Ganassi's Scott Dixon won the first race of the Toronto double-header, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the 2013 IndyCar season by edging Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing) and the first demoted then reinstated Dario Franchitti.
The New Zelander had the best over then leader Will Power (Team Penske) by staying a lap longer during the final pitstop rounds, but still was passed by Bourdais on a restart with 16 laps remaining.
But the Frenchman would become an easy prey for Dixon as was soon out of push-to-pass and racing on his fading red tires.
The Ganassi driver then rapidly opened a 3.3 seconds, only to lose it when Alex Tagliani brought out the yellows again by spinning while trying to pass Simon Pagenaud.
The restart came with a lap to go but Dixon maintained the lead and crossed the finish line ahead of Bourdais.
Things did not went as smoothly for Franchitti, who was first stripped of his third place finish because he blocked Will Power, but upon review, officials of the IndyCar series decided that Franchitti's move was perfectly legal and reinstated the Scot to the podium.
There were a number of incidents but few drivers had more things go wrong than reigning champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, who stalled in both of his stops, and then hit the wall while battling Andretti team-mate EJ Viso.
The race was scheduled to feature the first-ever standing start in an IndyCar-sanctioned race, but that was abandoned when Josef Newgarden stalled on the grid.
Under the regulations, the race was switched to a rolling start.
Race 1 results – IndyCar (Toronto, ON)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 1h41m17.0605s
2. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy +1.7007s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda +2.9116s
4. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +3.7273s
5. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy +4.5961s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +5.0720s
7. Mike Conway Coyne/Honda +5.5749s
8. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +8.6580s
9. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda +10.2140s
10. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +10.8797s
11. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda +11.3536s
12. James Jakes Rahal/Honda +11.6899s
13. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +13.0557s
14. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda +27.9116s
15. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy +47.5037s
16. Will Power Penske/Chevy +1 lap
17. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy +1 lap
18. Alex Tagliani Herta/Honda +1 lap
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy +2 laps
20. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda +2 laps
21. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda +3 laps
22. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda +13 laps
23. Ryan Briscoe Panther/Chevy +21 laps
Retirements
Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 34 laps
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 32 laps
The New Zelander had the best over then leader Will Power (Team Penske) by staying a lap longer during the final pitstop rounds, but still was passed by Bourdais on a restart with 16 laps remaining.
But the Frenchman would become an easy prey for Dixon as was soon out of push-to-pass and racing on his fading red tires.
The Ganassi driver then rapidly opened a 3.3 seconds, only to lose it when Alex Tagliani brought out the yellows again by spinning while trying to pass Simon Pagenaud.
The restart came with a lap to go but Dixon maintained the lead and crossed the finish line ahead of Bourdais.
Things did not went as smoothly for Franchitti, who was first stripped of his third place finish because he blocked Will Power, but upon review, officials of the IndyCar series decided that Franchitti's move was perfectly legal and reinstated the Scot to the podium.
There were a number of incidents but few drivers had more things go wrong than reigning champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, who stalled in both of his stops, and then hit the wall while battling Andretti team-mate EJ Viso.
The race was scheduled to feature the first-ever standing start in an IndyCar-sanctioned race, but that was abandoned when Josef Newgarden stalled on the grid.
Under the regulations, the race was switched to a rolling start.
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| Scott Dixon (Photo: IndyCar) |
Race 1 results – IndyCar (Toronto, ON)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 1h41m17.0605s
2. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy +1.7007s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda +2.9116s
4. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +3.7273s
5. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy +4.5961s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +5.0720s
7. Mike Conway Coyne/Honda +5.5749s
8. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +8.6580s
9. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda +10.2140s
10. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +10.8797s
11. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda +11.3536s
12. James Jakes Rahal/Honda +11.6899s
13. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +13.0557s
14. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda +27.9116s
15. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy +47.5037s
16. Will Power Penske/Chevy +1 lap
17. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy +1 lap
18. Alex Tagliani Herta/Honda +1 lap
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy +2 laps
20. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda +2 laps
21. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda +3 laps
22. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda +13 laps
23. Ryan Briscoe Panther/Chevy +21 laps
Retirements
Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 34 laps
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 32 laps