Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt Peterson) won his first ever Indycar event when he was able to make the best out of a chaotic second race of this weekend's double-header in Detroit.
But that victory did not come easily as the Frenchman had to fight his way to the front; any strategy adopted had to be changed constantly by a procession of caution periods during the first half of the race.
Pagenaud took the lead from James Jakes (Rahal Letterman) and he was able to hold onto his lead while Jakes found himself under pressure from Saturday race winner Mike Conway (Dale Coyne Racing).
Jakes was able to make good use of his four hits of push to pass still available but, still, the gap between them at the finish was just over 0.4 seconds.
Scott Dixon finished fourth after making a late pass on his Ganassi team-mate Franchitti who finished 5th.
There were a total of six cautions during the race following a sequence of accidents that decimated the field to the point that by the halfway mark only 13 cars were still on the lead lap.
There was a multi-car accident triggered when Sebastien Bourdais tipped Will Power into a spin. No less than 10 cars were involved, although most were patched back together and sent back out to salvage some points.
Other drivers had the distinction of having an accident on their own such as Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simona de Silvestro.
Indycar 2nd race Detroit Results - 70 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Engine
1. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda
2. James Jakes Rahal/Honda
3. Mike Conway Coyne/Honda
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda
5. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda
6. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy
7. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda
8. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy
9. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda
10. Sebastien Saavedra Dragon/Chevy
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy
12. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy
13. Ryan Briscoe Panther/Chevy
14. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda
15. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy
16. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda
17. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy
18. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy
19. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy
20. Will Power Penske/Chevy
Retirements:
Alex Tagliani Herta/Honda
Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda
Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy
AJ Allmendinger Penske/Chevy
But that victory did not come easily as the Frenchman had to fight his way to the front; any strategy adopted had to be changed constantly by a procession of caution periods during the first half of the race.
Pagenaud took the lead from James Jakes (Rahal Letterman) and he was able to hold onto his lead while Jakes found himself under pressure from Saturday race winner Mike Conway (Dale Coyne Racing).
Jakes was able to make good use of his four hits of push to pass still available but, still, the gap between them at the finish was just over 0.4 seconds.
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| Photo: IndyCar |
Scott Dixon finished fourth after making a late pass on his Ganassi team-mate Franchitti who finished 5th.
There were a total of six cautions during the race following a sequence of accidents that decimated the field to the point that by the halfway mark only 13 cars were still on the lead lap.
There was a multi-car accident triggered when Sebastien Bourdais tipped Will Power into a spin. No less than 10 cars were involved, although most were patched back together and sent back out to salvage some points.
Other drivers had the distinction of having an accident on their own such as Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simona de Silvestro.
Indycar 2nd race Detroit Results - 70 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Engine
1. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda
2. James Jakes Rahal/Honda
3. Mike Conway Coyne/Honda
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda
5. Dario Franchitti Ganassi/Honda
6. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy
7. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda
8. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy
9. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda
10. Sebastien Saavedra Dragon/Chevy
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy
12. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy
13. Ryan Briscoe Panther/Chevy
14. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda
15. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy
16. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda
17. EJ Viso Andretti/Chevy
18. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy
19. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy
20. Will Power Penske/Chevy
Retirements:
Alex Tagliani Herta/Honda
Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda
Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy
AJ Allmendinger Penske/Chevy