Race Report: Race 2 Detroit Grand Prix

DETROIT June 5, 2016—Race 2 of the Detroit Grand Prix almost ended before it began for the ABC Supply team bringing on thoughts of déjà vu. Unlike yesterday’s Race 1, it was Takuma Sato not Jack Hawksworth suffering the early misfortune. After missing yesterday’s race due to fuel pump failure, Hawksworth posted a strong qualifying effort this morning to start ninth. He got off cleanly but Sato, starting 16th, was not as fortunate.

He was hit from behind as cars scrambled ahead of him entering Turn 1 when the green flag dropped. The impact spun him around. His car sustained a damaged front wing and a flat rear tire but he was able to make it back to the pits. Two other drivers James Hinchcliffe and Max Chilton never got beyond Turn 1. The ABC Supply crew fixed the flat rear tire first and then brought Sato back in again to replace the front wing assembly. He had to restart in the rear of the 22 car field because he came into a closed pit for the new wheel and tire. Hawksworth’s team employed an aggressive fuel strategy and pitted on lap five. His teammate pitted five laps later. The two ran together through the next round of pit stops and were never more than a car or two away from each other. Hawksworth was running 11th when he made his final pit stop on lap 48. However on his out-lap he sustained a broken driveshaft which ended his day and brought out the final yellow flag. “I was having a lot of fun out there,” the 25-year-old said afterwards. “The pace of the car was really good, I could close in on guys and run decent. I felt I had one of my best races going even though I didn’t have the fastest car but we had good in-and-out laps [from the pits] and good passes. In the end the driveshaft broke, but I was having a lot of fun.” Sato was running 13th at the time of Hawksworth’s misfortune. Taking the opportunity to pit under that caution, Sato was in and out of the pits in under seven seconds. As the fuel strategies played out he found himself in a tight battle for 10th with Graham Rahal with nine laps to go. Sato managed to fend off Rahal to take home another top-10 finish from Detroit. “Qualifying didn’t work out for us this morning,” Sato said. “I enjoy the rain but not in qualifying and our group was a tough one. We started mid-pack and at the start I got hit from behind. I stalled the engine and lost a wing and a rear tire. Fortunately we didn’t lose a lap and the guys did a good job to replace both the tire and front on two consecutive stops. We worked our way through the field. The car was competitive but we’re missing something because it was inconsistent which was difficult. Glad to get a Top 10 after the start but it’s frustrating because at one stage we were looking good and the strategy was good but it was a difficult race.” Will Power won the race after his teammate Simon Pagenaud won the pole and finished second. Third through fifth were Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon. The Verizon IndyCar Series heads south to compete in the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night, June 10. The race will be broadcast live by NBC Sports Network starting at 8 p.m. ET.