Schmidt Motorsport’s Simon Pagenaud won his second IndyCar race of the 2013 season and this time it was in the streets of Baltimore where he had to work hard for it.
Although Pagenaud had been in the thick of it all afternoon, the Frenchman was one of the driver involved in a fierce battle for the lead especially with Marco Andretti (Andretti) following a late restart with only seven laps remaining.
Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Racing) was also part of the final showdown but unfortunately for him, his tires were not able to let him battle it out with Pagenaud in the last two laps.
Newgarden held on for second, putting him onto the podium for the first time in his IndyCar career, while Sebastien Bourdais was one of many to survive contact on his way to third for Dragon.
There were a lot of incidents during the race involving no less than the main title contenders who had their share of trouble.
Restarts were problematic causing a string of yellow flags, the most significant came when Will Power (Penske) turned towards the wall on the front straight and slammed straight into Scott Dixon (Ganassi), forcing him out of the race.
Points leader Helio Castroneves was involved in an early incident which forced him to pit for a new front wing, a bad pitstop in which he was dropped off the jack before his right-front wheel had been fitted, and a drive-through penalty for hitting one of his own tyres in the pits.
But despite all those misfortunes, the Brazilian extended his points lead to 49. He crossed the line in ninth.
Results - 75 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap
1. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 2h16m32.3443s
2. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda +4.1592s
3. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy +7.9588s
4. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda +10.7598s
5. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +11.6017s
6. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda +21.4160s
7. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +22.8422s
8. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy +25.5377s
9. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +29.3117s
10. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +40.5499s
11. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda +1 lap
12. Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy +1 lap
13. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy +1 lap
14. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +1 lap
15. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy +2 laps*
16. Stefan Wilson Coyne/Honda +3 laps
17. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda +7 laps*
18. Will Power Penske/Chevy +8 laps
* Not running at finish
Retirements:
Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 52 laps
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 42 laps
Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda 22 laps
Luca Filippi Herta/Honda 12 laps
James Jakes Rahal/Honda 5 laps
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 4 laps
Although Pagenaud had been in the thick of it all afternoon, the Frenchman was one of the driver involved in a fierce battle for the lead especially with Marco Andretti (Andretti) following a late restart with only seven laps remaining.
Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Racing) was also part of the final showdown but unfortunately for him, his tires were not able to let him battle it out with Pagenaud in the last two laps.
Newgarden held on for second, putting him onto the podium for the first time in his IndyCar career, while Sebastien Bourdais was one of many to survive contact on his way to third for Dragon.
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| Simon Pagenaud. (Photo: IndyCar) |
There were a lot of incidents during the race involving no less than the main title contenders who had their share of trouble.
Restarts were problematic causing a string of yellow flags, the most significant came when Will Power (Penske) turned towards the wall on the front straight and slammed straight into Scott Dixon (Ganassi), forcing him out of the race.
Points leader Helio Castroneves was involved in an early incident which forced him to pit for a new front wing, a bad pitstop in which he was dropped off the jack before his right-front wheel had been fitted, and a drive-through penalty for hitting one of his own tyres in the pits.
But despite all those misfortunes, the Brazilian extended his points lead to 49. He crossed the line in ninth.
Results - 75 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap
1. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 2h16m32.3443s
2. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda +4.1592s
3. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy +7.9588s
4. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda +10.7598s
5. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +11.6017s
6. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda +21.4160s
7. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +22.8422s
8. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy +25.5377s
9. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +29.3117s
10. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +40.5499s
11. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda +1 lap
12. Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy +1 lap
13. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy +1 lap
14. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +1 lap
15. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy +2 laps*
16. Stefan Wilson Coyne/Honda +3 laps
17. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda +7 laps*
18. Will Power Penske/Chevy +8 laps
* Not running at finish
Retirements:
Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 52 laps
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 42 laps
Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda 22 laps
Luca Filippi Herta/Honda 12 laps
James Jakes Rahal/Honda 5 laps
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 4 laps