Simon Pagenaud wins closest Long Beach finish
in race history.
Simon Pagenaud has knocked on the door of victory lane in each of the first two
races of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season. However at the 42nd running of the Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach, the Frenchman broke through to earn the win.
Pagenaud, in the No. 22 Penske Chevrolet, edged reigning series champion Scott Dixon across the
finish line by 0.3032 of a second, the closest finish in the 33 Indy car races
held at Long Beach.
Pagenaud, who has finished second in each of
the first two races this season, takes a 14-point championship lead over
Dixon as the teams now race back to back weekends and move across the country to the Grand Prix of Alabama hosted at Barber
Motorsports Park this weekend. Its a beautiful demanding permanent road course so yet another test of driving skill for the IndyCar Series drivers.
Starting the 80-lap race third, Pagenaud
took his first lead on Lap 52 when teammate and pole sitter Helio Castroneves
made his final pit stop. Pagenaud was able to push two laps farther before
stopping for fuel and tires, exiting the pits just ahead of Dixon and
Castroneves.
Race stewards warned Pagenaud
for improper lane usage exiting the pits, but he was able to lead the final 25
laps to collect the win in the first Verizon IndyCar Series caution-free race
since Mid-Ohio in August 2013 and the first completely green-flag race on the
often-chaotic streets of Long Beach since 1989.
INDYCAR did then issue this following statement on the Pagenaud penalty.
During the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach were deemed an infraction per Rule 7.10.1.1. "Lane Usage" of the INDYCAR Penalty Guidelines: Failing to follow designated procedures entering or exiting the pit area, including the proper use of the acceleration and deceleration lanes. The penalty for this infraction ranges from a warning (minimum), putting the driver to the back of the field (mid) and drive-through or stop and go/hold (maximum). INDYCAR race stewards determined his actions were not severe enough to warrant a harsher penalty than the warning that was issued.
Dixon, in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi
Racing Chevrolet, believed Pagenaud should have been assessed a stronger
penalty, but was resigned with the runner-up finish that kept him second in the
standings.
Dixon said after the race. "It was definitely a pretty fierce battle up front, a bit of lapped traffic, some pit stop sequence, people trying to pit short, go longer, etc, so it was quite exciting for in and out (laps) and when to use your overtakes and things like that. I think on the last one we got caught off guard a little bit before the pit sequence had already been finished, and then to hear when we're coming down the straight that the 22 was just coming out, we had actually backed off already and started saving fuel. With the gap that we had on Helio, I really didn't think we had to worry about too much and didn't get any warning from the pits. Obviously that scenario was a lot closer than we anticipated, and then when we got to Turn 1, it appeared that Simon turned a little early and crossed the line that you're not meant to cross. But it is what it is, so second place today, and Team Target did a hell of a job, and pit stops were clean, and I think we had really good pace, but personally I think we should have won the race.
Castroneves finished third in the No. 3
Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet, leading a race-high 47 laps.
Montoya finished fourth in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevy after a frenetic
late-lap battle with Takuma Sato, who wound up fifth in the No. 14 ABC Supply
AJ Foyt Racing Honda.
The offical Race results
1. (3) Simon
Pagenaud, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
2. (2) Scott
Dixon, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
3. (1) Helio
Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
4. (5) Juan
Montoya, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
5. (8) Takuma
Sato, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
6. (4) Tony
Kanaan, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
7. (6) Will
Power, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
8. (7) James
Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
9. (14) Sebastien
Bourdais, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
10. (9) Josef
Newgarden, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
11. (15) Charlie
Kimball, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
12. (10)
Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
13. (13) Conor
Daly, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
14. (19) Max
Chilton, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, Running.
15. (17) Graham
Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
16. (18) Mikhail
Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
17. (12) Luca
Filippi, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
18. (11) Ryan
Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running.
19. (21) Marco
Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running.
20. (16) Alexander
Rossi, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running.
21. (20) Jack
Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 77, Running.
———
Race Statistics
Winners average
speed: 100.592.
Time of Race:
1:33:54.4835.
Margin of
Victory: 0.3032 seconds.
Cautions: 6 for
4 laps.
Lead Changes: 6
among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders:
Castroneves 1-26, Dixon 27-28, Kimball 29-30, Castroneves 31-51, Pagenaud
52-54, Kimball 55, Pagenaud 56-80.
Championship Series Points:
Pagenaud 134, Dixon 120, Montoya 106, Castroneves 92, Kanaan 82, Sato 73,
Hunter-Reay 68, Power 62, Rahal 59, Kimball 58.
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