Graham Rahal led a commanding victory in the first of two races at Belle Isle Detroit, this weekend. Graham effectively started on Pole following Helio’s penalty. Rahal then led and dominated throughout the race.
The race began with an early race spin for James Hinchcliffe, which brought out the caution as a result of Hinch requiring assistance to restart. He did crucially not, however, lose a lap.
A second caution period occurred during the race for Charlie Kimball losing part of a front wing, whilst a separate incident occurred at the same time with Conor Daly who was running well at the time. Daly’s car ground to a halt out on the track.
Rahal won the race by 6.1474 seconds, leading home from Scott Dixon in the Camping World Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. A great result for Dixon especially given the injuries he sustained at Indianapolis to his ankle, on a demanding circuit for braking, as Belle Isle is. James Hinchcliffe led a great strategy to finish third despite that early race spin.
Honda entirely dominated in Chevrolet’s backyard today with the only Chevrolet in the top 6, Josef Newgarden in 4th. Chevrolet’s next best result was Helio Castroneves in 7th, whilst Penske drivers Will Power and Simon Pagenaud struggled throughout the race. it doesn’t appear from this race at least, that Penske’s issues have been resolved as we return to road courses.
IndyCar does it all again tomorrow, also at 3:30PM ET on ABC. Can Penske turn the fortunes of today around? Will Rahal repeat his domination?
I thought James had the best drive, powering from the back of the field. He charged and was passing cars on all strategies and both compounds, with both compounds.
Servia was brought in to gather more data but Rahal rolled off the truck with the right set up. He has been fast since the first practice and his team mate hasn’t been on it yet.