2016 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix

The 2016 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was the second round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season and the first oval race of the season. It took place on April 2, 2016 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The race marked the return of open wheel racing to the course, as IndyCar had not visited Phoenix since 2005. Team Penske driver Hélio Castroneves grabbed pole position for the race with a two lap time of 38.2604 seconds. In the process, he set a new single lap track record with a time of 19.0997 seconds. One incident occurred in qualifying when Carlos Muñoz spun and crashed in turn one during his attempt. Two other drivers, James Hinchcliffe and Takuma Sato, made no qualifying attempts due to damage sustained in practice incidents.[1]

2016 Phoenix
Race details
2nd round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season
DateApril 2, 2016
Official nameDesert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
LocationPhoenix International Raceway
CoursePermanent racing facility
1.022 mi / 1.645 km
Distance250 laps
255.5 mi / 411.25 km
Pole position
DriverHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Time38.2604
Fastest lap
DriverTony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time19.7379 (on lap 215 of 250)
Podium
FirstScott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)
SecondSimon Pagenaud (Team Penske)
ThirdWill Power (Team Penske)

Hélio Castroneves led the opening 39 laps of the race before a right-front tire puncture ruined his race. Juan Pablo Montoya inherited the lead and led to lap 95 before suffering the same fate as his teammate Castroneves. From there, Scott Dixon inherited the lead and led the remaining 155 laps, giving Dixon his 39th win and tying Al Unser for 4th in most career IndyCar victories.[2] Simon Pagenaud finished second, moving him into the lead of the championship standings. Graham Rahal would prove the biggest mover in the race, charging up from a lowly 19th place start to finish in fifth place. Rahal was also the highest placed Honda in the race. Despite having little oval experience, Max Chilton surprised as the highest finishing rookie, coming across the line in 7th.

A total of six caution flags flew during the race, all due to spins or contact. The first came on lap 50 when Luca Filippi spun coming off of the first turn. He did not make contact with the barriers. The second came on lap 120, when Carlos Muñoz hit the wall at the exit of turn four. Muñoz would retire from the race due to the damage to his car. Shortly after the restart from the second yellow, the third caution came on lap 134 when Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball made contact in the first turn, sending Kimball into a spin. Kimball was given a drive through penalty for avoidable contact for the incident. Lap 146 saw the next caution when Sébastien Bourdais went wide in turn three and brushed the outside wall in turn four. After finally having another significant green flag period, caution waved again for the fifth time of the race on lap 198, when Ed Carpenter drifted wide and slapped the outside wall in turn four, making him the second retirement of the race. The final yellow would come out on lap 248 and force the race to finish under yellow flag conditions after Alexander Rossi brushed the wall in turn four.

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Pos No. Name Lap 1 Time Lap 2 Time Total Time Avg. Speed (mph)
1 3 Hélio Castroneves W 19.0997 19.1607 38.2604 192.324
2 10 Tony Kanaan W 19.2046 19.2182 38.4228 191.511
3 2 Juan Pablo Montoya 19.2375 19.2145 38.4520 191.366
4 83 Charlie Kimball 19.2278 19.2535 38.4813 191.220
5 20 Ed Carpenter 19.2647 19.3053 38.5700 190.780
6 9 Scott Dixon 19.3563 19.2956 38.6519 190.376
7 21 Josef Newgarden 19.3675 19.3418 38.7093 190.094
8 8 Max Chilton R 19.3636 19.3705 38.7341 189.972
9 12 Will Power 19.4637 19.3160 38.7797 189.749
10 22 Simon Pagenaud 19.4464 19.3526 38.7990 189.654
11 27 Marco Andretti 19.4680 19.4508 38.9188 189.071
12 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 19.4653 19.4750 38.9403 188.966
13 7 Mikhail Aleshin 19.6250 19.5159 39.1409 187.998
14 98 Alexander Rossi R 19.6821 19.6804 39.3625 186.939
15 11 Sébastien Bourdais 19.8148 19.6312 39.4460 186.544
16 19 Luca Filippi 19.8442 19.7562 39.6009 185.814
17 41 Jack Hawksworth 19.8224 19.9429 39.7653 185.046
18 18 Conor Daly R 20.0226 19.9121 39.9347 184.261
19 15 Graham Rahal 20.3621 20.5702 40.9323 179.770
20 14 Takuma Sato No Time No Speed
21 26 Carlos Muñoz No Time No Speed
22 5 James Hinchcliffe No Time No Speed
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Race Results

Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired2 Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Pts.1
1 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 250 1:49:38.3855 3 6 155 53
2 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 250 +0.6825 3 10 40
3 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 250 +1.7264 3 9 35
4 10 Tony Kanaan W Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 250 +1.9589 3 2 32
5 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 250 +2.5272 3 19 30
6 21 Josef Newgarden Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 250 +2.7457 5 7 28
7 8 Max Chilton R Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 250 +2.9914 3 8 26
8 11 Sébastien Bourdais KVSH Racing Chevrolet 250 +3.9491 5 15 24
9 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 250 +4.4548 4 3 56 23
10 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 250 +5.2143 3 12 20
11 3 Hélio Castroneves W Team Penske Chevrolet 250 +8.0324 4 1 39 21
12 83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 250 +9.3366 5 4 18
13 27 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 250 +10.0918 4 11 17
14 98 Alexander Rossi R Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 250 +13.0555 4 14 16
15 14 Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 249 +1 Lap 5 20 15
16 18 Conor Daly R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 249 +1 Lap 5 18 14
17 7 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 248 +2 Laps 4 13 13
18 5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 248 +2 Laps 6 22 12
19 41 Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 246 +4 Laps 6 17 11
20 19 Luca Filippi Dale Coyne Racing Honda 243 +7 Laps 4 16 10
21 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 195 Contact 2 5 9
22 26 Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 116 Contact 2 21 8
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

2 Race finished under caution

Source for time gaps:[3]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

  1. "Castroneves breaks track record on way to winning Phoenix pole". IndyCar Series. INDYCAR. April 1, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  2. Malsher, David (April 3, 2016). "Dixon conquers on IndyCar's return to Phoenix". Motorsport.com. Avondale, Arizona: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  3. "Indycar 2016 Phoenix". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved July 17, 2016.

Official Pit Stop Data

Official Race Broadcast

Previous race:
2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
IndyCar Series
2016 season
Next race:
2016 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Previous race:
2005 XM Satellite Radio Indy 200
Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix Next race:
2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
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