Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana 2015

Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana 2015

Racing data
2nd of 16 races of the IndyCar Series 2015
Surname:	Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana
Date:	April 12, 2015
Place:	Avondale , Louisiana , United States
Course:	NOLA Motorsports Park
Length:	207.252 km in 47 laps of 4.41 km
Planned:	330.732 km in 75 laps of 4.41 km
Pole position
Driver:	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske
Time:	Entrant points min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
Time:	1: 28.5583 min (lap 40)
Podium
First:	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Second:	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske
Third:	James Jakes	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

The 2015 Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana took place on April 12th at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale , Louisiana , United States and was the second race of the 2015 IndyCar Series .

Reports

background

After the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg , Juan Pablo Montoya led the drivers' standings with seven points ahead of Will Power and with 16 points ahead of Tony Kanaan .

There were no changes in the starting field. Simona de Silvestro and Sage Karam , who originally only had a contract for the season opener, stayed with their teams.

After many parts of the aero kits broke off when touched at the season opener in St. Petersburg, Chevrolet and Honda improved their aero kits. Chevrolet reinforced the bracket for the upper front wing elements. Honda also reinforced the rear wheel trim.

The Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana was held for the first time in 2015 and it was also the first IndyCar race at NOLA Motorsports Park . In winter, however, IndyCar test drives took place on this route.

training

The first training session on Friday lasted 90 minutes. Kanaan was the fastest driver ahead of Power and Scott Dixon . The training was interrupted six times. Jack Hawksworth stopped with a technical problem. Carlos Huertas turned once, Francesco Dracone turned twice. The other two red flags were also triggered by spins. The first eight positions were occupied by Chevrolet drivers. James Hinchcliffe was the best Honda rider in ninth place.

The second training session was postponed one hour after heavy rain and water on the track. Except for test laps, the drivers only took to the track in the last 10 minutes, which did not allow lap times as fast as in the first practice session. Power was the fastest ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud . Only 18 of the 24 drivers set a time.

The third training session on Saturday lasted 45 minutes. Dixon set the fastest time ahead of Pagenaud and Gabby Chaves . Training started 15 minutes later because of a telemetry problem. The training was briefly interrupted twice after turning by Kanaan and Hinchcliffe.

Qualifying

Qualifying started with the first section according to the usual qualifying system for road courses in two groups. The first six of each group qualified for the second section. The qualifying took place under heavy rain. In the first group, Kanaan was the fastest after Sébastien Bourdais had the best laps canceled for blocking. Josef Newgarden achieved the best time in the second group . The qualifying of the second group was canceled after the start of thunderstorms.

As the rain was getting heavier, the race management decided not to continue qualifying. The starting line-up was therefore awarded according to the entrant points. Above all, Montoya benefited from this, who was originally eliminated in the first section and has now taken pole position . Power came second, Kanaan third.

Final training

The final training session on Sunday morning was canceled due to heavy rain.

run

Due to heavy rain, the start of the race was moved an hour forward.

Montoya dominated the early stages of the race on a wet track before power. All drivers used rain tires at the beginning. As the track dried up, the drivers began to switch to slicks from the eleventh lap. In some places, however, the track was still wet. Montoya lost the lead for one lap to Hélio Castroneves , but was back in front of Power after the pit stops. The eventual winner Hinchcliffe made his only stop in this race phase on lap 13. On lap 15, Kanaan slipped off the track, but made it back onto the track on his own. A moment later, Chaves spun and stalled the engine. This triggered the first of six yellow phases.

At the restart there was a contact between Castroneves and the lapped Dracone. Castroneves damaged the front wing. He fell back to the end of the field after a repair stop. In the restart round, Hawksworth also had an accident, who was eliminated and triggered a yellow phase. At the restart that followed, Stefano Coletti spun spectacularly on the start-finish straight and triggered another yellow phase. Coletti was able to continue and pitted for a repair stop. In the yellow phase, Dracone pitted and met a mechanic from his pit team. This was injured in the leg. Dracone gave up the race. He was subsequently fined in the amount of 10,000 US dollars occupied and probation for six races.

Shortly after the next restart, Karam rode out, so that another yellow phase was called. Most of the drivers pitted in this. Only Hinchcliffe, Castroneves, James Jakes , Kanaan and de Silvestro fell by the wayside. The five drivers thus led the race ahead of Montoya and Power. During the yellow phase, Huertas turned so that the restart was delayed. Karam triggered another yellow phase with a spinner for the rest of the food.

The race was opened for the last time on the 43rd lap. De Silvestro and Montoya passed Kanaan. In midfield there was a collision with three vehicles, which triggered a yellow phase. Pagenaud and Hunter-Reay drove through the third corner together. Hunter-Reay and Pagenaud touched and Hunter-Reay pushed Pagenaud off the track. Pagenaud lost control of his vehicle on the wet lawn and collided with Hunter-Reay and Bourdais, who eventually all turned into the meadow. The race management saw the blame for this accident on Hunter-Reay and deducted three points in the drivers' standings because of avoidable contact. In addition, Hunter-Reay was given a suspended sentence for three races.

The race was finally ended prematurely under yellow flags after reaching the 105-minute time limit. The winner Hinchcliffe rolled out on the run-out lap without petrol. It was Hinchcliffe's first win for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the IndyCar Series. Castroneves and Jakes completed the podium. De Silvestro was fourth ahead of Montoya and Kanaan. Power, Graham Rahal , Newgarden and Luca Filippi took the remaining places in the top 10.

In the championship, Montoya kept the lead. Castroneves took second place, displacing his teammate Power to third. Hinchcliffe improved from 16th to fourth place with the victory.

Registration list

All teams and drivers used the Dallara DW12 chassis and Firestone tires .

team	No.	driver	Aero kit / engine
Verizon Team Penske	01	Will power	Chevrolet
Team Penske	02	Juan Pablo Montoya
	03	Helio Castroneves
	22nd	Simon Pagenaud
KV Racing Technology	04th	Stefano Coletti	Chevrolet
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	05	James Hinchcliffe	Honda
	07th	James Jakes
Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	08th	Say Karam	Chevrolet
	09	Scott Dixon
	10	Tony Kanaan
	83	Charlie Kimball
KVSH Racing	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Chevrolet
AJ Foyt Enterprises	14th	Takuma Satō	Honda
	41	Jack Hawksworth
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15th	Graham Rahal	Honda
Dale Coyne Racing	18th	Carlos Huertas	Honda
	19th	Francesco Dracone
CFH Racing	20th	Luca Filippi	Chevrolet
	67	Josef Newgarden
Andretti Autosport	25th	Simona de Silvestro	Honda
	26th	Carlos Muñoz
	27	Marco Andretti
	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay
BHA with Curb Agajanian	98	Gabby Chaves	Honda

Source:

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	team	vehicle	Entrant points	begin
01	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	51	01
02	Will power	Verizon Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	44	02
03	Tony Kanaan	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	35	03
04th	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	33	04th
05	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	31	05
06th	Sébastien Bourdais	KVSH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	28	06th
07th	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	26th	07th
08th	Jack Hawksworth	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	25th	08th
09	Luca Filippi	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	22nd	09
10	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	20th	10
11	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Dallara - Honda	19th	11
12	Josef Newgarden	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	18th	12
13	Takuma Satō	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	17th	13
14th	Carlos Muñoz	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	16	14th
15th	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	15th	15th
16	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	14th	16
17th	Gabby Chaves	BHA with Curb Agajanian	Dallara - Honda	13	17th
18th	Simona de Silvestro	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	12	18th
19th	Say Karam	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	11	19th
20th	Stefano Coletti	KV Racing Technology	Dallara - Chevrolet	10	20th
21st	Charlie Kimball	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	9	21st
22nd	James Jakes	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	8th	22nd
23	Francesco Dracone	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	7th	23
24	Carlos Huertas	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	6th	24

Swell:

run

Item	driver	team	vehicle	Round	time	begin	Leadership laps
01	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	47	1: 47: 19.4896	16	15th
02	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 0.4279	04th	01
03	James Jakes	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	47	+ 0.8452	22nd	00
04th	Simona de Silvestro	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	47	+ 1.2924	18th	00
05	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 1.7564	01	31
06th	Tony Kanaan	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 2.2638	03	00
07th	Will power	Verizon Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 3.0958	02	00
08th	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Dallara - Honda	47	+ 4.3495	11	00
09	Josef Newgarden	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 5.7352	12	00
10	Luca Filippi	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 7.2115	09	00
11	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 7.8421	15th	00
12	Carlos Muñoz	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	47	+ 9.0899	14th	00
13	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	47	+ 9.7817	10	00
14th	Charlie Kimball	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	47	+ 15.7221	21st	00
15th	Gabby Chaves	BHA with Curb Agajanian	Dallara - Honda	46	+ 1 lap	17th	00
16	Carlos Huertas	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	46	+ 1 lap	24	00
17th	Stefano Coletti	KV Racing Technology	Dallara - Chevrolet	44	+ 3 rounds	20th	00
18th	Say Karam	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	44	+ 3 rounds	19th	00
19th	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	43	DNF	07th	00
20th	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	43	DNF	05	00
21st	Sébastien Bourdais	KVSH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	43	DNF	06th	00
22nd	Takuma Satō	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	39	DNF	13	00
23	Francesco Dracone	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	23	DNF	23	00
24	Jack Hawksworth	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	19th	DNF	08th	00

Swell:

Guide sections

section	Round	driver
1	1-13	Juan Pablo Montoya
2	14th	Helio Castroneves
3	15-32	Juan Pablo Montoya
4th	33-47	James Hinchcliffe

Swell:

Yellow phases

No.	Duration	Round	Reason for yellow phase
1	16-19	4th	Standstill: Gabby Chaves (# 98) in turn 4
2	21-26	6th	Contact: Jack Hawksworth (# 41) on turn 13
3	28-30	3	Contact: Stefano Coletti (# 4) on the start-finish straight
4th	32-38	7th	Ride: Sage Karam (# 8) in turn 5
5	41-42	2	Spin: Sage Karam (# 8) in turn 13
6th	44-47	4th	Contact: Sébastien Bourdais (# 11), Simon Pagenaud (# 22) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (# 28) in turn 3

Swell:

Score after the race

Driver ranking

The allocation of points is explained here .

Item driver Points 01.  Juan Pablo Montoya 84 02.  Helio Castroneves 74 03.  Will power 70 04th  James Hinchcliffe 65 05.  Tony Kanaan 63 06th  Simona de Silvestro 44 07th  James Jakes 43 08th.  Graham Rahal 43

Item driver Points 09.  Luca Filippi 42 10.  Simon Pagenaud 41 11.  Josef Newgarden 40 12.  Sébastien Bourdais 37 13.  Marco Andretti 37 14th  Ryan Hunter-Reay 34 15th  Scott Dixon 34 16.  Carlos Muñoz 34

Item driver Points 17th  Jack Hawksworth 31 18th  Gabby Chaves 28 19th  Takuma Satō 25th 20th  Charlie Kimball 25th 21st  Stefano Coletti 23 22nd  Say Karam 23 23.  Carlos Huertas 20th 24.  Francesco Dracone 14th

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dave Lewandowski: De Silvestro, Karam to compete in NOLA race. indycar.com, April 7, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: New Orleans: Also Chevrolet with a modified aero kit. Motorsport-Total.com, April 9, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: After wing salad in St. Pete: Honda improves the aero kit. Motorsport-Total.com, April 8, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: New Aero Parts: Derrick Walker expects immediate improvement. Motorsport-Total.com, April 10, 2015, accessed on September 11, 2015 . 
5. ^ Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - Results of Session - Practice 1. imscdn.com, April 10, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Dave Lewandowski: Kanaan sets pace on first day at NOLA road course. indycar.com, April 10, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
7. ^ ^{A b c} Mario Fritzsche: First day of training in New Orleans: Tony Kanaan with the best time. Motorsport-Total.com, April 11, 2015, accessed on September 11, 2015 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Mark Glendenning: NOLA IndyCar: Tony Kanaan leads first practice for Ganassi. autosport.com, April 10, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
9. ^ Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - Results of Session - Practice 2. imscdn.com, April 10, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Mark Glendenning: NOLA IndyCar: Will Power and Penske lead rain-hit session. autosport.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
11. ^ Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - Results of Session - Practice 3. imscdn.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
12. ^ Mark Glendenning: NOLA IndyCar: Scott Dixon leads practice three for Ganassi. autosport.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
13. ^ Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - Unofficial Results of Session - Qualifications - Round 1 / Group 1. imscdn.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
14. ↑ Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - Unofficial Results of Session - Qualifications - Round 1 / Group 2. imscdn.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
15. ^ Mark Robinson: Mother Nature wins afternoon; Montoya to start on pole. indycar.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
16. ↑ Pete Fink: New Orleans: Montoya gets the rain pole. Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
17. ↑ Mark Glendenning: NOLA IndyCar: Juan Pablo Montoya on pole as storm stops qualifying. autosport.com, April 11, 2015, accessed September 11, 2015 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b} Pete Fink: New Orleans: Warmup canceled - race one hour earlier. Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2015, accessed September 19, 2015 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Pete Fink: James Hinchcliffe wins in the New Orleans chaos. Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2015, accessed September 19, 2015 . 
20. ^ ^{A b c} Mark Robinson: James Hinchcliffe Wins Inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana. indycar.com, April 12, 2015, accessed September 21, 2015 . 
21. ↑ ^{a b} Mark Glendenning: NOLA IndyCar: Schmidt's James Hinchcliffe wins with strategy gamble. autosport.com, April 12, 2015, accessed September 21, 2015 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b} Pete Fink: Three penalties to New Orleans. Motorsport-Total.com, April 15, 2015, accessed on September 21, 2015 . 
23. ^ "Entry List - Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana". (PDF) indycar.com, April 7, 2015, accessed May 21, 2015 (English). 
24. ^ Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - QUALIFYING RESULTS. (PDF) indycar.com, April 11, 2015, accessed May 22, 2015 . 
25. ↑ ^{a b c} “OFFICIAL BOX SCORE - Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana”. (PDF) indycar.com, April 12, 2015, accessed on August 31, 2015 . 
26. ^ "Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana - Unofficial Lap Report". (PDF) indycar.com, April 12, 2015, accessed on August 31, 2015 .