For the first time in the history of the IndyCar Series and the first time since 2007, when the Champ Car World Series made its swansong tour, open-wheel racers will be taking to the streets of Exhibition Place Toronto.
Street circuits are an interesting case, for the most part; many of them go for only a few years become they either become financially unreasonable or garner complaints from those whose city streets get shut down for a week every year. Toronto is one of the notable exceptions to this rule, having hosted motor racing since 1986. Before that, open-wheelers -- including Formula One -- raced on the undulating Mosport Park in nearby Bowmanville. Mosport, despite being one of those truly classic road courses, with sweeping corners and massive elevation changes, was considered too fast and dangerous for the light, turbocharged CART cars and they left that facility.
A slower, more accessible facility was devised at Exhibition Place, a convention facility on the shores of Lake Ontario, and Bobby Rahal took victory. One of the interesting things about this track's longevity is that many IRL drivers who began their careers in CART/Champ Car have already seen this track and, even though the cars are vastly different, will have a good idea of the nuances of the track itself. That list includes: Will Power, Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Graham Rahal, Alex Tagliani, Justin Wilson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Robert Doornbos, and Tony Kanaan. On top of that, Danica Patrick took a turn around this track when she drove for Bobby Rahal in the Toyota Atlantic series. This means that, even though some drivers might be familiar with this track, the one with the best car balance and best idea of how their car will behave on this track will be the winner.
On that note, who will be the drivers to look out for?
Winner: Will Power. Okay, I just like cheering for Power because of his awkward situation with Team Penske. I also like cheering for him because of the fantastic paint job on the car. Apart from the sponsor decals, the car is painted identically to Al Unser's 1987 Indianapolis winner. Oh, and Will happened to win the last race on this track with KV Racing's Champ Car in 2007. He's one of six drivers who ran that 2007 race and he's in the best equipment out of those six. Yellow Penske car, for the win!
Dark Horse: Justin Wilson. Yes, yes, I know, he won the race last week and he should really be one of the favorites here. The only reason I keep Justin down here in dark horse land is because of the team he drives for. It took Dale Coyne well over 500 races to pick up his first victory and I don't know that he can hold back the better cars in this one. Everything I'm saying is probably entirely wrong, but I stand by it: I think Will Power has a much better shot at victory.
Co-Ninja Dark Horse: Rafael Matos and Alex Tagliani. It's getting to be high time that Luczo Dragon Racing finds itself some victory lane-type success. They started out as a sort of subsidiary of Team Penske, gained plenty of experience with good equipment, then plugged in a talented rookie into the car; they've shown signs of brilliance, let's see if they can make it happen.
MEANWHILE, somebody's gotta fly the Maple Leaf in Toronto, even if he's from Quebec. Tagliani has been reasonably fast and, as I watch the time sheets in qualifying, he is impressing there as well. This would be a fantastic thing for Conquest Racing if Tags could pull it off.
Danica Watch: Don't even bother watching. When ABC showers us with coverage of Danica rolling around in 15th, read a book or something. She will not be of any concern when the race rolls around, and that's that.
Race starts at 1PM in the east, 10 on the left coast. Grab yourself a couple shots of Segrams, crank on some Rush, and be there for racing, Ontario-style!
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