Tag Archives: Ryan Hunter Reay

News, Politics, Government

Kiwi Dixon sweeps Toronto races

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New Zealand’s Scott Dixon dominated to post a weekend sweep of a pair of races on Toronto’s IndyCar street circuit.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a dominant day,” said Dixon. “I’m just happy for the team.”

Dixon, who was born in Brisbane, Australia but grew up in Auckland, earned a $100,000 bonus for victories in both races at this 1.75- mile, 11-turn street circuit.

Dixon, who won last weekend’s race in Pocono, captured his third victory in a row and 32nd career title.

Prior to Pocono, Dixon was fifth in the points race, trailing leader Helio Castroneves by 92 points. He is now just 29 points back of the Brazilian leader.

“It’s quite a turnaround in a couple of weeks, and I hope we can keep it going,” Dixon noted.

Dixon won the pole for race two on Saturday morning and then the Chip Ganassi Racing driver took the checkered flag for first race later that day.

He led 81 of 85 laps in Sunday’s second race. Dixon relinquished the lead only during a round of pit stops in the early going. Team Penske teammates Castroneves and Will Power led a pair of laps each.

A caution for an incident involving Ed Carpenter set the stage for a two-lap sprint to the finish.

After the final restart, Dixon pulled ahead of Castroneves. Then an smash involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato — following the restart — forced the race to end under caution.

The race was caution-free until lap 65 when James Jakes hit a tire barrier.

Castroneves placed second, while Sebastien Bourdais, of France, posted his second straight podium finish with a third-place finish. Bourdais was runner-up to Dixon in Saturday’s first race.

“When you have a good car, it’s awesome,” Bourdais said. “I scored as many points (in Toronto this weekend) than I’ve scored all season.”

Dario Franchitti grabbed fourth place, while E.J. Viso rounded out the top five.

Charlie Kimball was sixth, followed by Mike Conway in seventh then Justin Wilson, Marco Andretti and Alex Tagliani.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Dixon wins race one in Toronto

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Kiwi Scott Dixon held off Sebastien Bourdais to capture the first race of a IndyCar Series weekend doubleheader over the streets of Toronto.

Dixon, who led a total of 14 laps in race one, seized the lead from Bourdais with eight laps left in the race.

Alex Tagliani was involved in an incident late in the race which resulted in a caution and set the stage for a two-lap sprint to the finish.

Following the restart, Dixon grabbed the lead from Bourdais and won the race by less than two seconds.

Earlier in the day, Dixon won the pole position for the second Toronto race, which is scheduled for Sunday.

“These doubleheaders are tough,” said Dixon. “We got through race one. Just a crazy day. This is what we need to get the momentum going.”

Dixon’s win comes six days after he scored his first win of the season at Pocono Raceway.

It also marked his 31st career victory placing him in a tie with his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti, as well as Paul Tracy and Bourdais for seventh on the all-time Indy car race winner list.

It’s the first time Dixon has posted consecutive wins in the series since 2008 at Edmonton, Alberta and Kentucky.

“For us, it feels like a win today,” said Bourdais, of France. “We fought hard all day, took the lead. A little surprised, but just super happy for the crew. I couldn’t be any happier to finally get on that podium.”

Franchitti crossed the finish line in third, but officials initially ruled that he blocked Will Power on the final lap. He was slapped with a 25-second penalty which dropped him to 13th.

Franchitti protested the penalty. Officials then reinstated his third- place finish after a review.

“There wasn’t any blocking,” Franchitti said. “Basically, you can’t make a move in reaction to another car. I didn’t make a move in reaction to another car. I’d gone to the inside.

Meanwhile, IndyCar officials have also placed driver Takuma Sato on probation for the next five races as a result of his actions during last Sunday’s Pocono Raceway event.

Sato violated Rule 9.3.1.1, which states “a driver must not engage in reckless, careless and/or overly aggressive actions or unsportsmanlike behavior toward other members,” when his car made contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay’s car while entering pit lane on Lap 61.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

Automobiles

2013 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Wrap-Up and Mega Gallery

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By John Lamm

There was a time when the 24-hour sports-car race at Daytona International Speedway was something of an oddity. We loved it for being the first serious race of the year, but it also was like the poor step child of the Daytona 500. The crowds were okay, but not crushing. Not anymore. These days the infield is crammed with fans, the grid walk before the start a mass of well-wishers straining to see the likes of Dario Franchitti or Juan Pablo Montoya. The 2013 entry list ran to 57 race cars in three classes: the Daytona Prototypes running for the overall win, 34 GTs ready to duke it out, plus a small-but-new class, the GX cars.

Top dogs were, of course, the DP cars, which are not only fast and wonderfully noisy, but have a driver’s list that includes not just Grand-Am heroes like Scott Pruett and Alex Gurney, but some from IndyCars—Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Paul Tracy, and newly-crowned champ Ryan Hunter-Reay—and NASCAR’s Montoya, Jamie McMurray, and Marcos Ambrose.

Cool, but what also makes you smile are the GTs, the cars we often hunger after for the road. Porsche once owned this class—and there were 18 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars entered this year—but now Audi and Ferrari have stepped up with their R8 Grand-Ams and 458s. Throw in a handful of Corvettes, a Viper, a Camaro, a pair of BMW M3s, and a hangover Mazda RX-8, all crowding each other, and it’s gotta make you smile.

Then there were the six GX machines, a fledgling class meant to draw new technology, which it did with the three Mazda 6s and their Skyactiv-D turbo-diesel engines. There also was a trio of Porsche Caymans, one—seen above—painted in the same colors and scheme as the Psychedelic Hippie 917L from the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Throw in that crowded infield with its Ferris wheel and fireworks and it’s quite an all-night party with decided overtones of wood smoke, barbecue, and beer.

So who were the winners? Chip Ganassi’s team did it again, Pruett taking his fifth win, tying the legendary Hurley Haywood for most all time. Pruett’s teammates were Montoya, Dixon, Charlie Kimball, and Memo Rojas. Audi finished one-two in GT, the leading team being Filipe Albuquerque, Dion von Moltke, Oliver Jarvis, and Edoardo Mortara. Porsche took the GX win thanks to David Donohue, Jim Norman, Shane Lewis, and Nelson Canache in the Psychedelic Hippie Cayman.

Next year’s party promises to be even better with the integration of Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series. Come to think of it, the infield at Daytona would make for a legendary Super Bowl party.

24 Hours of Daytona Race Recap

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver