The GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma was an open-wheel IndyCar motor race and held as the fourteenth and penultimate round of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Sunday, August 26, 2012. The race was contested over 85 laps at the at Sonoma Raceway, California, United States.
The race was won by Australian racer Ryan Briscoe racing for Team Penske. Briscoe finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Australian team mate Will Power with British driver Dario Franchitti finishing third for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was Briscoe's first win since the 2010 Firestone 550, and also his last win in IndyCar. Brazilian driver and Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello finished fourth in his best result since joining IndyCar. Power's second place, coupled with Ryan Hunter-Reay finishing 18th expanded Power's lead in the championship. Power led Hunter-Reay by 36 points.
The event marked a notable change in the course layout. The cars used the inner loop at the back hairpin instead of the outer loop in order to open a passing zone. The exit of the bus stop was widened to allow for more room. Another passing zone was established by using a part of the hairpin instead of cutting it off altogether.
Classification
Race results Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points 1 2 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Chevrolet 85 2:07:02.8248 2 27 50 2 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 85 + 0.4408 1 57 43 3 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 85 + 1.0497 6 0 35 4 8 Rubens Barrichello KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 85 + 8.8529 11 0 32 5 38 Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 85 + 9.4667 13 0 30 6 3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 85 + 11.2575 4 0 28 7 77 Simon Pagenaud (R) Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda 85 + 12.3087 9 0 26 8 4 J. R. Hildebrand Panther Racing Chevrolet 85 + 22.8121 15 0 24 9 98 Alex Tagliani Team Barracuda – BHA Honda 85 + 39.6868 8 0 22 10 11 Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 16 0 20 11 18 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 84 + 1 lap 20 0 19 12 19 James Jakes Dale Coyne Racing Honda 84 + 1 lap 24 0 18 13 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 84 + 1 lap 5 0 17 14 14 Mike Conway A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 84 + 1 lap 14 0 16 15 17 Sebastián Saavedra Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 23 0 15 16 5 E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 17 0 14 17 78 Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing Lotus 84 + 1 lap 27 0 13 18 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 7 1 12 19 22 Oriol Servià Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 18 0 12 20 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 84 + 1 lap 25 0 12 21 83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 82 + 3 laps 21 0 12 22 7 Sébastien Bourdais Dragon Racing Chevrolet 63 Contact 3 0 12 23 67 Josef Newgarden (R) Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 62 Contact 22 0 12 24 6 Katherine Legge (R) Dragon Racing Chevrolet 48 Mechanical 19 0 12 25 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 46 Mechanical 12 0 10 26 27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 35 Mechanical 10 0 10 27 15 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 2 Mechanical 26 0 10
Notes Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship Pos Driver Points 1 Will Power 422 2 Ryan Hunter-Reay 386 3 Hélio Castroneves 381 4 Scott Dixon 368 5 Simon Pagenaud 337
Manufacturers' Championship Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 105 2 Honda 90 3 Lotus 52
Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.
References
External links