Round 8: Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 16 - 18.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 8: Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 16 - 18.

This weekend will be the 8th running of the race as an IndyCar event, since the 2016 Kohler Grand Prix of Road America, which became the first IndyCar race and major AOWR event, to be held at Road America, after an 8 year hiatus. Prior to that, the last major AOWR event was 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.

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History
The very first race to be held at Elkhart Lake was in 1950 and 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 laid 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, after 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 shares. 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.

From 1982-2007, the race had been a perennial event on the CART/Champ Car calendar, with the innaugural race, the Road America 200 held on September 11, 1982. It was won by ex F1 driver Héctor Rebaque driving for Forsythe Racing, in a March 82C-Ford Cosworth DFX. The exception was 2005, when the race was dropped due to sponsorship issues.

With the unification of Champ Car and the IRL in 2008, the race was subsequently dropped from the calendar. However, on August 8, 2015, it was announced Road America would return as a round of the 2016 season of the Verizon IndyCar Series.

In 2020 the race was originally scheduled for June 21. However, it was initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was re-scheduled for July 11–12, hosting the third and fourth rounds of the revised calendar, The REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR Doubleheader, in order to help bring the 2020 season back up to a 17 race schedule, as a number of races had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Track
The track itself has undergone a number of upgrades, including the installation of gravel traps, as well as 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 HR-0.
CART FedEx Championship Series.

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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.

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Last Year's Race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2022/06/06-12-ra-nics-race

Pole:

Alexander Rossi,
Andretti Autosport,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI22TT Indy V6.

Winner:
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske.
Dallara IR18-Chevrolet Indy V6.

Laps 55
Distance 222.64 Miles (358.30 Km)
Race Time 1:53:02.8097
Speed 117.174 Mph (188.57327 Km/h)
Fastest lap: Josef Newgarden - Team Penske. Lap 13, 106.6212 sec, 135.530 Mph (218.114 Km/h)

Cautions 5
Laps: 1 - 2, 4 - 5, 8 - 9, 48 - 49, 51 - 51.

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Practice and Qualifications

Practice 1
Friday, Jun 16. 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM ET

Practice 2
Saturday, Jun 17. 10:55 AM - 11:55 AM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1
Saturday, Jun 17. 1:55 PM - 2:05 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2
Saturday, Jun 17. 2:20 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, Jun 17. 2:45 PM - 2:55 PM ET

Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, Jun 17. 3:10 PM - 3:25 AM ET

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TV Broadcast
Sunday, Jun 18. 1:15 PM - 3:45 PM ET, 5:00 PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 11:30 PM BST.