2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

2012 Alabama
Race details
2nd round of the 2012 IndyCar Series season
Date April 1, 2012
Official name Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Location Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
Course Road Course
2.38 mi / 3.83 km
Distance 90 laps
214.2 mi / 344.7 km
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Time 1:10.4768
Podium
First Will Power (Verizon Team Penske)
Second Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing)
Third Hélio Castroneves (AAA Team Penske)

The 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama was the second race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The race was run on April 1, 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States at Barber Motorsports Park.

Report

Background

The first race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season in St. Petersburg, saw Hélio Castroneves capture his first victory since the 2010 season. Along with Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe were able to take advantage and lead throughout the race. Entering into the 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Castroneves leads in the drivers' championship with 51 points, while Chevrolet leads in the manufacturers' championship.

Qualifying

There was very limited practice time during the week leading up to the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Friday's practice was cut short due to rain, while the practice on Saturday morning was canceled due to fog.[2] After qualifying was completed on Saturday morning, it was Hélio Castroneves who sat on the pole for the 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in the #3 AAA Insurance Chevy owned by Roger Penske. Andretti Autosport's driver James Hinchcliffe sat on the outside of the first row in the #27 GoDaddy.com car.[3]

Race

Scott Dixon led 38 laps and was leading on lap 66 when he made his final pit stop. A slow pit stop caused by trouble on the left rear tire, as well as traffic in the pit lane, allowed Will Power to pass him going into turn one. After all the leaders shuffled through their pit stops, Power took the lead, and held off Dixon over the final laps to win.

Classification

Starting grid

Row Inside Outside
1 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 27 Canada James Hinchcliffe
2 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon 14 United Kingdom Mike Conway
3 4 United States J.R. Hildebrand 11 Brazil Tony Kanaan
4 5 Venezuela E.J. Viso 38 United States Graham Rahal
5 12 Australia Will Power 77 France Simon Pagenaud (R)
6 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 2 Australia Ryan Briscoe
7 26 United States Marco Andretti 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello
8 67 United States Josef Newgarden (R) 15 Japan Takuma Sato
9 7 France Sebastian Bourdais 10 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti
10 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson 19 United Kingdom James Jakes
11 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro 83 United States Charlie Kimball
12 20 United States Ed Carpenter 6 United Kingdom Katherine Legge (R)
13 98 Canada Alex Tagliani 22 Spain Oriol Servià
Tagliani and Servià penalised 10 places for changing engine

Race Results

Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points1
1 12 Australia Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 90 2:01:40.1127 9 22 50
2 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 90 + 3.3709 3 38 42
3 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 90 + 19.1150 1 28 36
4 38 United States Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 90 + 19.3395 8 1 32
5 77 France Simon Pagenaud (R) Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda 90 + 20.1050 10 0 30
6 27 Canada James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 90 + 23.3093 2 1 28
7 14 United Kingdom Mike Conway A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 90 + 24.5552 4 0 26
8 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 90 + 25.4023 14 0 24
9 7 France Sebastian Bourdais Dragon Racing Lotus 90 + 27.1815 17 0 22
10 10 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 90 + 32.7377 18 0 20
11 26 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 90 + 33.5038 13 0 19
12 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 90 +35.8730 11 0 18
13 22 Spain Oriol Servià Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Lotus 90 + 37.8944 26 0 17
14 2 Australia Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Chevrolet 90 + 41.6742 12 0 16
15 4 United States J.R. Hildebrand Panther Racing Chevrolet 90 + 44.5059 5 0 15
16 19 United Kingdom James Jakes Dale Coyne Racing Honda 90 + 54.5343 20 0 14
17 67 United States Josef Newgarden (R) Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 90 + 1:00.6182 15 0 13
18 5 Venezuela E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 89 + 1 lap 7 0 12
19 18 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 89 + 1 lap 19 0 12
20 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing Lotus 89 + 1 lap 21 0 12
21 11 Brazil Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 89 + 1 lap 6 0 12
22 20 United States Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 88 + 2 laps 23 0 12
23 6 United Kingdom Katherine Legge (R) Dragon Racing Lotus 85 + 5 laps 24 0 12
24 15 Japan Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 52 Mechanical 16 0 12
25 83 United States Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 45 Mechanical 22 0 10
26 98 Canada Alex Tagliani Team Barracuda – BHA Lotus 0 Mechanical 25 0 10
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship
Pos Driver Points
1 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 86
2 New Zealand Scott Dixon 84
3 Australia Will Power 77
4 Canada James Hinchcliffe 60
5 France Simon Pagenaud (R) 58

Manufacturers' Championship
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 United States Chevrolet 18
2 Japan Honda 12
3 United Kingdom Lotus 6
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

References

Previous race:
2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
IndyCar Series
2012 season
Next race:
2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Previous race:
2011 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Next race:
2013 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
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