2013 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
| Racing data | ||
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| 2nd of 19 races of the IndyCar Series 2013 | ||
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| Surname: | Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama | |
| Date: | April 7, 2013 | |
| Place: |
 Birmingham , Alabama , United States
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| Course: | Barber Motorsports Park | |
| Length: | 333.134 km in 90 laps of 3.701 km
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| Weather: | slightly cloudy | |
| Spectator: | ~ 57,963 | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver: |
 Ryan Hunter-Reay
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Andretti Autosport
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| Time: | 1: 07.0871 min | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver: |
 James Jakes
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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
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| Time: | 1: 08.9918 min (lap 83) | |
| Podium | ||
| First: |
Ryan Hunter-Reay
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Andretti Autosport
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| Second: |
 Scott Dixon
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Target Chip Ganassi Racing
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| Third: |
 Helio Castroneves
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Team Penske
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The 2013 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama took place on April 7th at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham , Alabama , United States and was the second race of the 2013 IndyCar Series season .
Reports
background
After the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg , James Hinchcliffe led the drivers' standings with 8 points on Hélio Castroneves and 16 points on Marco Andretti .
At the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, drivers were allowed a total of 170 seconds to use the push-to-pass button. The overtaking aid could be activated ten times during the race.
Ana Beatriz kept her cockpit with Dale Coyne Racing for this and the next three races. So she prevailed in the contract negotiations against Stefan Wilson , who had also taken care of the cockpit.
AJ Allmendinger made his comeback in formula racing and his debut in the IndyCar Series at this Grand Prix . He was last active in the Champ Car series in 2006 and then only competed in the NASCAR series and the Daytona 24-hour race . Allmendinger received the third vehicle from Team Penske that was not used at the season opener.
With Will Power (twice) and Castroneves (once), all previous winners competed in this Grand Prix.
training
In the first practice session Tristan Vautier set the fastest time ahead of Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay . Shortly before the end of the second corner, Vautier slipped into the gravel trap and triggered the only interruption of this training session. His vehicle was undamaged. The training was extended by five minutes due to the interruption. In the second practice session, Castroneves beat the fastest time and drove the fastest lap ahead of Alex Tagliani and Vautier. The only interruption was triggered by EJ Viso with a slip into the gravel bed. In the third training session, Simona de Silvestro achieved the fastest time of the weekend before Simon Pagenaud and Dixon. Sébastien Bourdais triggered the only interruption with a spin. However, he resumed training a little later.
Qualifying
The first part of the time training was held in two groups. The six fastest drivers in each group came into the second segment. The remaining starting positions were determined from the result of the first qualifying segment, with the drivers in the first group being assigned the odd positions from 13 and the drivers in the second group the even positions from 14. In the first group, Dixon drove the fastest lap, in the second group Vautier was the fastest driver.
In the second segment of the qualification, the six fastest drivers qualified for the final section. Dixon posted the fastest lap time. Next to him, Hunter-Reay, Charlie Kimball , Power, Castroneves and Vautier made it into the third part of qualifying, the so-called Firestone Fast Six . Originally, Vautier was in seventh place and thus outside the Firestone Fast Six, but Takuma Satō was canceled due to blocking the fastest times, so that he fell back to twelfth place.
Hunter-Reay finally set the fastest time and took pole position ahead of Power and Vautier.
Final training
In the final training, Kimball was the fastest driver ahead of Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan .
run
While Hunter-Reay stayed in the lead at the start, Power did not start well from second place and had to choose the outside lane in the first corner. This pushed Vautier and Kimball past on the inside lane. On the first lap there were collisions near the museum complex in which no vehicle broke down or stopped, but parts were distributed along the route. For this reason, there was a yellow phase to clean the track. In the yellow phase, a wheel on Hinchcliffe's vehicle came off. He was pushed off the track and his vehicle should be returned to the pits during the next caution period. For this reason, Hinchcliffe remained seated in the vehicle. However, there was no further caution phase, so the Hinchcliffe sat in the car for 72 laps and waited until he finally gave up.
At the restart, Power came on the outside again and finally fell back to ninth place. Hunter-Reay pulled away from the rest of the field in the following laps. Vautier and Kimball battled it out for second place. Behind him, Dixon made a few overtaking maneuvers and finally caught up with the top 3.
During the first pit stops, some drivers deviated from the actually optimal strategy, a three-stop strategy with balanced sections of the race. Castroneves, Dario Franchitti and Pagenaud were more likely to pit, so they had to manage their tires at the end of the race. Power decided to switch to a two-stop strategy and therefore took the lead for a few laps after the Hunter-Reays pit stop.
In the 43rd lap Castroneves, Pagenaud and Franchitti pitted for the second time. Franchitti gave up with a technical defect. One lap later, Hunter-Reay and Dixon pitted, both of whom had opted for a short middle stint on the harder tires. Kimball took the lead for two laps before relinquishing it to Power. Hunter-Reay and Castroneves were behind Power. While Castroneves passed Hunter-Reay and then Power and took the lead, Power Hunter-Reay pulled up behind him and several riders caught up. Castroneves built a lead at the front. Power completed his second and final stop on lap 60. He fell back to ninth place. A little later the other pilots also pitted for their last stop. Allmendinger choked his car and fell backwards. Until this problem he was in a promising position for a top 10 position.
In the 75th lap, Hunter-Reay Castroneves attacked and took the lead. Castroneves was also overtaken by Dixon one lap later. Castroneves tried to get third on the harder tire compound. Dixon put Hunter-Reay under pressure until the end of the race, but did not come into the direct slipstream.
Hunter-Reay eventually won the race ahead of Dixon and Castroneves. It was the fourth time in a row that Dixon finished second in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. It was Hunter-Reay's tenth IndyCar win. Kimball finished fourth in the top five for the second time in his career. The top 10 completed Power, Pagenaud, Andretti, Justin Wilson , Newgarden and Vautier. It was the first top 10 positions for Newgarden and Vautier.
In the overall standings, Castroneves took the lead from Dixon and Hunter-Reay.
A total of 83,564 spectators came to the race track this weekend.
Registration list
All teams and drivers used the chassis Dallara DW12 with an aero kit from Dallara and tires from Firestone .
Source:
Classifications
Qualifying
Swell:
run
Swell:
Guide sections
| section | Round | driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-26 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay
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| 2 | 27-30 |
 Will power
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| 3 | 31-42 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay
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| 4th | 43-45 |
Charlie Kimball
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| 5 | 46-50 |
Will power
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| 6th | 51-75 |
Helio Castroneves
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| 7th | 76-90 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay
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Swell:
Yellow phases
| No. | Duration | Round | Reason for yellow phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2-5 | 4th | Debris: curve 9 |
Swell:
Score after the race
Driver ranking
The allocation of points is explained here .
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Individual evidence
- ^ “IndyCar removes push-to-pass delay for 2013 season”. autosport.com, March 19, 2013, accessed March 19, 2013 .
- ↑ Pete Fink: "Ana Beatriz will stay until Indianapolis". Motorsport-Total.com, April 4, 2013, accessed April 6, 2013 .
- ↑ Pete Fink: "Comeback: Nervous Allmendinger in focus". Motorsport-Total.com, April 5, 2013, accessed April 6, 2013 .
- ↑ Pete Fink: "Barber: Rookie Vautier Surprises the Establishment". Motorsport-Total.com, April 5, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Pete Fink: "Barber: Castroneves takes over - Tagliani second". Motorsport-Total.com, April 5, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Mario Fritzsche: "Third Free Practice: Best Time for Simona de Silvestro". Motorsport-Total.com, April 6, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Mario Fritzsche, Pete Fink: "Pole for the champion: Hunter-Reay before Power". Motorsport-Total.com, April 6, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Pete Fink: "Barber Races: Of Records and Curiosities". Motorsport-Total.com, April 8, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Pete Fink: "Barber Show: Hunter-Reay fights Ganassi and Penske down". Motorsport-Total.com, April 7, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Michael Höller: "IndyCar - Hunter-Reay wins in Alabama". Crime in Barber Motorsports Park. Motorsport-Magazin.com, April 8, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ “Entry List - Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama”. (PDF) indycar.com, April 3, 2013, accessed April 6, 2013 .
- ^ "Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park". (PDF; 60 kB) indycar.com, April 6, 2014, accessed on May 9, 2013 .
- ^ "Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama - Official Starting Line Up". (PDF; 130 kB) indycar.com, April 7, 2013, accessed on May 9, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c “OFFICIAL BOX SCORE - Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama”. (PDF; 24 kB) indycar.com, May 9, 2013, accessed on May 9, 2013 (English).
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