2016 Kohler Grand Prix

2016 Road America
Race details
9th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season
Date June 26, 2016
Official name Kohler Grand Prix
Location Road America
Course Permanent racing facility
4.048 mi / 6.515 km
Distance 50 laps
202.4 mi / 325.75 km
Pole position
Driver Will Power (Team Penske)
Time 1:42.2105
Fastest lap
Driver Max Chilton (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time 1:44.1196 (on lap 45 of 50)
Podium
First Will Power (Team Penske)
Second Tony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Third Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing)

The 2016 Kohler Grand Prix was the 9th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. The event took place over 50 laps around Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race was the first for IndyCars at the circuit since 2007 during the final season of the ChampCar World Series. It was the 26th time that the circuit had been used for IndyCar racing.

Prior to the race weekend, doubts surrounded whether Josef Newgarden would be able to race due to injuries sustained during the 2016 Firestone 600. However, he was cleared by doctors to participate in opening practice and, later, for all sessions of the grand prix.[1] In qualifying, Will Power went fastest, setting a time of 1:42.2105 to beat out Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Championship leader Simon Pagenaud qualified fourth. Josef Newgarden and James Hinchcliffe both lost their two fastest times of their sessions, Newgarden for bringing out a red flag after spinning in turn 9 and Hinchcliffe for impeding the laps of Juan Pablo Montoya and Alexander Rossi. They started 20th and 22nd respectively.[2][3]

At the start of the race, the first four positions remained as they qualified, while Graham Rahal moved up into fifth. In the rear of the field, Jack Hawksworth spun in turn five, moving him to the back of the field. Sébastien Bourdais came into the pits with damage to the rear wing assembly at the end of the first lap, putting him a lap down and ending his chances of taking victory. On lap 7, Scott Dixon pulled off course and rolled to a halt in turn five with engine failure, leaving him with a last place finish. With Dixon gone, Will Power was free to extend his lead over Tony Kanaan before the first round of pit stops. At the first round of stops, Power easily emerged back in the lead, but Kanaan was challenged by Graham Rahal for second place. The running order remained largely the same through the second round of pit stops, though Rahal would briefly pull into second after a quick pit stop before Kanaan passed him again later in the lap. However, both would fall back as Simon Pagenaud, on red tires, charged past both to move into second. As the race approached lap 40, the last round of pit stops came, with the running order remaining Power, Pagenaud, Kanaan, Rahal.

On lap 40, the race's only caution period came out after the rear suspension on Conor Daly's car failed, sending him off course and into the wall in turn one. This bunched the field up for a shootout to the end of the race. On the restart on lap 44, Power held his lead, while Tony Kanaan moved past Simon Pagenaud into second. In a repeat of the Indianapolis 500, Pagenaud reported that his engine had developed a misfire, causing him to drop quickly down the running order. At the front of the race, Kanaan was able to close the gap to Power down to only half a second by the final lap. However, Power had conserved most of his push-to-pass presses, allowing him to use them for most of the final lap and hold of Kanaan for the victory. Power's win was his second consecutive win and his 27th career victory, tying him for 13th with Johnny Rutherford for most career IndyCar victories. The victory also put Power in serious contention for the championship despite missing the first race of the season. Kanaan's second was his first podium finish since the previous season's race at Auto Club Speedway. Graham Rahal completed the podium as the highest finishing Honda driver in the race. Pagenaud's engine issue plummeted him all the way down the order to 13th, turning what seemed like a huge points day with Scott Dixon's engine failure into only a small gain. The highest finishing rookie of the race was Spencer Pigot, who came across the line in ninth.[4][5][6] Josef Newgarden, despite his injuries, managed to finish in eighth place.[7]

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Pos No. Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
1 12 Australia Will Power 2 1:44.0025 1:42.4430 1:42.2105
2 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon 1 1:42.4888 1:42.1451 1:42.3759
3 10 Brazil Tony Kanaan 2 1:43.5253 1:42.4093 1:42.7279
4 22 France Simon Pagenaud 2 1:44.2585 1:42.4142 1:42.8573
5 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 1 1:42.8944 1:42.5556 1:42.9449
6 15 United States Graham Rahal 1 1:43.1585 1:42.5540 1:43.7782
7 8 United Kingdom Max Chilton R 1 1:43.1957 1:42.7519
8 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 1:42.9735 1:42.8318
9 18 United States Conor Daly R 2 1:43.4693 1:43.1073
10 26 Colombia Carlos Muñoz 1 1:43.1519 1:43.2001
11 83 United States Charlie Kimball 2 1:43.7253 1:43.2649
12 11 France Sébastien Bourdais W 2 1:43.8669 1:43.3291
13 7 Russia Mikhail Aleshin 1 1:43.4024
14 2 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 2 1:44.3570
15 14 Japan Takuma Sato 1 1:43.5357
16 98 United States Alexander Rossi R 2 1:45.0840
17 20 United States Spencer Pigot R 1 1:43.6432
18 41 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth 2 1:45.5110
19 19 Colombia Gabby Chaves 1 1:43.6672
20 21 United States Josef Newgarden 2 4:19.1862
21 27 United States Marco Andretti 1 1:43.7289
22 5 Canada James Hinchcliffe 2 4:29.0408
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source for individual rounds:[8]

Race Results

Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Pts.1
1 12 Australia Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 50 1:39:10.3044 3 1 46 54
2 10 Brazil Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50 +0.7429 3 3 40
3 15 United States Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 50 +5.9608 3 6 2 36
4 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 50 +9.3597 3 8 32
5 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 50 +10.5340 3 5 30
6 83 United States Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50 +10.9966 3 11 28
7 2 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 50 +12.6191 3 14 26
8 21 United States Josef Newgarden Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 50 +13.8835 3 20 24
9 20 United States Spencer Pigot R Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 50 +15.7290 3 17 22
10 26 Colombia Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 50 +17.1132 3 10 20
11 41 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 50 +18.7152 4 18 19
12 27 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 50 +19.9030 4 21 18
13 22 France Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 50 +21.1530 3 4 2 18
14 5 Canada James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 50 +22.1333 4 22 16
15 98 United States Alexander Rossi R Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 50 +22.5908 4 16 15
16 7 Russia Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 50 +23.5531 3 13 14
17 14 Japan Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 50 +35.3665 5 15 13
18 11 France Sébastien Bourdais W KVSH Racing Chevrolet 49 +1 Lap 4 12 12
19 19 Colombia Gabby Chaves Dale Coyne Racing Honda 49 +1 Lap 6 19 11
20 8 United Kingdom Max Chilton R Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48 +2 Laps 3 7 10
21 18 United States Conor Daly R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 39 Contact 3 9 9
22 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 6 Mechanical 0 2 8
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Source for time gaps:[4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 France Simon Pagenaud 375
1 2 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 301
4 3 Australia Will Power 294
2 4 New Zealand Scott Dixon 285
1 5 United States Josef Newgarden 283

References

  1. "NEWGARDEN CLEARED TO PRACTICE AT ROAD AMERICA". IndyCar Series. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: INDYCAR. June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. Robinson, Mitch (June 25, 2016). "POWER TAKES VERIZON P1 AWARD AT ROAD AMERICA". IndyCar Series. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: INDYCAR. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. Malsher, David (June 25, 2016). "Power beats Dixon to take pole at Road America". Motorsport.com. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Malsher, David (June 26, 2016). "Power holds off charging Kanaan to win in Road America". Motorsport.com. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  5. Pruett, Marshall (June 26, 2016). "INDYCAR: Power holds off Kanaan at Road America". Racer.com. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  6. Robinson, Mitch (June 26, 2016). "POWER TAKES KOHLER GRAND PRIX VICTORY AT ROAD AMERICA". IndyCar Series. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: INDYCAR. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  7. Pruett, Marshall (June 26, 2016). "INDYCAR: Newgarden IronMan's his way to eighth". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  8. "Race Report: 2016 Kohler Grand Prix". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. June 21, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.

External links

Official Pit Stop Data

Official Race Broadcast

Previous race:
2016 Chevrolet Dual in Detroit
IndyCar Series
2016 season
Next race:
2016 Iowa Corn 300
Previous race:
2007 Generac Grand Prix
Kohler Grand Prix Next race:
2017 Kohler Grand Prix
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