Turns: 14
Length: 2.439miles (3.925km)
Laps: 85 Friday, 75 Saturday
Fastest Lap: Josef Newgarden – 1:09:388 – 2017
Most Wins: Simon Pagenaud, Will Power (3)
2020 Winner: Scott Dixon
Rounds 12 and 13 of the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series will see the championship return to its spiritual home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run on the road course layout for consecutive days. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the schedule was reconfigured in order to put on the maximum amount of races, leading to a third race weekend at the iconic venue.
An eventful double-header at the Mid-Ohio saw Team Penske’s Will Power and Andretti Autosport’s Will Power claim their first wins of the 2020 campaign, while Scott Dixon suffered a rare off weekend which saw the Kiwi finish in 10th place for both races.
Going into the final three races, championship leader Dixon can have his first opportunity to wrap up a sixth IndyCar title. Currently the Ganassi driver has a 72-point lead over Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
For Dixon to wrap up the title in Friday’s first race, he would have to outscore the reigning champion by 36 points, which is quite unlikely. However, as long as Dixon remains 54 points clear of Newgarden by the end of Saturday’s race, he will collect a sixth title and be just one behind the great A.J Foyt.
Under strict conditions, a small number of fans will be allowed into the Speedway for the first time this season.
There are also some driver changes going into Harvest GP. Zach Veach has departed the Andretti Autosport team with immediate effect after discovering he would not be kept on for the 2021 season. James Hinchcliffe has been drafted into No.26 Gainbridge-Honda for the remainder of the campaign.
Helio Castroneves has been brought into the fold at Arrow McLaren SP after Oliver Askew was forced to withdraw from the double-header due to suffering concussion-like symptoms.
Sage Karam will also return to the field with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing along with a new title sponsor on the No.24 DRR-Chevrolet.
Weather for the event looks set to be cool with temperatures reaching no higher than 68F (20C).
2020 GMR IndyCar GP Recap
Team Penske’s Will Power led the field away alongside Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey – his best ever IndyCar qualifying result.
While Power was out front, Dixon had begun the race on the harder Firestone black tyres and made up places on the opening lap. Power maintained his lead through the opening round of pitstops, but his race came undone after Askew crashed heavily at the final corner on lap 26.
Power dropped several places, but was on a recovery driver until he stalled during his second pit stop which saw his race fall apart.
Graham Rahal made a two-stop strategy work in his favour to score second place from fourth on the grid.
Simon Pagenaud ran an aggresive three-stop strategy to push his way through the field and claim the final spot on the podium having started from 20th place.
Harvey had looked to be in contention for the race win, but the caution for Askew’s crash spoilt his afternoon which left British driver 17th at the chequered flag.
Alexander Rossi’s season had already ran into issues at the opening round in Texas, but another mechanical issue also ended his race early at the GMR Grand Prix.
The two races are set to get underway at 15:30 EDT on Saturday and 14:30 EDT on Sunday.
Discussion about this post