bigbadbrother
06-05-2016, 04:28 PM
Samuel Reiman
Sebastien Bourdais won Saturday’s Race 1 in IndyCar’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. The 37-year-old French racing driver won Race 2 at Detroit last year.
Bourdais started in 13th position when the green flag dropped for the first of 70 laps at Belle Isle Park. Team Penske had control of the field for most of the first half of the race, with three of its four drivers locking out the top three starting spots. At the halfway point, Team Penske were riding 1-2-3-4.
However, strategy began to take shape as early as Lap 3 when Marco Andretti came into the pits. A couple of cautions on Lap 10 - fox Max Chilton - and Lap 42 - for James Hinchcliffe - also mixed up the strategies.
While it looked like the late-race showdown would take place between the Team Penske teammates, when they emerged from the pits in the later stages it was KVSH Racing driver Bourdais who found himself up front.
Bourdais had employed a strategy mid-race that had enabled him to get away with running full-power during the green flag laps, while the front runners had been conserving fuel. Additionally, Bourdais, and the driver who finished second, Conor Daly, didn’t need to take as much fuel on their final stop, and so decided not to change tires either - saving them time in the pits.
Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya was closing them down quickly in the closing laps but it wasn’t enough and he had to settle for third.
Scott Dixon and Will Power were among the drivers who had less than fortunate races, with both former champions running into mechanical issues on track.
Unofficial race results:
1. Sebastien Bourdais
2. Conor Daly
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. Graham Rahal
5. Helio Castroneves
6. Carlos Munoz
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay
8. Charlie Kimball
9. Tony Kanaan
10. Alexander Rossi
11. Takuma Sato
12. Gabby Chaves
13. Simon Pagenaud
14. Josef Newgarden
15. Mikhail Aleshin
16. Marco Andretti
17. Spencer Pigot
18. James Hinchcliffe
19. Scott Dixon
20. Will Power
21. Max Chilton
22. Jack Hawksworth
Sebastien Bourdais won Saturday’s Race 1 in IndyCar’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. The 37-year-old French racing driver won Race 2 at Detroit last year.
Bourdais started in 13th position when the green flag dropped for the first of 70 laps at Belle Isle Park. Team Penske had control of the field for most of the first half of the race, with three of its four drivers locking out the top three starting spots. At the halfway point, Team Penske were riding 1-2-3-4.
However, strategy began to take shape as early as Lap 3 when Marco Andretti came into the pits. A couple of cautions on Lap 10 - fox Max Chilton - and Lap 42 - for James Hinchcliffe - also mixed up the strategies.
While it looked like the late-race showdown would take place between the Team Penske teammates, when they emerged from the pits in the later stages it was KVSH Racing driver Bourdais who found himself up front.
Bourdais had employed a strategy mid-race that had enabled him to get away with running full-power during the green flag laps, while the front runners had been conserving fuel. Additionally, Bourdais, and the driver who finished second, Conor Daly, didn’t need to take as much fuel on their final stop, and so decided not to change tires either - saving them time in the pits.
Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya was closing them down quickly in the closing laps but it wasn’t enough and he had to settle for third.
Scott Dixon and Will Power were among the drivers who had less than fortunate races, with both former champions running into mechanical issues on track.
Unofficial race results:
1. Sebastien Bourdais
2. Conor Daly
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. Graham Rahal
5. Helio Castroneves
6. Carlos Munoz
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay
8. Charlie Kimball
9. Tony Kanaan
10. Alexander Rossi
11. Takuma Sato
12. Gabby Chaves
13. Simon Pagenaud
14. Josef Newgarden
15. Mikhail Aleshin
16. Marco Andretti
17. Spencer Pigot
18. James Hinchcliffe
19. Scott Dixon
20. Will Power
21. Max Chilton
22. Jack Hawksworth