Due to standing water creating visibility issues down Lakeshore Blvd. (the backstretch) between turns two and three and on other points of the track, INDYCAR officials made the decision to postpone the running of the first race of the double-header this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto to Sunday July 20th. As a result, a pair of races will be ran on Sunday, 75-lap a piece.
The first race will be ran at 10:30 a.m. EST with a rolling start using the starting grid from qualifications. The second race will be ran at 4:15 p.m. EST with a standing start and the grid being set based on the entrant points entering the double header weekend. NBCSN will broadcast both races in the United States, with Sportsnet covering them in Canada.
It became clear to officials that there was an issue after Ryan Briscoe spun in turn five on the pace laps, the pace car slid off in turn three and Will Power spun and made heavy left-side contact with the frontstretch wall off of turn 11.
“I just whipped it – I had no chance. My bad,” Power commented post-incident.
Power’s team would repair the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet in a matter of 21-minutes, having Power back on the grid for a restart, if one was to come. Due to no laps being completed officially, Power will get to start in the spot that he qualified for originally despite his issues.
During the red-flag as officials waited to see if they could get the race in today, drivers were commenting about the poor conditions that they saw just based on the pace laps.
“This is complete unsafe,” Kanaan commented. “I know we’re trying to start this race for a show for the fans, but you cannot start this race. My concern is the safety, and right now this is right off dangerous.”
“It’s not puddling, it’s not lack of grip but rather the fact that there’s a lot of spray and I couldn’t even see the walls one either side of the track,” Rahal said. “We got to be able to see, and the biggest thing is driver safety right now.”
Officials did make every attempt to try and get the race in, however decided after trying for awhile that conditions weren’t suitable.
“We kept sending them out when we thought it was ready to try it again, and then realized that it wasn’t suitable for them to go out,” Derrick Walker, president of Operations and Competition for INDYCAR, said. “I think it was just too wet to start the race today. If you look at it (the standing water) real close, you notice that it makes a difference.
“The other factor here is the oil comes out of the black asphalt when the water hits it. I don’t think that we did the wrong thing as we waited and waited. The in-decision was really us trying to get it in every way we could before we called it because the fans and television hung with us, hoping that we’d be able to run it. We kept trying and we were watching the weather channel and the radar. We thought if we got the race started that we may have been able to help the issue – we’d get it blown away – but visibility was just not that good.”
IndyCar has ran events in the rain – including other events this season, however there is a certain level of visibility that they require for their drivers for their safety.
“At the end of the day, what do we want? A good race, or to be a bunch of gladiators? I think, for the championship battle and series, it’s better to have a good race,” Walker added. we’re trying to put on a show and show the fans that we can put on the best show possible.”
Honda Indy Toronto President Charlie Johnstone announced that people who had Saturday-only tickets will be allowed to exchange their tickets for Sunday-only tickets.
“As the promoter for the Honda Indy, we will honor all Saturday-only GA tickets and grandstand tickets,” he commented. “We will have an exclusive kiosk set-up at the entrance for customers to redeem their Saturday-only tickets for Sunday-only tickets.”
Johnstone added that they will “make every effort possible to honor all tickets”, making sure those who had seats will be given a seat for Sunday, even if shifted over slightly.
Tomorrow’s forecast, though, doesn’t look much better with a 40-60 percent chance of rain throughout the day, per The Weather Network. If need be, INDYCAR and Honda Indy officials have discussed the possibility of running the event on Monday. The main goal right now, per Walker, is to get at least one of the two races in.
