Ganassi’s Charlie Kimball took advantage from some good strategy to take his maiden IndyCar victory this Sunday at Mid-Ohio.
Contrary to most of the front-runners, who had opted for a two-stop strategy, Kimball took a three-stop approach which put him head to head with Schmidt’s Simon Pagenaud, who was on a similar strategy.
But in the final stop, because of lapped traffic, Pagenaud was able to move in front of Kimball but a nice move at the Esses allowed Kimball to re-pass Pagenaud on the same lap, and before long he had built a lead that extended to 5.5 seconds at the finish.
Pagenaud crossed the line in second, while Kimball’s teammate Dario Franchitti was a distant third ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power, who was first of the drivers to have two-stopped.
Pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth, while series’ points leader Helio Castroneves claimed sixth.
Series debutants James Davison and Luca Filippi finished 15th and 16th respectively.
Results - 90 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap
1. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 1h43m29.1371s
2. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda +5.5334s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda +28.8735s
4. Will Power Penske/Chevy +42.5032s
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy +46.3449s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +48.3249s
7. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda +48.5496s
8. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda +49.0431s
9. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +49.5609s
10. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +49.9283s
11. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +50.4925s
12. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy +54.1360s
13. James Jakes Rahal/Honda +54.6693s
14. Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy +1m04.6395s
15. James Davison Coyne/Honda +1m05.4079s
16. Luca Filippi Herta/Honda +1m09.0090s
17. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy +1 lap
18. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda +1 lap
19. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy +1 lap
20. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +1 lap
21. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda +1 lap
22. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda +1 lap
23. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda +2 laps
Retirements:
Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy 64 laps
Contrary to most of the front-runners, who had opted for a two-stop strategy, Kimball took a three-stop approach which put him head to head with Schmidt’s Simon Pagenaud, who was on a similar strategy.
But in the final stop, because of lapped traffic, Pagenaud was able to move in front of Kimball but a nice move at the Esses allowed Kimball to re-pass Pagenaud on the same lap, and before long he had built a lead that extended to 5.5 seconds at the finish.
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| Charlie Kimball. (Photo: IndyCar) |
Pagenaud crossed the line in second, while Kimball’s teammate Dario Franchitti was a distant third ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power, who was first of the drivers to have two-stopped.
Pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth, while series’ points leader Helio Castroneves claimed sixth.
Series debutants James Davison and Luca Filippi finished 15th and 16th respectively.
Results - 90 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap
1. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 1h43m29.1371s
2. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda +5.5334s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda +28.8735s
4. Will Power Penske/Chevy +42.5032s
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy +46.3449s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +48.3249s
7. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda +48.5496s
8. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda +49.0431s
9. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +49.5609s
10. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +49.9283s
11. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +50.4925s
12. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy +54.1360s
13. James Jakes Rahal/Honda +54.6693s
14. Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy +1m04.6395s
15. James Davison Coyne/Honda +1m05.4079s
16. Luca Filippi Herta/Honda +1m09.0090s
17. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy +1 lap
18. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda +1 lap
19. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy +1 lap
20. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +1 lap
21. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda +1 lap
22. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda +1 lap
23. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda +2 laps
Retirements:
Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy 64 laps