Fontana – Race: Rahal victorious in a crazy race

Graham Rahal, 26 years old, has been a hopeful in North American motorsport since early 2008 and his victory in his very first IndyCar race. He is one of those highly publicized young American drivers: he has had very honorable results this year, his name is associated with a racing legend through his father, and he is engaged to an American dragster driver who is also the daughter of a living legend in motorsport.

However, his career was not assured. It took him some time to confirm his talent, and he only joined his father’s team in 2013. This year, with the introduction of the new aerodynamic kits, Graham has found a second wind and has been standing out since the start of the season. He is 5th in the championship before the start of the race in Fontana.

A flying start

From the start, Marco Andretti gets the better of Simon Pagenaud and leads a very aggressive pack with numerous overtakes. The different possible lines in the corners allow for battles with 3 or 4 cars abreast. Montoya and then Castroneves take the lead while Pagenaud drops to 12th place.

The young wolves emerge

On a partial schedule this season, Tristan Vautier is once again making a name for himself with Dale Coyne Racing, the poorest team on the grid. Starting 20th, he moves up to 14th place ahead of Newgarden and Bourdais.

On the 24th lap, rookie Sage Karam, also on a partial season, leads the race ahead of his teammate at Ganassi, Tony Kanaan.

No yellow flag disrupted the start of the race. The pit stop shuffle begins on the 34th lap. Tony Kanaan is the first leading driver to stop. Simon Pagenaud locks the wheels and nearly spears Montoya when entering the pits. Meanwhile, Tristan Vautier is immobilized after hitting one of his mechanics. The mechanic is quickly attended to by the medical team. It’s a streak of bad luck for Dale Coyne Racing, which sees yet another of its mechanics injured by one of its cars.

On the 72nd lap, Will Power takes the lead coming out of the pits thanks to a very good pit stop by Team Penske. He gets involved in the duel between the two Brazilians Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves. The back-and-forth continues with constant position changes at the front.

First incident

On the 136th lap, Castroneves is hindered after being overtaken by Graham Rahal. The Penske driver loses a lot of speed, gets sandwiched between Power and Briscoe, and then spins out at over 300 km/h. This prompts the first appearance of the safety car on track and signals pit stops for all drivers. Once again, it’s Will Power who comes out on top. The Australian emerges in the lead ahead of Rahal and Montoya. Pagenaud is 7th in front of Andretti. Sébastien Bourdais is having a quiet race, running in 18th.

At the green flag, it’s a big battle again, with several lines going four wide. Ed Carpenter gets jostled. He’s forced to swerve. Shortly after, on the 159th lap, he cuts across his teammate Josef Newgarden and takes him into the wall. Both CFH Racing cars have to retire.

Will Power and Scott Dixon make pit stops and try an alternate strategy during the race neutralization. At the green flag, Colombian Carlos Munoz leads ahead of Andretti, Kanaan, Pagenaud, and Rahal. Sébastien Bourdais has moved up to 9th place.

Combat rapproché

Hostilities resume at the next restart. The drivers are very aggressive with group battles, wheel to wheel, at over 340 km/h. Graham Rahal drives very close to the other competitors and touches Kanaan, Hunter Reay, then Sato, without any impact on the cars. On the 190th lap, Rahal takes a part of the fuel hose with him during his pit stop. The safety car makes its appearance again.

With 9 laps to go, Takuma Sato gets sandwiched between Scott Dixon and Will Power. Sato and Power lose control of their cars and hit the wall. Two contenders for victory are eliminated. The accident causes a red flag because the walls are weakened after the crash.

At the end of the race neutralization, there are 3 laps remaining until the checkered flag. Just before the last lap, Ryan Hunter-Reay also gets caught in a sandwich. He loses control of his car and takes Ryan Briscoe with him, who flips at high speed. The drivers cross the finish line under the yellow flag. It is Graham Rahal, leading at the end of the penultimate lap, who is declared the winner ahead of a disheartened Tony Kanaan. The Brazilian had just overtaken Rahal when the safety car was announced, but it is the passage in front of the previous timing line that determined the final positions.

Montoya saves the day

Juan Pablo Montoya takes a slight lead in the championship. The Colombian finishes 4th while his pursuer, Will Power, retires after a collision with Sato. Scott Dixon consolidates his 3rd position after a difficult start to the season. The Americans are in good form; Graham Rahal overtakes Castroneves for 4th place and Marco Andretti takes 6th place at the expense of Bourdais. Simon Pagenaud remains 10th.