Edmonton Indy
July 22, 2012
2 p.m. EDT
NBC Sports Network
COMPETITION
- The 2012 season marks the return of manufacturer competition to the IZOD IndyCar Series after six years of Honda serving as single engine supplier. Chevrolet and Lotus now join Honda in providing engines to the 25-car starting field
- Honda comes to this weekend's race second in the Manufacturers' Championship, with 69 points, to 81 for Chevrolet. Lotus is third, with 40 points.
- Three-time and defending IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti won this year's Indianapolis 500 for Honda. It was Franchitti's third triumph at the Memorial Day weekend classic, and led a 1-2 result for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with Scott Dixon second. The '500' was the first of three consecutive victories for Honda-powered drivers this season.
- One week after Indy, Dixon dominated the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, qualifying on the pole and leading every lap for his first victory of 2012, followed by Franchitti in the runner-up spot. Simon Pagenaud of Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports completed a podium sweep for Honda by finishing third.
- Honda-powered drivers also finished 1-2 on June 9 at Texas Motor Speedway. Justin Wilson came from 17th on the starting grid to chase down late-race leader Graham Rahal, claiming the lead and the victory after Rahal brushed the Turn 4 wall with just two laps remaining. Rahal held on to finish second.
- Dixon has led an IZOD IndyCar Series-high 405 laps this season, and has led at seven of 10 races, also a series high. Dixon led all 60 laps at Detroit, and race-high totals of 133 laps at Texas, 37 at St. Petersburg and 38 at Barber Motorsports Park. Helio Castroneves is ranked second with 241 laps led.
HONDA AT EDMONTON
- Honda has powered a pair of two-time winners at Edmonton: Scott Dixon in 2008 and 2010; and Will Power, who won in 2009 and 2011.
- Previous winners at Edmonton from the Champ Car World Series era include Justin Wilson (2006), who now races with Honda power for Dale Coyne Racing; and Sebastien Bourdais, who won in 2005 and 2007.
- This year's Edmonton race will be the second run on a new circuit layout, located across City Centre Airport from the former site on the southwest side of the facility.
HONDA CIVIC Si PACE AND SAFETY CARS
- Earlier this month, Honda marked the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the 2012 Honda Civic Si for Safety Car and Pace Car duties in the IZOD IndyCar Series. The Civic Si Coupe made its debut as an IZOD IndyCar Series Safety Car at the 2011 Honda Indy Toronto, and a quartet of Civic Si's ultimately replaced the Honda Accords formerly used by the series. This fleet of Civic Si's will perform Safety Car and Pace Car duties at this weekend's Edmonton Indy.
- Cars started out as standard Civic Si models, built by Honda of Canada Manufacturing, and were developed according to INDYCAR Pace Car/Safety Car specifications by Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita, Calif.
- Modifications installed at HPD include Sparco seats and four-point racing harnesses; an HPD high-performance brake system, with four-piston calipers, competition rotors, racing pads, and stainless brake lines; a Honda Genuine Accessory aerodynamic body kit, consisting of front, side and rear under spoilers; Firestone Firehawk 225/40 R18 tires mounted on Enkei alloy wheels, and an IZOD IndyCar Series graphics package.
NEXT UP
- Following the Edmonton Indy, the IZOD IndyCar Series returns stateside for Honda's “home” event, the Honda Indy 200, Aug. 3-5 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington. Honda maintains its largest U.S.-based manufacturing operation in Marysville, OH, just over an hour from the 2.25-mile Mid-Ohio road course. On Thursday, August 2, Honda-powered IndyCar drivers will visit the company's Ohio manufacturing locations to tour the facilities and visit with associates, and American Honda will distribute up to 15,000 tickets to associates, suppliers and dealers for the event weekend.