2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix

Last updated
Flag of the United States.svg 2017 Phoenix
Race details
4th round of the 2017 IndyCar Series season
Phoenix-international-raceway-2011-new.svg
Phoenix International Raceway (2011-2018)
DateApril 29, 2017
Official name Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
Location Phoenix International Raceway
CoursePermanent racing facility
1.022 mi / 1.645 km
Distance250 laps
255.5 mi / 411.25 km
Pole position
Driver Hélio Castroneves  (Team Penske)
Time18.8837 + 18.8701 = 37.7538
Fastest lap
Driver Will Power  (Team Penske)
Time19.7446 (on lap 208 of 250)
Podium
First Simon Pagenaud  (Team Penske)
Second Will Power  (Team Penske)
Third J. R. Hildebrand  (Ed Carpenter Racing)

The 2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 2017 IndyCar Series season and the first oval race of the season. It took place on April 29, 2017 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The race was won by Simon Pagenaud for Team Penske, his first ever victory on an oval. [1]

Contents

Report

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, April 28. Hélio Castroneves took pole position, breaking the track record that he had set the previous lap with a time of 37.7538 (194.905 mph). His teammate Will Power qualified second. J. R. Hildebrand qualified third; the only driver outside of Team Penske in the top five. Tony Kanaan in sixth place was the fastest Honda driver. [2]

Race

The race was held on Saturday, April 29. The start saw Hélio Castroneves pull into the lead, while Josef Newgarden was able to move into second after passing both Will Power and J. R. Hildebrand. Behind them, however, the start was chaotic, as Mikhail Aleshin spun in the middle of turn one, triggering a multi-car incident that took out championship leader Sébastien Bourdais, Max Chilton, Marco Andretti, and Graham Rahal. All five were out of the race. Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered a punctured tire in the incident and dropped to 15th following his pit stop. [3]

After a lengthy clean-up, racing resumed on lap 22, where Simon Pagenaud managed to move in front of Hildebrand for fourth place. For several laps, the order remained unchanged. On lap 70, however, Pagenaud was able to catch up to his teammate Power and move himself into third place. Pit stops began shortly after, where Power was able to leapfrog all three of his teammates and take the lead of the race, with Castroneves, Pagenaud, and Newgarden behind. James Hinchcliffe rounded out the top five after the stops. During the cycle, Conor Daly lost numerous laps after suffering a gearbox failure while on pit lane on lap 78. [3]

The order remained largely unchanged for the following stint, though Newgarden, struggling with a broken front wing, lost his fourth position to a hard-charging Hildebrand. At roughly lap 120, the second cycle of pit stops came, during which Alexander Rossi made contact with the wall and was forced to retire from the race, though there was no caution for this incident. Shortly after, however, Rossi's teammate Takuma Sato made contact with the turn four wall and came to a stop on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution. Due to where the pit stop cycle was at the time, Pagenaud now held a sizable advantage on the field, allowing him to pit under yellow without losing any track position. [3]

The restart came on lap 149, where Pagenaud was able to pull out a healthy lead due to several lapped cars being between him and Power. Further back, Newgarden was able to march back up into the top five quickly after finally being afforded the chance to change his front wing. Little change in the order occurred as the field cycled through their final pit cycle from about lap 190 through lap 210. Pagenaud's lead now stood at over 5.5 seconds on lap 215. [3]

Shortly after pit stops, Newgarden's day went awry once again, as he and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact, breaking Newgarden's front wing again and breaking Hunter-Reay's suspension, taking him out of the race. For the second time in three races, all Andretti Autosport cars were out of the race. [4] Newgarden changed front wings again, dropping him to 10th. The biggest beneficiary of the incident, however, was Hildebrand, who was able to pass both Newgarden and Castroneves, who had slowed up to avoid the incident, boosting him to third place. [3]

Up front, it was smooth sailing for Pagenaud, who came across the finish line over nine seconds ahead of his teammate Power. Hildebrand came across the line third, securing his first podium finish in six years. [5] Castroneves finished fourth while Scott Dixon, who ran a quiet race, finished fifth, the first car one lap down. For Pagenaud, the victory was his 10th career victory and his first ever on an oval. For Team Penske, it was the team's 450th win in motorsports and the 100th IndyCar win for the team on an oval. [6] The victory also allowed Pagenaud to take the lead in the points. [6] [3] Attendance was 18,500 [7]

Results

KeyMeaning
RRookie
WPast winner

Qualifying

PosNo.NameLap 1 TimeLap 2 TimeTotal TimeAvg. Speed (mph)
13 Flag of Brazil.svg Hélio Castroneves W18.883718.870137.7538194.905
212 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power 19.018818.907837.9266194.017
321 Flag of the United States.svg J. R. Hildebrand 18.975718.971437.9471193.912
42 Flag of the United States.svg Josef Newgarden 19.025618.967737.9933193.676
51 Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud 19.024219.020738.0449193.414
610 Flag of Brazil.svg Tony Kanaan W19.121619.096238.2178192.539
77 Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Aleshin 19.162019.097938.2599192.327
89 Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon W19.175019.144638.3151192.050
927 Flag of the United States.svg Marco Andretti 19.269319.178538.4478191.387
1018 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais 19.241719.213738.4554191.349
115 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg James Hinchcliffe 19.253619.233038.4866191.194
1228 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hunter-Reay 19.268819.297538.5663190.799
138 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Max Chilton 19.357919.214638.5725190.768
1483 Flag of the United States.svg Charlie Kimball 19.302919.310738.6136190.565
1598 Flag of the United States.svg Alexander Rossi 19.372119.274038.6461190.405
1619 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Ed Jones R19.382219.340438.7226190.029
1715 Flag of the United States.svg Graham Rahal 19.430419.341738.7721189.786
1826 Flag of Japan.svg Takuma Sato 19.394019.379638.7736189.779
1914 Flag of Colombia.svg Carlos Muñoz 19.493519.378038.8715189.301
204 Flag of the United States.svg Conor Daly 19.537519.491639.0291188.536
2120 Flag of the United States.svg Ed Carpenter 19.706219.778739.4849186.360
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source for individual Laps: [8]

Race

PosNo.DriverTeamEngineLapsTime/RetiredPit StopsGridLaps LedPts. 1
11 Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 2501:46:24.94733511653
212 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 250+9.1028325941
321 Flag of the United States.svg J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 250+9.34173335
43 Flag of Brazil.svg Hélio Castroneves W Team Penske Chevrolet 250+16.5864317334
59 Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 249+1 Lap3830
610 Flag of Brazil.svg Tony Kanaan W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 249+1 Lap3628
720 Flag of the United States.svg Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 248+2 Laps52126
883 Flag of the United States.svg Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 248+2 Laps31424
92 Flag of the United States.svg Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 248+2 Laps64223
1014 Flag of Colombia.svg Carlos Muñoz A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 247+3 Laps41920
1119 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Ed Jones R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 247+3 Laps41619
125 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 246+4 Laps41118
1328 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 220Mechanical51217
144 Flag of the United States.svg Conor Daly A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 180+70 Laps72016
1598 Flag of the United States.svg Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Autorsport Honda 141Contact41515
1626 Flag of Japan.svg Takuma Sato Andretti Autosport Honda 135Contact21814
177 Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 0Contact0713
1827 Flag of the United States.svg Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 0Contact0912
1918 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing Honda 0Contact01011
208 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 0Contact01310
2115 Flag of the United States.svg Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 0Contact0179
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Notes: 1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Source for time gaps: [9]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. Malsher, David (April 30, 2017). "Pagenaud declares Phoenix victory his "best win"". Motorsport.com. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. Robinson, Mitch (April 29, 2017). "Castroneves remains Phoenix king of speed with new track record". IndyCar.com. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Malsher, David (April 30, 2017). "Phoenix IndyCar: Pagenaud grabs his first oval win". Motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  4. Wilson, Phillip B. (April 30, 2017). "Woes continue for Andretti Autosport at Phoenix". IndyCar.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  5. Malsher, David (April 30, 2017). "Hildebrand thrilled with first top-three finish for six years". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Robinson, Mitch (April 30, 2017). "Pagenaud dominates at Phoenix to collect first oval win". IndyCar.com. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  7. "IndyCar likely to return to Phoenix again in 2018".
  8. "Race Report: 2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  9. "Indycar 2017 Phoenix". Motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
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