2011 Indy Lights season | |
---|---|
Firestone Indy Lights | |
Season | |
Races | 13 |
Start date | March 27 |
End date | October 16 |
Awards | |
Drivers' champion | ![]() |
Teams' champion | ![]() |
Rookie of the Year | ![]() |
The 2011 Indy Lights season was a season of open wheel motor racing. It was the 26th season of the series and the tenth sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IZOD IndyCar Series. It began March 27, 2011 in St. Petersburg and ended on October 16 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and featured thirteen events: six on ovals, one on a permanent road course, and six on temporary street courses. The series was won by American driver Josef Newgarden, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Newgarden won the title by 94 points over team mate and fellow rookie Esteban Guerrieri of Argentina.
The season featured the series' first non-IndyCar Series support race since the 2007 Liberty Challenge (at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) when it was the main event at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. It was Indy Lights' first event at Trois-Rivières since 1998. The series also race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since 1995 and the new Baltimore street circuit in support of the IndyCars. [1]
Rnd | Date | Race Name | Track | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | March 27 | ![]() | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, FL |
2 | April 10 | ![]() | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, AL |
3 | April 17 | ![]() | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, CA |
4 | May 27 | ![]() | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, IN |
5 | June 19 | ![]() | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, WI |
6 | June 25 | ![]() | Iowa Speedway | Newton, IA |
7 | July 10 | ![]() | Streets of Toronto | Toronto, ON |
8A | July 23 | ![]() | Edmonton City Centre Airport | Edmonton, Alberta |
8B | July 24 | ![]() | ||
9 | August 7 | ![]() | Circuit Trois-Rivières | Trois-Rivières, QC |
10 | August 14 | ![]() | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Loudon, NH |
11 | September 4 | ![]() | Streets of Baltimore | Baltimore, MD |
12 | October 2 | ![]() | Kentucky Speedway | Sparta, KY |
13 | October 16 | ![]() | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | Las Vegas, Nevada |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 3 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 45 | 56:11.0037 | 34 | |
2 | 2 | 77 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 45 | +0.8552 | 0 | |
3 | 5 | 36 | ![]() | O2 Racing Technology | 45 | +3.1351 | 11 | |
Race average speed: 86.502 mph (139.211 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 1 between 2 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 1 for 5 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 22 | ![]() | Team Moore Racing | 40 | 1:00:06.5806 | 40 | |
2 | 3 | 5 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 40 | +0.3125 | 0 | |
3 | 8 | 36 | ![]() | O2 Racing Technology | 40 | +16.3249 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 91.832 mph (147.789 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: None | ||||||||
Cautions: 3 for 7 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 4 | 77 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 43 | 1:00:35.2947 | 3 | |
2 | 1 | 7 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 43 | +0.9302* | 1 | |
3 | 6 | 5 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 43 | +1.3880 | 0 | |
* Under caution | ||||||||
Race average speed: 83.802 mph (134.866 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 3 between 4 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 4 for 8 laps |
Josef Newgarden took his second series victory, and with erstwhile championship leader Conor Daly not contesting the oval events of the championship, Newgarden assumed the championship lead. Newgarden's Sam Schmidt Motorsports team mate, Bryan Clauson dropped back from his début pole, with Newgarden and Víctor García each leading part of the first lap before Newgarden assumed it at the line. Stefan Wilson, Anders Krohn and Esteban Guerrieri also led the race at stages prior to Newgarden taking the lead for good on lap 15. Krohn had undone his work to advance to the front by spinning under caution – after Victor Carbone's crash – which put him to the rear of the field, but pitted for new tires, and eventually made his way back up the field. The second caution period was caused by Gustavo Yacamán spinning into the wall and was eventually collected by Juan Pablo Garcia and James Winslow. Yacamán was transferred to Methodist Hospital with neck pain.
After Peter Dempsey spun under the yellow, Duarte Ferreira brought out the third caution a lap after the restart, spinning in Turn 2 and collected the car of Brandon Wagner, ending the race for both drivers. After a waved off restart, again one lap was run before a caution period was necessitated; Clauson, Krohn and Krohn's Belardi team mate Jorge Goncalvez went three-wide into Turn 1, with Goncalvez clipping the rear-left tire of Clauson's car. Krohn spun in avoidance, as Goncalvez went into the barrier on the outside of Turn 1, before impacting the inside wall halfway down the straight between Turns 1 and 2. The impact broke the car into two pieces with the tub going onto its side along the track before hitting the retaining wall in Turn 2 and righted what was left of the car. Goncalvez was also transferred to Methodist, but was said to be alert and awake. The debris from the crash prevented the race from returning to green – resulting in an end tally of 22 of the race's 40 laps running under caution – and Newgarden took victory ahead of team mate Guerrieri, Víctor García, Wilson and Clauson, with only 10 of the 18 cars that started the race running at the flag.
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 2 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 40 | 55:38.9881 | 30 | |
2 | 5 | 7 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 40 | +0.4443* | 2 | |
3 | 4 | 22 | ![]() | Team Moore Racing | 40 | +0.8010 | 0 | |
* Under caution | ||||||||
Race average speed: 107.817 mph (173.515 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 6 between 4 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 4 for 22 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 7 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 100 | 46:45.6824 | 100 | |
2 | 2 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 100 | +5.5012 | 0 | |
3 | 7 | 4 | ![]() | Belardi Auto Racing | 100 | +6.6182 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 130.236 mph (209.595 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: None | ||||||||
Cautions: 1 for 5 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 4 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 115 | 40:27.3417 | 90 | |
2 | 2 | 2 | ![]() | Team Moore Racing | 115 | +5.4724 | 0 | |
3 | 3 | 77 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 115 | +5.8169 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 152.478 mph (245.390 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 1 between 2 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 2 for 4 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 2 | 5 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 49 | 1:01:02.4296 | 29 | |
2 | 3 | 26 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 49 | +0.2238* | 0 | |
3 | 6 | 2 | ![]() | Team Moore Racing | 49 | +0.5374 | 0 | |
* Under caution | ||||||||
Race average speed: 84.529 mph (136.036 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 1 between 2 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 3 for 9 laps |
Race One – Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 2 | 7 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 36 | 1:01:11.7536 | 36 | |
2 | 1 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 36 | +0.6524 | 0 | |
3 | 10 | 12 | ![]() | Jensen MotorSport | 36 | +7.0479 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 78.499 mph (126.332 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: None | ||||||||
Cautions: 3 for 9 laps | ||||||||
Race Two – Podium Finishers | ||||||||
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 40 | 56:46.3800 | 27 | |
2 | 3 | 5 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 40 | +14.5501 | 0 | |
3 | 6 | 26 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 40 | +15.2079 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 94.017 mph (151.306 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 2 between 2 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: None |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 7 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 58 | 1:13:47.0198 | 58 | |
2 | 5 | 2 | ![]() | Team Moore Racing | 58 | +6.2535 | 0 | |
3 | 4 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 58 | +7.7797 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 71.219 mph (114.616 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: None | ||||||||
Cautions: 2 for 7 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 100 | 49:00.0481 | 100 | |
2 | 5 | 4 | ![]() | Belardi Auto Racing | 99 | + 1 Lap | 0 | |
3 | 6 | 28 | ![]() | Bryan Herta Autosport | 99 | + 1 Lap | 0 | |
Race average speed: 125.508 mph (201.986 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: None | ||||||||
Cautions: 3 for 12 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 3 | 2 | ![]() | Team Moore Racing | 35 | 57:17.3814 | 4 | |
2 | 14 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 35 | +0.4500 | 0 | |
3 | 7 | 3 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 35 | +8.1430 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 74.778 mph (120.344 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 3 between 4 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 3 for 6 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 5 | ![]() | Andretti Autosport | 67 | 41:54.4340 | 47 | |
2 | 6 | 11 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 67 | +3.1136 | 20 | |
3 | 4 | 4 | ![]() | Belardi Auto Racing | 67 | +5.4480 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 141.971 mph (228.480 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 2 between 2 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 1 for 14 laps |
Podium Finishers | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Led | |
1 | 1 | 3 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 67 | 35:26.2096 | 2 | |
2 | 3 | 7 | ![]() | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 67 | +0.0229 | 0 | |
3 | 12 | 4 | ![]() | Belardi Auto Racing | 67 | +0.3642 | 0 | |
Race average speed: 175.153 mph (281.881 km/h) | ||||||||
Lead changes: 3 between 3 drivers | ||||||||
Cautions: 1 for 4 laps |
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Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 |
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Points [30] | 50 | 40 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Three Firestone Indy Lights rookies will be racing on home soil this weekend at Edmonton: 18-year-old Edmonton native Stefan Rzadzinski, who makes his debut with Davey Hamilton Racing; 19-year-old David Ostella, a native of Maple, Ontario, with Jensen MotorSport; and Tyler Dueck of Abbottsford, B.C., who will debut with Goree Multisports.[ permanent dead link ]