Round 5: GMR Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. May 13-15.
On October 1, 2013, after a feasibility test in September, it was announced that an IndyCar race for 2014 would be held on the GP Circuit, either as a "doubleheader" event in May prior to the Indy 500, or as a stand-alone race in the fall. Up until the announcement IndyCar hadn't raced on the GP Circuit, though Indy Lights had four times.
The inaugural race was held on May 10, 2014 and was won by Simon Pagenaud, driving a Dallara DW12- Honda HI14RTT for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The race featured a standing start, which was not without incident, when Pole sitter Sebastián Saavedra stalled as the lights went out and his car was hit by Carlos Munoz's and Mikhail Aleshin's cars, showering the track with carbon-fibre and forcing a restart.
It was decided that from 2015 onwards the race would have a conventional rolling start. However despite that, the start of each race has barely been without a major incident, the exceptions being 2017 and last year, though in 2019 there was a coming together with O'Ward and Rossi, with Rossi sustaining some damage, forcing him to pit early.
Some trivia:
Driver with the most wins:
Simon Pagenaud, 2014, 2016, 2019
Will Power, 2015, 2017, 2018.
Team with the most wins:
Team Penske, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Track layout:
The track is a modified version of the circuit previously used for the F1 United States Grand Prix, which was held from 2000 to 2007 and by Moto GP from 2008 to 2015. The race is run clockwise, the opposite direction to the Indianapolis 500.
F1 GP Course, 2000-2007:
IndyCar Road Course
Length:
2.439 Miles (3.925 Km)
Turns: 14
Lap record:
Will Power, May 12, 2017. 1:07.704, 129.69 mph (208.44 km/h).
Team Penske, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6.
Verizon IndyCar Series.
Previous race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...aign=widget-22
Pole:
Will Power, 1:10.1779, 125.116 mph ( 201.355 km/h)
Team Penske,
Dallara IR18- Chevy V6 Indy
Winner:
Scott Dixon,
Chip Ganassi Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI20R Indy-V-6
Laps: 80
Distance: 195.12 Miles / 314.02 km
Race Time: 1:41:59.3232
Average Speed: 114.789 mph (184.735 km/h)
Fastest Lap: Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, lap 49. 1:11.75, 122.373 mph, (196.940 km/h)
Caution periods: 1
Laps: 4, 36-39
Race broadcast:
NBC, 14 May, 2:00pm ET. 7:00pm BST, 6:00pm UTC
Sky Sports F1, 7:30pm BST