TORONTO, ON (93.7 The Fan) – Team Penske’s Simon Pagneaud started from the pole position and never looked back winning Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto in dominating fashion
Pagenaud led 80 of the 85-laps around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street circuit around Exhibition Place en route to his third win of the season and 14th of his IndyCar career.
“I think it was a team effort,” said Pagenaud. “It looked like we were dominating today, and I can’t thank these guys enough because they come in in the morning with big smiles on their face, every day same thing. We are just working together and that is why you have days like today.”
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon started second and finished second and didn’t have anything for Pagenaud after making contact with the wall.
“I had some heavy contact with the wall around Lap 12 or 15,” said Dixon. “That’s why I slowed down and (Alexander) Rossi got right on me really hard, so the rest of the race, the steering was just on a big angle. It really wasn’t that bad in some corners, but then in others it was really loose on entry.”
Rossi started fourth and crossed the finish line in third place and gained some ground in the Championship points standings.
“I think that we knew going into today that we didn’t have a race-winning car and it would take a little bit of luck to get that,” said Rossi, who trails Josef Newgarden by four points in the title fight. “The two in front of us drove a great race, so to be able to finish in front of Josef and get a trophy is a good day.”
Newgarden started fifth and finished fourth and was gaining on Rossi when he made contact with the wall.
“I had a flat hit against the wall in Turn 11 with a handful (of laps) to go,” said Newgarden. “I was smelling blood on Rossi a little bit and trying to get another position. But for having a tough weekend and to finish fourth isn’t a bad thing.”
Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Felix Rosenqvist finished fifth in the No. 10 NTT Data/Cessna Honda.
“I was hoping we’d have our first podium here,” said Rosenqvist. “We had a tough start. I think I was just too cautious into Turn 3 and into Turn 5 and that hurt. Top five is always good and I think we have some momentum here.”
Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series is the Iowa 300, Saturday night July 20th at 7:00 p.m. ET.
1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 85, Running
2. (2) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
3. (4) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 85, Running
4. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
5. (3) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 85, Running
6. (14) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 85, Running
7. (16) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
8. (8) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 85, Running
9. (12) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
10. (7) Marco Andretti, Honda, 85, Running
11. (17) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 85, Running
12. (6) Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 84, Running
13. (18) Zach Veach, Honda, 84, Running
14. (13) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 84, Running
15. (9) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 84, Running
16. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 84, Running
17. (22) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 84, Running
18. (15) Will Power, Chevrolet, 83, Contact
19. (19) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 83, Running
20. (20) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 81, Running
21. (21) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 79, Running
22. (10) Takuma Sato, Honda, 67, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 100.900 mph
Time of Race: 1:30:16.4388
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 2 for 3 laps
Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Pagenaud, Simon 1 - 17
Sato, Takuma 18
Veach, Zach 19 - 22
Pagenaud, Simon 23 - 85
NTT IndyCar Series point standings: Newgarden 434, Rossi 430, Pagenaud 395, Dixon 348, Power 306, Sato 301, Hunter-Reay 285, Rahal 266, Hinchcliffe 244, Rosenqvist 239.