2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore

The 2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore, the third running of the event, was an IndyCar Series race held on September 1, 2013 on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland. The race was the sixteenth of the 2013 IndyCar Series season, and was the final running of the Grand Prix of Baltimore.^[2] Scott Dixon started on the pole position, while Simon Pagenaud of Sam Schmidt Motorsports won the race.

2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore

Race details
16th round of the 2013 IndyCar Series season
Date	September 1, 2013
Official name	Grand Prix of Baltimore
Location	Baltimore, Maryland
Course	Temporary street circuit 2.040 mi / 3.283 km
Distance	75 laps 153.000 mi / 246.225 km
Weather	Temperatures up to 91.9 °F (33.3 °C) with calm winds reported throughout the day[1]
Pole position
Driver	Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	1:18.0838
Driver
Podium
First	Simon Pagenaud (Sam Schmidt Motorsports)
Second	Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing)
Third	Sebastian Bourdais (Dragon Racing)

Background

The previous race in the season, the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, was won by Will Power.^[3] The winner of the previous race was Ryan Hunter-Reay.^[4]

In the season, James Hinchcliffe^[5][6] and Scott Dixon^[7][8] were tied for the most wins with three. In the points race, Hélio Castroneves held the points lead with 479 points, followed by Dixon (440), Ryan Hunter-Reay (417), Marco Andretti (409), and Simon Pagenaud (380) rounded out the top five.^[9]

Qualifying

Scott Dixon won the pole position with a lap time of 1:18.0838^[10] and lap speed of 94.053 miles per hour (151.364 km/h) for his second pole of the year,^[11] becoming 14th all-time among IndyCar Series drivers for career poles, passing Danny Sullivan and drawing with Gordon Johncock.^[10] Will Power (94.013 miles per hour (151.299 km/h)), Simon Pagenaud (93.637 miles per hour (150.694 km/h)), Justin Wilson (93.115 miles per hour (149.854 km/h)) and Josef Newgarden (93.077 miles per hour (149.793 km/h)) filled out the top five starting spots. Tristan Vautier (92.917 miles per hour (149.535 km/h)), Hélio Castroneves (92.928 miles per hour (149.553 km/h)), Ryan Hunter-Reay (92.919 miles per hour (149.539 km/h)), Charlie Kimball (92.901 miles per hour (149.510 km/h)), and Takuma Sato (92.702 miles per hour (149.189 km/h)) filled out the bottom half of the top ten.^[11]

Race

The race was marred by six cautions, five of which took place between laps 41 and 65, the lone exception occurring on lap 13 with Ed Carpenter's car stopping in turn 5 and Luca Filippi leaving the track in turn 3 due to a fire in the engine compartment. On lap 41, Stefan Wilson hit the turn 7 wall, while seven laps later, Scott Dixon was spun by Graham Rahal in turn 1. Five laps later, Will Power collided with Dixon and was sent spinning into the wall, and four laps later, Oriol Servia and Sebastian Bourdais also touched, and the latter was turned. On lap 63, six cars were involved in an accident.^[12][13] Also during the race, Hélio Castroneves was black-flagged for a safety violation.^[14] Meanwhile, Simon Pagenaud was able to take the lead and hold off Josef Newgarden to win with a four-second advantage, his second victory of the year.^[15] Bourdais finished third, Justin Wilson and Simona de Silvestro closed out the top five; Charlie Kimball, James Hinchcliffe, Sebastián Saavedra, Castroneves and Marco Andretti rounded out the top ten.^[13]

After the race, Castroneves continued to lead the points standings with 501 points. Dixon was 49 points behind with 452, while Pagenaud took third with 431. Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay were in fourth and fifth with 430 and 427 points, respectively. Wilson (393), Dario Franchitti (388), Hinchcliffe (376), Will Power (371), and Kimball (363) finished the top ten in points.^[13]