Round 8: Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 10-12.
In 2016, after an eight year hiatus, the Kohler Grand Prix was the first major AOWR event to be held at Road America, since the Champ Car Generac Grand Prix of Road America on August 12, 2007, which was won by Sébastien Bourdais, driving for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, in a Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE. With the exception of 2005, when the race was dropped due to sponsorship issues, it was a perennial event on the CART/Champ Car calendar from 1982 - 2007. Héctor Rebaque won the innaugural Road America 200 on September 11, 1982, for Forsythe Racing in a March 82C-Ford Cosworth DFX.
With the unification of Champ Car and the IRL in 2008, the race was subsequently dropped. However, since 2016 Road America has been back on the racing calendar, even hosting a double-header in 2020 in order to bring the calendar up to a 17 race schedule, as a number of races had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The very first race to be held at Elkhart Lake was in 1950. It was organized by the Chicago Region and Milwaukee Region of The Sports Car Club of America. It was the first of three races from 1950 - 1952, which were held on courses layed out on public roads. However, after a fatal accident at Watkins Glen in 1952, it was decided to discontinue motor racing on all public roads and the event was moved to a private, purpose built road course.
The tracks history began, when highway engineer Clif Tufte, got together with the Chicago Region of the Sports Car Club of America, as well as local citizens, to develop and build a permanent racecourse. In October 1954, Road America, Inc. was formed with the members of the Chicago Region SCCA largely financing the project, which had an estimated cost of $175,000, through the sale of shres. In April 1955 a bulldozer broke ground and on September 10, 1955, Road America held its first SCCA national race weekend. Since then, the track has hosted many major American motorsport's series, including the American Le Mans Series, CART, NASCAR and the United States Road Racing Championship.
The track itself has undergone a number of upgrades, including the installation of gravel traps and the enlargement of run-off areas, particularly at Turn 1 and the removal of the bridge at Turn 13, at the end of 2006 season. Despite this the actual layout has hardly changed, apart from a chicane that was installed for AMA motorcycle competitors at The Kink.
Original track layout:
Current track layout:
Length: 4.048 miles (6.515 km)
Turns: 14
Lap record:
Dario Franchitti, August 19, 2000. 1:39.866, 145.924 mph (234.84 km/h).
Team Kool Green,
Reynard 2KI-Honda HRK.
CART FedEx Championship Series.
Some trivia:
The driver with the most wins: 3.
Mario Andretti: 1983, 1984, 1987.
Emerson Fittipaldi, 1986, 1988, 1982.
Michael Andretti: 1991, 1992, 1996.
The team with the most wins: 10.
Newman/Haas Racing: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007.
Last Year's Race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...issue/6590841/
Pole:
Joseph Newgarden, 1:46.0186, 136.301 mph (219.355 km/h).
Tean Penske,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6.
Winner:
Álex Palou
Chip Ganassi Racing.
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6.
Laps 55
Distance 222.64 Miles (358.30 km)
Race Time 1:50:55.0534
Speed 119.424 mph (192.194 km/h)
Fastest lap: Álex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing. Lap 43, 108.5653 sec, 133.103 mph (214.209 km/h)
Cautions 4
Laps: 16-18, 24-26, 35-38, 52-53.
Practice and Qualifications
Friday, Jun 10. Practice 1, 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ET
Saturday, Jun 11. Practice 2, 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM ET
Saturday, Jun 11. Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1, 1:45 PM - 1:55 PM ET
Saturday, Jun 11. Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2, 2:05 PM - 2:15 PM ET
Saturday, Jun 11. Qualifications - Round 2, 2:25 PM - 2:35 PM ET
Saturday, Jun 11. Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6, 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM ET
TV Broadcast
Sunday, Jun 12
NBC, IndyCar Live!, 12:35 PM - 3:00 PM ET, 4:35PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 5:35PM BST