dsIf the month of May at Indianapolis does not intrigue you, then nothing will.
Saturday’s inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis — held on the infield road course at the venerated speedway in Indiana — began with disaster but ended with a rising talent in victory lane. It’s just the kind of race and just the kind of story that the Brickyard always seems to produce.
Frenchman Simon Pagenaud won the race driving the #77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Honda, his third career IndyCar series victory, but most certainly his most memorable to date. It may not hold the history and prestige of the Indianapolis 500 (which, of course, is coming up in two weeks) but any win at Indy is special.
Pagenaud only led six laps out of the 82 that were ran, but they were the right ones. Right from the start, Pagenaud was in the driver’s seat, no pun intended. Starting fourth, Pagenaud was positioned perfectly to miss the chaos on the standing start, after polesitter Sebastian Saavedra suffered an electrical issue and stalled on the grid.
Saavedra’s story was special too, since the pole was the 23-year-old Colombian’s first in the series. Saavedra has garnered somewhat of a reputation of being slow and crash-prone in his young career, but Friday’s qualifying performance on a wet track helped quiet his critics.
When Saavedra stalled, he was rammed from behind by a fast-closing Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin, resulting in a massive spray of debris that littered the frontstretch and pit road. Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya also stalled but everyone missed him, but for Saavedra, you just had to feel sorry for him.
Right then and there, it seems as if Indianapolis’ mystique had right away taken hold of the race. The very first moments of IndyCar competition on the Indianapolis road course end up with a crazy wreck taking out the polesitter? It was a scene straight out of the 1982 Indianapolis 500, when rookie Kevin Cogan knocked out himself and three others (including the great Mario Andretti) after starting second.
Anywhere else, you could expect a clean start and an enjoyable race, but this is Indy. Of course something is going to happen that will make you remember why race fans continue to flock to this temple of speed.
The race resumed with Andretti driver Ryan Hunter-Reay leading, and lo and behold, rookie Jack Hawksworth took the lead a lap later in the #98 Curb-Agajanian car. The Englishman actually managed to stake out quite an impressive lead, and you had to believe he could snare his first career victory.
But this is Indy we’re talking about. Rookies just don’t come here and have instant success (unless your name is Harroun, Foyt, Clark, Montoya, etc…). Remember 2011? The year that rookie J.R. Hildebrand nearly became an overnight celebrity when he came within hundreds of yards of winning the 500, only to crash and see Dan Wheldon take the checkers?
Sure enough, Hawksworth saw his lead slip away due to pit strategy. But he certainly made his presence known with the speed he showed, and he ended up with 31 laps led on the day.
Then, in another strange occurrence, Andretti driver James Hinchcliffe — or the “Mayor of Hinchtown” as he’s known — found himself facing a large piece of debris that came off a car further ahead of him on the Hulman straight on the infield section of the course. The piece of metal hit him square in the front of his helmet, injuring Hinch, and medics later diagnosed him with a concussion.
It spurred memories of Formula-One driver Felipe Massa’s scary blow at the Hungaroring in 2009, when the then-Ferrari competitor was hit with a spring to the head, an incident which he seems to never have fully recovered from. Hopefully Hinch will be just fine for the Indy 500 in 14 days.
Yet again, Indianapolis’ quirky history jumped up and added another page to its century-old novel.
The racetrack’s power can even cause the most veteran drivers to make mistakes, as Ganassi’s Scott Dixon proved when he tried passing Penske rival Will Power on the inside going into turn four. Dixon ended spinning himself out after light contact with Power.
In the final laps, Spaniard Oriol Servia looked to have a shot to win, leading up to five laps to go before he was forced to pit for a splash of fuel and gave the lead to Pagenaud, who held of Hunter-Reay for the victory.
All in all, it was a wild race at the Brickyard that I believed cemented its place on the IndyCar series schedule for years to come.
Now the real fun begins, as Indianapolis 500 qualifications begin next Saturday, and the 98th running of the big race scheduled for May 25th.
For the latest Sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert and for rumors check Sports Rumor Alert.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on twitter – @Kleckinator. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Main Photo:
