Preview – 2016 Honda Indy Toronto
By Dylan Reynolds, The Open Wheel
This weekend INDYCAR heads to Toronto for the Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto and the Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Toronto. The Open Wheel will be on-site covering the action all weekend so stay tuned to this site and our Twitter page @openwh33l for all the latest news.
Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR
Entry List – Spotter Guide – Schedule – Circuit Map – Pit Lane Assignments – Tickets
Indy Lights Preview: Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Toronto (Entry List), Race 1 – Saturday July 16, 2016 12:25PM (ET) & Race 2 – Sunday July 17, 2016 11:15AM (ET) – Race 1 and Race 2 last year were dominated by Spencer Pigot and Jack Harvey but plenty of current drivers were right behind them. Ed Jones managed P3 and P5 finishes last year and is sure to be a threat again. Kyle Kaiser managed a podium finish from a P9 starting position in Race 1 last year so he’s shown he can make some moves in Toronto. Felix Serralles and Felix Rosenqvist won the last time Lights ran on a street course in the season opening races at St. Pete so they figure to be factors again as well. I think this will be a very good weekend for the Carin team. My picks to win: Ed Jones & Felix Serralles
Verizon IndyCar Series Preview: Honda Indy Toronto, Sunday July 17, 2016 2:30PM (ET) CNBC – Previous driver experience at Toronto shows Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, and Will Power have all won two times in Toronto. Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay are the only other winners at Toronto in the series. Results from 2015 and 2014 Race 2/2014 Race 1 show Ed Carpenter Racing (formerly CFH Racing) has won the last two Verizon IndyCar Series races in Toronto and after Josef Newgarden’s domination of Iowa last weekend you’d expect them to be strong again this weekend. Castroneves, Power, and Bourdais all have Top 5’s in each of the last two years. My pick to win: Josef Newgarden – After ECR/CFH’s Top 2 sweep of Toronto last year and how great Josef Newgarden has been lately I think he’s going to be tough to beat this weekend. This team and driver combination has the speed and will be desperate to rack up points while they can with their poor finish in Texas still to come.
My fantasy.indycar.com picks: Josef Newgarden, Sebastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, and Luca Filippi – You know my thoughts on Newgarden. Bourdais is a two-time winner here and already won on the Raceway at Belle Isle earlier this year. Hinch is the home-crowd favorite this weekend and due for a good result. Filippi is the best budget pick available in my opinion as he’s showed sporadic speed and finished second at Toronto last year.