Auto Racing

The 30th running of the Honda Indy Toronto provided a show for the fans with plenty of of battles throughout the field. In the end, it was Australian Will Power of Team Penske that drove his car to victory – his third this year and third in Toronto.

Power may have received all the accolades and driver standing's points, but it was the hometown favourite and driver of the No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car, James Hinchcliffe who became the star of the show, placing on the podium in third position while wearing his racing suit signed by donators to the Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation. It was Hinchcliffe's first ever podium out of seven tries on the streets of Toronto.

The race took a turn in favour of Power, Hinchcliffe and second-place finisher Helio Castroneves of Team Penske when Ed Carpenter Racing's Josef Newgarden hit the curb on Lap 47 of 85 at Turn 5 – an asphalt curb that didn't hold up between the 22 Indy cars and the Toronto heat.

Newgarden's crash into the wall changed the complexion of the race benefiting Power the most, who pitted seconds ahead of the incident. A long yellow caution favoured the drivers who had already pitted to the detriment of the front runners at the time including pole sitter Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, his teammate Simon Pagenaud and KVSH Racing's Sebastien Bourdais. 

“We finally got a yellow to go our way,” Power announced on the team radio after clearing the checkered flag. “It was a late call as the 22 car [Pagenaud] was being held up by the No. 8 [Chip Ganassi Racing's Max Chilton]. It was perfect timing and when I saw the yellow light on my dash – it was just amazing,” Power added in a following interview.

Hinchcliffe had a similar take as Power, “For once, we finally got a break in TO.”

It wasn't an easy coast to third place for the Canadian driver, as he had to fend off veteran Chip Ganassi Racing driver Tony Kanaan until the very end as a late caution went green with one lap to go. Kanaan would finish in fourth, followed by A.J. Foyt's Takuma Sato who rounded out the top-five.

“I got a little extra boost from seeing the Canadian crowd in Turn 11,” explains Hinchcliffe.

Power's win makes it three victories in the last four races to place him only 47 points behind teammate Pagenaud. Castroneves' second-place finish catapults him from 5th to 3rd in the driver's standings; while Hinchcliffe was the biggest mover from 13th position into 8th.

The IndyCar series moves next to the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for its race on July 31, but for now Hinchcliffe will be relishing his moment in front of the hometown fans. Typically, there's one major party reserved for the winner; however on this day as Hinchcliffe puts it, “there will be a party here tonight in Hinchtown.”

It wasn't easy for the Colombian, but after a long break from IndyCar, Juan Pablo Montoya collected his second Borg-Warner trophy, 15 years after his first Indianapolis 500 victory.

The 99th running of the event was a battle to the end that saw two Team Penske drivers, Montoya and Will Power take on Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Charlie Kimball for the win. In the final laps, the Ganassi drivers didn't have anything left, as the Penske teammates went all out for the win.

Montoya made his move into first place over Power with three laps to go, and never relinquished the lead. He weaved from the inside to outside blocking whatever draft he could, preventing Power from catching any steam.

Montoya led the race for only 9 laps, but it was the final two that counted when it mattered the most. Out of those front runners, it was Montoya that started in the middle of the pack in 15th, dropping down to the 30th position early on after contact with Andretti Autosport's Simona de Silverstro. After several pit stops, Montoya made his move through the field, eventually catching up to the top-10 at the middle of the race.

“What really matters is the last 15 laps,” said Montoya. “That was fun racing. Probably the best racing. Between Will (Power) and (Scott) Dixon, we have a lot of respect for each other.”

Kimball would end up in third place, while the pole sitter Dixon took fourth. The best Honda finish came from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal in fifth, ahead of Andretti Autosport and fellow-Honda driver Marco Andretti.

Chip Ganassi's Tony Kanaan and Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud, both had cars to win the race, but had to bow out of the running late. Kanaan hit the wall on lap 153 ending his day; while Pagenaud clipped Kimball's car causing front wing damage and dropping to the mid pack around lap 170. Pagenaud would climb his way back for a 10th place finish.

The only Canadian in the field, after James Hinchcliffe's serious practice injury was Alex Tagliani for A.J. Foyt Racing. He would end up being the top driver for his team with a 17th place finish, avoiding any incidents, save from a gear box issue in the warm-up lap.

With this victory, Montoya becomes the first driver with two victories on the season, and now leads the IndyCar points race with 272 points, 25 points over Power, the defending champion.