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2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships
Motor car race From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships[2] was the 15th and final showdown of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The event took place on September 15, at the 2.000-mile (3.219 km) Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It was the first IndyCar race at this facility since 2005, the first 500-mile open-wheel race outside Indianapolis since the CART-sanctioned 2002 The 500 at Fontana (the planned 2003 CART race was canceled due to wildfires in the area), and the first 500-mile IndyCar Series race outside Indianapolis.[3]
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The race, originally scheduled for 400 miles (200 laps), as was the case for the 2002–05 IndyCar races at Auto Club Speedway, reverted to the classic 500 mile, 250-lap distance used at the Ontario Motor Speedway for major races and both the six CART FedEx Championship Series races (1997–2002) and the first 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup races (1997–2010) held at Auto Club Speedway. Attendance at the event was estimated to be 25,000 to 30,000 people.[4]
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Background
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The MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships was the 15th and final round of the 2012 IndyCar Series and was held at Auto Club Speedway, a four-turn 2 mi (3.2 km) tri-oval circuit with 14-degree banking in the turns, 11-degree banking in the front stretch, and 3-degree banking in the back stretch, in Fontana, California, United States on September 15, 2012.[5][6] The race was first announced by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard and track president Gillian Zucker in July 2011 and marked IndyCar's first race at the track since 2005.[7] While initially scheduled to be 400 miles (640 km),[8] the race was later lengthened to its original distance of 500 miles (800 km) and 250 laps, becoming the first 500-mile American open-wheel car race outside of the Indianapolis 500 since the 2002 The 500.[9][10][11]
Heading into the race, Will Power held the lead in the Drivers' Championship with 453 points, while Ryan Hunter-Reay stood second on 436. Hélio Castroneves was third with 401 points, one more than Scott Dixon in fourth and 29 more than Simon Pagenaud in fifth.[12] Power and Hunter-Reay were the only drivers who had a mathematical shot of winning the championship; Power would be able to clinch the title if he won or finished second, while Hunter-Reay's most direct scenario of securing the championship was if he earned the maximum of 53 points and Power finished fourth or worse.[13] Chevrolet had already clinched the Manufacturers' Championship in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma and led with 114 points, ahead of Honda on 96 and Lotus with 56.[14][15]
IndyCar mandated a new aerodynamic package that was utilized in this race and that year's Indianapolis 500.[16] Each car was required to feature rear-wheel guards, a rear-wing mainplane, and rear-wing end caps in order to dematerialize drag and create more downforce. Unlike the Indianapolis 500, the rear-wing wicker bill was removed from every car.[17] Eight drivers tested the new package at Auto Club Speedway on September 6,[18] and Dario Franchitti topped the speed charts at 216.7 mph (348.7 km/h).[19] Dixon's lap of 215.861 mph (347.395 km/h) was fastest of the 22 drivers who participated in an eight-hour testing session at the track on September 12. Hunter-Reay, E. J. Viso, and Ryan Briscoe were all involved in separate crashes during the session.[20]
One driver change occurred between the 26 cars that were entered for the race. Mike Conway of A. J. Foyt Racing was uncomfortable with racing on oval tracks and opted to sit out of the MAVTV 500; he was replaced by 2005 Infiniti Pro Series champion Wade Cunningham.[21] Conway suffered injuries to his legs and back in a crash during the 2010 Indianapolis 500, and the IndyCar community remained uneased by high-speed oval racing in the aftermath of Dan Wheldon's death at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the year prior.[22] Many drivers supported Conway's decision to back out of the race, with Tony Kanaan calling it "the most sincere thing a race-car driver has ever said."[23]
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Practice and qualifying
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Two practice sessions on Friday preceded the race on Saturday. The first lasted for 90 minutes and the second for 45 minutes.[24] Briscoe led the first practice session on Friday afternoon with a time of 33.1008 seconds, beating second-quickest driver Ed Carpenter by eight hundredths of a second.[25] Franchitti was third-quickest, ahead of Power and Castroneves.[26] The session featured two stoppages for debris and one for Justin Wilson crashing into the turn-one SAFER barrier.[27]
During the qualifying session later that day, each driver was required to complete two timed laps and the cumulative time of those laps would determine their starting position.[28] Amidst gusty and humid conditions, Marco Andretti earned his second career pole position and his first since the 2008 ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225 with a time of 1 minute and 6.6455 seconds.[24][29] He was joined on the grid's front row by Briscoe, whose laps were 0.0032 seconds slower than Andretti's.[30] Power qualified third,[31] but was assessed a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change (his sixth of the season) along with Josef Newgarden, Dixon, Alex Tagliani, Castroneves, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe, Pagenaud, Takuma Sato, Hunter-Reay, Charlie Kimball, Cunningham, Wilson, and Simona de Silvestro,[32] the latter two of whom did not make qualifying attempts because of Wilson's crash and de Silvestro's failing engine in the first practice session.[31] With the penalties imposed, Kanaan was bumped up to third place, with J. R. Hildebrand in fourth and Carpenter in fifth. Rubens Barrichello, Katherine Legge, Oriol Servià, Franchitti, Sebastián Saavedra, Viso, and James Jakes occupied the next seven positions, ahead of the 14 penalized drivers.[33]
In the second practice session on Friday evening, Carpenter set the fastest time at 33.3691 seconds, ahead of Castroneves, Briscoe, Kanaan, and Newgarden.[34][35] Cunningham slammed the wall in turn two with five minutes remaining in the session, though he was uninjured.[35][36]
Qualifying classification
- Notes
- ^1 – Will Power, Alex Tagliani, Hélio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud, and Ryan Hunter-Reay were issued a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding their exceeding their quota of five engine components for the season. Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Charlie Kimball, Wade Cunningham, Justin Wilson, and Simona de Silvestro were issued a ten-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.[32]
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Race
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Weather conditions at the start of the race were clear and muggy,[37] with air temperatures at 98 °F (37 °C) and track temperatures at 113 °F (45 °C).[1] Approximately 25,000 people attended the race.[38] Actress Melora Hardin of The Office sang the national anthem and Dish Network general manager Nate Block commanded the drivers to start their engines.[1][39] The green flag was waved at 5:50 PM PDT (UTC−07:00) to begin the race.[40] Kanaan drove to Andretti's right side and passed him to take the lead on lap 1. Andretti reclaimed the position a lap later, but again lost the lead to Hildebrand on the third lap. Hildebrand and Andretti remained alongside each other until Hildebrand pulled ahead on lap 6. Over the next 25 laps, Hildebrand grew his lead over Andretti to 3.6 seconds. The first round of green-flag pit stops commenced on lap 31 with Andretti making a stop; Hildebrand entered pit road five laps later, handing the lead to Briscoe for two laps. Sato led before he made a stop on the 40th lap, and after Newgarden made his stop a lap later, Hildebrand regained the lead.[1]
On lap 56,[6] Power engaged in a battle with fellow championship frontrunner Hunter-Reay for 12th place when his car suddenly spun backwards into the wall in turn two, prompting the first caution flag of the race.[41][42] Hunter-Reay barely escaped the incident without damage, though he still wasn't assured to win the championship.[43] All the leaders elected to make pit stops under the caution period. Hildebrand led the field back up to speed at the restart on lap 65, followed by Carpenter and Barrichello. Carpenter drove to the inside line and overtook Hildebrand a lap later.[1] On the 74th lap, Hildebrand lost control of his car as he chased Carpenter for the lead and nudged the turn-two wall with his right-rear tire, triggering the second caution.[44] Most of the leaders made stops during the caution for fresh tires and fuel.[1] As the drivers prepared for the upcoming restart, Legge hit the rear of Wilson's car and spun him out in the third turn on lap 81, lengthening the caution period.[45] Jakes remained on the track and led at the lap-85 restart, though he was quickly passed by Carpenter and Dixon in turn three a lap later.[1]
Race classification
- Notes
1 Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.
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References
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