Round 10: Honda Indy Toronto. Exhibition Place, Toronto. July 14-16.
Originally the Molson Indy Toronto during the CART era, the Honda Indy Toronto is the second longest running street race on the calendar after Long Beach and is one of seven Canadian circuits to have held an IndyCar race, the others being: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Mont-Tremblant, Sanair, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton.
History
In the spring of 1985, the in-house promotional division of Molson Breweries, Molstar Sports & Entertainment, proposed the running of a CART race at Exhibition Place in Toronto, as an alternative to the Candian F1 Grand Prix, which was sponsored by rival brewers Labatt's. The following year on July 20, 1986 the first Molson Indy Toronto was held and was won by Bobby Rahal, driving a March 86C-Ford Cosworth DFX for Truesports.
The race became a perennial on the CART calendar, however with the demise of CART, it morphed into a Champ Car World Series event, changing its name to the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto in 2006, after which Molson dropped its sponsorship of the event.
The Steelback Brewery signed a multi-year, multi-million-dollar deal to become the event’s title sponsor, renaming it the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, with the first race scheduled for 2007. This was to be the last race as a Champ Car World Series event at Toronto.
On February 22, 2008, the unification of the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League was announced. However the race was cancelled for that year but returned in 2009, after Andretti-Green Racing, acting as the event organiser and promoter (later Green Savoree Racing Promotions), had purchased the assets of the former Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, as well as signing a multi-year agreement with Honda Canada Inc.
Since then the event has remained on the IndyCar calendar, being traditionally held in mid-July, though in 2015 the race was moved to June, as it clashed with the Pan-American games also being held in mid-July. More recently it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After the cancellation of the 2020 race, a new three-year agreement was reached in September 2020, between Green Savoree Race Promotions, Exhibition Place and Penske Entertainment to host the event through 2023. Currently Green Savoree Race Promotions and Penske Entertainment are close to formalizing a new agreement that will keep the Honda Indy Toronto on the calendar for years to come.
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Some Trivia:
The driver with the most wins: 7, Michael Andretti: 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001.
The team with the most wins: 8, Newman/Haas Racing: 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2004.
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Track Layout
The original 1986 track length was changed from 1.784 miles (2.871 km) to 1.755 mile (2.824 km) in 1996, due to construction of The National Trade Centre building, which led to the pit straight being lengthened and last turn being altered.
In 2016, major changes were made to the track. The Pit Lane was moved to the North side of the track, starting at Turn 9 and extending back onto Princes' Boulevard past Turn 11. The hospitality suites were also moved to the North side and the Turn 11 grandstands are now on the south side of Pit Lane. However, the paddock remains in its original location, linked by a pedestrian bridge.
1986 original layout:
1996-2015 layout:
2016 to present layout:
Length:
1.786 Miles - 2.874 Km
Turns: 11
Lap record:
Gil de Ferran. July 17th, 1999. 57.143 seconds, 110.565 mph (177.937 km/h).
Walker Racing, Reynard 99i-Honda HRS V8t,
CART FedEx Championship Series.
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Last year's race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2022/07/07-17-toronto-race
Pole:
Colton Herta,
Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian
Dallara IR18-Honda HI22TT Indy V6
Winner:
Scott Dixon,
Chip Ganassi Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI22TT Indy V6
Laps: 85
Distance: 151.81 miles (244.314 km)
Race Time: 1:38:45.3087
Average Speed: 92.234 Mph (162.383 Km/h)
Fastest Lap
David Malukas - Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports, Lap 15. 60.8307 sec, 105.697 Mph (170.103 Km/h)
Cautions: 4
Laps: 2 - 3, 45 - 48, 55 - 57, 69 - 65
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Practice and Qualifications
Practice 1
Friday, Jul 14.
3:00 PM - 4:15 PM ET
Practice 2
Saturday, Jul 15.
10:35 AM - 11:35 AM ET
Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1
Saturday, Jul 15.
2:50 PM - 3:00 PM ET
Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2
Saturday, Jul 15.
3:15 PM - 3:25 PM ET
Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, Jul 15.
3:40 PM - 3:50 PM ET
Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, Jul 15
4:05 PM - 4:20 PM ET
Race
Sunday, Jul 16
1:45 PM - 3:45 PM ET
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TV Coverage:
Peacock, July 16. 13:30 PM ET, 17:30 PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 6:30 PM BST