Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power lead the field into Turn 1 to start Race 2 of the 2015 Chevrolet Dual in Detroit at Belle Isle Park. [Photo by: Bret Kelley]
Verizon Indy Car Series: Races 7-8
Had it been just a few seasons ago and Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi would have been preparing for the post-Indy 500 event at the Milwaukee Mile.
But time and lack of fan support for the Milwaukee event have moved that next race to the streets of Belle Isle Park on an island in the Detroit River.
And this weekend, Rossi, Carlos Munoz and a host of Indy 500 survivors will race on that 2.35 mi., 14-turn street course for the 20th/21st time since Indy cars first visited the Motor City in 1992.
In 2015 Munoz and Sebastien Bourdais were winners of the two-day, doubleheader event that Penske Racing has won five times. Helio Castroneves leads drivers with three wins here; all for Penske.
Munoz, the 24-year-old Columbian won Saturday’s Race 1 when severe weather shortened the race to 47 laps with Munoz leading.
Bourdais prevailed in Sunday’s Race 2 when that 70-lap race turned into a timed event after a late-race red flag that allowed the Frenchman to win on a shrinking fuel load.
Bourdais won for race-sponsor Chevrolet but Munoz was powered by Honda as were 11 of the overall top-10 finishers in the two-race format.
Each 70-lap, 164.5-mile race on the rough surface at Belle Isle has a history of being competitive with close finishes and numerous caution periods.
Contrary to most street-race finishes, Munoz came from 20th and Bourdais from 9th to win the twins last year.
There have been 13 different pole winners in the previous 19 races while no driver has repeated a victory since IRL/Indy Car revived the races in 2007 after CART stopped racing there in 2001.
For 2016 Juan Pablo Montoya (St. Petersburg) and Simon Pagenaud (Long Beach, Barber and Indy Grand Prix) have won the four road/street events held so far, with Penske/Chevrolets dominating the top-step of the podiums.
Pagenaud leads the Verizon Series’ standings with 292-points while Scott Dixon (-57), Castroneves (-68), Josef Newgarden (-81) and James Hinchcliffe-87) trail.
Andretti Autosport/Bryan Herta pilot and former Formula One driver Rossi leads the 21-car entry at Detroit with rookies Rossi and Max Chilton having never raced in Indy cars at Belle Isle.
As previous Detroit races have shown, look for a wide-open, competitive race with, perhaps another different winner in victory lane. History says a Penske-Chevrolet will win and make Detroit’s General Motors family happy. But, could it be the Honda’s of Takuma Sato and James Hinchcliffe in the winner’s circle? Times and circumstances will decide.
QUOTES:
• Max Chilton, Ganassi-Chevrolet: “This will be my first trip to Belle Isle and I think having two races Saturday and Sunday should be a challenge. I think one of the keys will be unloading fast. You don’t have much time to think and work on your race car because you’re going from practice to qualifying to race and race again.”
• Scott Dixon, Ganassi-Chevrolet: “Detroit is one of the most grueling weekends for a few reasons. The track is rough and demands a lot from the drivers. It’s very physical in nature and you have to wrangle the car to compete at the front of the grid. Usually you have some time to recover from an event and prepare yourself mentally for the next round. Not in Detroit.”
• Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda: “With two full races it’s very valuable in the championship to have a great run in both races and gain as many points as we can. I’m looking forward to getting back on a street course. I think we should be good.”
• Conor Daly, Dale Coyne-Honda: “ Last year we had a legitimate shot at winning the race. The doubleheader is really intense. Two races in a weekend is really a lot on the whole team. The track was super bumpy last year, so it will be interesting to see if it’s changed at all.”
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