Hinchcliffe | 297 |
11 | Max Chilton | 295 |
12 | Ed Jones | 276 |
13 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 273 |
14 | Marco Andretti | 268 |
15 | J.R. Hildebrand | 263 |
16 | Carlos Munoz | 224 |
17 | Mikhail Aleshin | 221 |
18 | Charlie Kimball | 206 |
19 | Conor Daly | 179 |
20 | Spencer Pigot | 154 |
21 | Ed Carpenter | 142 |
22 | Sebastien Bourdais | 136 |
23 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 93 |
24 | Gabby Chaves | 83 |
25 | Esteban Gutierrez | 73 |
26 | Oriol Servia | 61 |
27 | Sebastian Saavedra | 52 |
28 | Fernando Alonso | 47 |
29 | Pippa Mann | 32 |
30 | Jay Howard | 24 |
31 | Zach Veach | 23 |
32 | Sage Karam | 23 |
33 | James Davison | 21 |
34 | Jack Harvey | 17 |
35 | Tristan Vautier | 15 |
36 | Buddy Lazier | 14 |
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