The Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT was an IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series race for 3 years held on a street circuit in Baltimore, Maryland. The inaugural race was held on September 4, 2011. ESPN said it was the best inaugural street race in North America in the last 30 years. The races were contested on a temporary street circuit around the Inner Harbor area of downtown Baltimore.

Baltimore Racing Development signed a multi-year contract with IndyCar and the City of Baltimore to organize the race; the city terminated its contract with BRD at the end of 2011 due to unpaid debts. On February 15, 2012, the city of Baltimore had entered into a five-year agreement with Downforce Racing to manage the race. However, Downforce failed to fulfill their obligations to the city. On May 10, 2012, Race On LLC and Andretti Sports Marketing, led by racing legend Michael Andretti, took over the organization and promotion of the event. Gregory O'Neill and J.P. Grant III own Race On LLC. On September 13, 2013, the promoters announced that they would not hold the race in 2014 or 2015 due to scheduling conflicts.

Circuit The circuit is a temporary street circuit that is run in a clockwise direction, with the start-finish line located on Pratt Street, passing by various Baltimore landmarks, including the Baltimore Convention Center, the Inner Harbor, and Camden Yards. The cars travel east along Pratt Street to Light Street, where they turn right and travel south along the northbound lanes to the intersection between Light and Lee Streets. This forms the slowest corner on the circuit, a right-hand hairpin turn that leads the cars back north along Light Street's southbound lanes to Conway Street. The cars turn left here and head west along Conway Street to the Camden Station. They then navigate a chicane designed to slow the cars down before the pit entry — the circuit is unusual in that the pits are not located on the main straight — and turn left again. The cars circle Oriole Park at Camden Yards stadium to Russell Street, where they turn north once more. This short straight feeds into a pair of sweepers, right and then left, that lead to Pratt Street and the long main straight. Finally, the cars navigate a temporary chicane at the junction of Pratt and Howard Streets as they cross train tracks.

Following the 2011 race, several drivers expressed the opinion that the temporary chicane on the main straight was unnecessary, and it was subsequently removed ahead of the 2012 race to increase entry speeds into the first corner. However, during the first practice sessions for the 2012 race, several drivers — including Simon Pagenaud and Oriol Servià — became airborne as they crossed the train tracks. IndyCar officials abandoned the practice session and reinstalled the temporary chicane.

Other changes for the 2012 race included the re-profiling of the chicane before the pit entry. In 2011, the circuit was narrowed to a single lane with several tight corners to force cars to slow down. This was simplified for 2012 and widened, slowing the cars down, but preventing the field from being forced through a bottleneck.

Past winners

IndyCar Series SeasonDateDriverTeamChassisEngineRace DistanceRace TimeAverage Speed(mph)Report Laps Miles (km) 2011 September 4 Will Power Penske Racing Dallara Honda75153 (246.23)2:02:1975.046 Report 2012 September 2 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara Chevrolet75153 (246.23)2:09:0371.136 Report 2013 September 1 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Honda75153 (246.23)2:16:3267.234 Report

American Le Mans Series Season LMP1 Winning Team LMP2 Winning Team LMPC Winning Team GT Winning Team GTC Winning Team Results LMP1 Winning Drivers LMP2 Winning Drivers LMPC Winning Drivers GT Winning Drivers GTC Winning Drivers 2011 No. 20 Oryx Dyson Racing Did not participate No. 37 Intersport Racing No. 17 Team Falken Tire No. 54 Black Swan Racing Results Humaid Al-Masaood Steven Kane Kyle Marcelli Tomy Drissi Wolf Henzler Bryan Sellers Tim Pappas Jeroen Bleekemolen 2012 No. 20 Dyson Racing Team No. 055 Level 5 Motorsports No. 06 CORE Autosport No. 17 Team Falken Tire No. 68 TRG Results Michael Marsal Eric Lux Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut Alex Popow Ryan Dalziel Wolf Henzler Bryan Sellers Al Carter Patrick Pilet 2013 #6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing #552 Level 5 Motorsports #18 Performance Tech Motorsports #3 Corvette Racing #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Report Lucas Luhr Klaus Graf Marino Franchitti Guy Cosmo Tristan Nunez Charlie Shears Jan Magnussen Antonio García Dion von Moltke Seth Neiman

Support races + Indy Lights Season Date Winning driver 2011 September 4 Gustavo Yacamán 2012 September 2 Tristan Vautier 2013 September 1 Jack Hawksworth+ Star Mazda Championship Season Date Winning driver 2011 September 4 Tristan Vautier 2012 September 1 Jack Hawksworth September 2 Sage Karam+ U.S. F2000 National Championship Season Date Winning driver 2011 September 3 Wayne Boyd September 4 Spencer Pigot 2012 September 1 Spencer Pigot September 2 Matthew Brabham

Lap records

The unofficial all-time outright track record set during a race weekend is 1:17.5921, set by Will Power in a Dallara DW12 during qualifying for the 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore. The fastest official race lap records at the Grand Prix of Baltimore are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Grand Prix Circuit (2011–2013): IndyCar 1:19.0055 Will Power Dallara DW12 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore Indy Lights 1:23.9799 Sebastián Saavedra Dallara IPS 2012 Baltimore Indy Lights round LMP1 1:24.982 Lucas Luhr HPD ARX-03a 2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge LMP2 1:27.641 Christophe Bouchut HPD ARX-03b 2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge Star Mazda 1:28.860 Sage Karam Star Formula Mazda 'Pro' 2012 Baltimore Star Mazda Championship round LMPC 1:29.026 Bruno Junqueira Oreca FLM09 2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge GT2 1:30.313 Oliver Gavin Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge US F2000 1:31.645 Matthew Brabham Van Diemen DP08 2012 Baltimore USF2000 round GTC 1:35.312 Damien Faulkner Porsche 911 (997) GT3 Cup 2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge

Controversy

Along with the closing of the commercial center of downtown Baltimore for track preparation, trees were removed from city streets, spawning a court case. Also, Baltimore Brew identified $42,400 in campaign contributions over the preceding four years to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other political officials from investors and businesses that stood to gain from the race being held.

After its inaugural run, it was reported that the race failed to bring as much economic activity to Baltimore as had been promised and that Baltimore Racing Development has had difficulties paying monies owed to local businesses and the state, the latter resulting in a $567,000 tax lien being filed. With Baltimore Racing Development $3 million in debt, including nearly $1.2 million owed to Baltimore City, the city terminated their contract with BRD at the end of 2011. This meant the race would only take place again if both the city and IndyCar approved a new organizer. IndyCar officials have expressed hope that a new organizer will be found. The city of Baltimore announced on February 10, 2012, that a five-year deal with race organizer Downforce Racing, LLC was being finalized and would be presented to the city Board of Estimates February 22.Rawlings-Blake To Announce New Deal On Baltimore Grand Prix CBS Baltimore The new contract includes provisions such as a $3 per ticket surcharge for city services to reduce the risk of unpaid fees to the city.

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