Race details | |
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7th and 8th round of the 2018 IndyCar Series season | |
Date | June 2 and 3, 2018 |
Official name | Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation |
Location | The Raceway on Belle Isle |
Course | Temporary street circuit 2.350 mi / 3.782 km |
Distance | 70 laps 164.500 mi / 264.737 km |
Pole position | |
Driver | Marco Andretti (Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian) |
Time | 1:14.8514 |
Fastest lap | |
Driver | Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) |
Time | 1:15.8049 (on lap 40 of 70) |
Podium | |
First | Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
Second | Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) |
Third | Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) |
Pole position | |
Driver | Alexander Rossi ( Andretti Autosport) |
Time | 1:33.3143 |
Fastest lap | |
Driver | Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) |
Time | 1:15.0590 (on lap 59 of 70) |
Podium | |
First | Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) |
Second | Will Power (Team Penske) |
Third | Ed Jones (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation was the lone doubleheader event of the 2018 IndyCar Series season, consisting of the 7th and 8th rounds of the championship. The event was held at the Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Scott Dixon won Race 1, and Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Sunday race.
This event also marked the final IndyCar Series broadcast for ABC, ending a half-century stint covering the series (and its predecessors), as starting in 2019, NBC Sports was the series' only broadcaster. This would ultimately mark the end of Scott Goodyear's commentary career after 17 seasons with ESPN.
Icon | Meaning |
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R | Rookie |
W | Past winner |
W1 | Past winner of race 1 in doubleheader |
W2 | Past winner of race 2 in doubleheader |
Pos | No. | Name | Group | Time | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 98 | Marco Andretti | 2 | 1:14.8514 | ||||
2 | 9 | Scott Dixon W | 1 | 1:15.4186 | ||||
3 | 6 | Robert Wickens R | 2 | 1:15.3267 | ||||
4 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 1 | 1:15.4946 | ||||
5 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 2 | 1:15.3351 | ||||
6 | 12 | Will Power W1W2 | 1 | 1:15.7210 | ||||
7 | 30 | Takuma Sato | 2 | 1:15.3920 | ||||
8 | 15 | Graham Rahal W1W2 | 1 | 1:15.8273 | ||||
9 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | 2 | 1:15.5402 | ||||
10 | 59 | Max Chilton | 1 | 1:16.0396 | ||||
11 | 10 | Ed Jones | 2 | 1:15.8876 | ||||
12 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | 1 | 1:16.1430 | ||||
13 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud W2 | 2 | 1:16.0099 | ||||
14 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | 1 | 1:16.1923 | ||||
15 | 10 | Tony Kanaan W | 2 | 1:16.0740 | ||||
16 | 26 | Zach Veach R | 1 | 1:16.3157 | ||||
17 | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais W2 | 2 | 1:16.2205 | ||||
18 | 19 | Santino Ferrucci R | 1 | 1:15.8343 | ||||
19 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | 2 | 1:16.7531 | ||||
20 | 20 | Jordan King R | 1 | 1:16.9075 | ||||
21 | 4 | Matheus Leist R | 2 | 1:16.4182 | ||||
22 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | 1 | 1:17.2067 | ||||
23 | 32 | René Binder R | 2 | 1:18.6108 | ||||
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE [ permanent dead link ] |
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. For Detroit only, 1 bonus point was awarded to the fastest qualifier from both groups.
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Icon | Meaning |
---|---|
R | Rookie |
W | Past winner |
W1 | Past winner of race 1 in doubleheader |
W2 | Past winner of race 2 in doubleheader |
Pos | No. | Name | Group | Time | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 1 | 1:33.3143 | ||||
2 | 6 | Robert Wickens R | 2 | 1:33.6605 | ||||
3 | 12 | Will Power W1W2 | 1 | 1:33.8295 | ||||
4 | 10 | Ed Jones | 2 | 1:33.9256 | ||||
5 | 9 | Scott Dixon WW1 | 1 | 1:33.9544 | ||||
6 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe | 2 | 1:34.1370 | ||||
7 | 26 | Zach Veach R | 1 | 1:34.6464 | ||||
8 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud W2 | 2 | 1:34.2315 | ||||
9 | 15 | Graham Rahal W1W2 | 1 | 1:35.0256 | ||||
10 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 2 | 1:34.5021 | ||||
11 | 20 | Jordan King R | 1 | 1:35.1374 | ||||
12 | 98 | Marco Andretti | 2 | 1:34.5475 | ||||
13 | 19 | Santino Ferrucci R | 1 | 1:35.4664 | ||||
14 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | 2 | 1:35.6045 | ||||
15 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | 1 | 1:36.3713 | ||||
16 | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais W2 | 2 | 1:35.6692 | ||||
17 | 59 | Max Chilton | 1 | 1:36.9796 | ||||
18 | 4 | Matheus Leist R | 2 | 1:36.0439 | ||||
19 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | 1 | 1:38.3041 | ||||
20 | 30 | Takuma Sato | 2 | 1:37.0851 | ||||
21 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | 1 | 1:39.3597 | ||||
22 | 10 | Tony Kanaan W | 2 | No time | ||||
23 | 32 | René Binder R | 2 | No time | ||||
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE [ permanent dead link ] |
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. For Detroit only, 1 bonus point was awarded to the fastest qualifier from both groups.
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During the opening pace laps of Race #2, the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 pace car leading the field and being driven by General Motors executive Mark Reuss lost control and crashed head-on into the left-hand retaining wall coming out of the exit of turn two of the track, shortly after leaving pit road. Neither Reuss nor Mark Sandy, an IndyCar official who was a passenger in the car, were injured in the crash and were able to exit the vehicle after the crash. [1] Because the race cars had just left pit road and were being led by the pace car, all of the drivers in the race, except for Alexander Rossi, stopped on the track behind the wrecked car as safety crews and track workers cleaned up debris from the accident and removed the damaged vehicle. Rossi, who was to start the race from the pole position and was directly behind the pace car when the incident occurred, was the only driver to drive past the crash and returned to pit road afterwards. Approximately 20 minutes after the crash, the cars still on the track had their engines re-fired and were directed to drive to pit road in order to reset the starting grid for the race start. An identical back-up pace car of the same make and model was brought out to pace the field, this time driven by former IndyCar driver and official Oriol Servià who regularly drove the pace car during caution periods. The incident delayed the start of the race by over 30 minutes from its scheduled start time of 3:50pm local time. [1] The race eventually went green sometime past 4:20pm.
An official statement from General Motors, of which Chevrolet is a division of, read in part, "It is unfortunate that this incident happened. Many factors contributed, including weather and track conditions. The car’s safety systems performed as expected." [2] Reuss, who had previous experience driving high powered cars in his tenure at General Motors, posted his own statement onto his Facebook page apologizing for the mishap: "I have driven this course many many many times. I have paced this race in the wet, cold, hot, and calm. On Z06’s, Grand Sports, and other things. It is never a casual thing for me, but an honor to be asked. Today I let down my friends, my family, IndyCar, our city and my company. Sorry does not describe it. I want to thank our engineers for providing me the safety I know is the best in the world." [2] IndyCar drivers Will Power and eventual race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay were sympathetic to Reuss in their comments on the incident following the race, with Power saying, "I felt really bad for whoever was in the pace car. It's very easy to do, and the traction control must have been turned off. Wasn't really his fault." [1]
The unusual incident garnered massive amounts of attention on social media and news outlets, with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal tweeting that the exposure that the crash gave to Chevrolet was " more than 70 times" worth the exposure Chevrolet earned from the race itself. [3] The incident was briefly mentioned by television presenter Jeremy Clarkson in series 3, episode 8 of the Amazon Prime Video motoring show The Grand Tour while Clarkson was test driving a Corvette similar to the one Reuss had crashed. Nearly one year after the crash, Reuss was given the opportunity to drive the pace car for the opening laps of the 2019 edition of the race, this time doing so without incident. [4]
The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953.
The Indianapolis 500 auto race has used a pace car every year since 1911. The pace car is utilized for two primary purposes. At the start of the race, the pace car leads the assembled starting grid around the track for a predetermined number of unscored warm-up laps. Then if the officials deem appropriate, it releases the field at a purposeful speed to start the race. In addition, during yellow flag caution periods, the pace car enters the track and picks up the leader, bunching the field up at a reduced speed.
In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is an automobile which limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The aim of the safety car is to enable the clearance of any obstruction under safer conditions, especially for marshals and/or await more favourable track conditions weather-wise. By following the safety car, the competitors' tyres remain as close as possible to operating temperature while their engines do not overheat. A safety car is also preferred over stopping the race and restarting as the latter takes longer.
Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay is a professional American racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. He currently competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became the first American to win since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006. Hunter-Reay also won in the defunct Champ Car World Series twice and the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. In addition to his experience in Indy car racing, Hunter-Reay has competed in the Race of Champions, A1 Grand Prix, and various forms of sports car racing.
A parade lap, also known as a pace lap, formation lap or warm-up lap, is a lap before a motorsport race begins, in which the drivers go around the track at a slow speed, and, in some cases, behind the safety car.
The Detroit Grand Prix is an IndyCar Series race weekend held on a temporary circuit in Detroit, Michigan. The race has been held from 1989 to 2001, 2007 to 2008, and since 2012. Since 2012, the event has been scheduled for the weekend immediately following the Indianapolis 500.
The 92nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 25, 2008. Scott Dixon of New Zealand won the race from the pole position.
Mark L. Reuss is the current President of General Motors.
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The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation was the lone doubleheader event of the 2017 IndyCar Series season, consisting of the 7th and 8th rounds of the championship. The event was held at the Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Graham Rahal dominated the weekend, leading the most laps and winning both races.