Results (with starting pos.) from Long Beach
1. (12) Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet
2. (4) Simon Pagenaud, No. 77 Honda
3. (16) James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 Chevrolet
15. (1) Dario Franchitti, No. 10 Target Honda
23. (5) Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Honda

 

 

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 15, 2012) – Mechanical issues prevented both Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon from completing the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, finishing 15th and 23rd, respectively.

 

Due to 10-spot grid penalties for much of the field, the No. 10 Target Honda started from the pole.  Franchitti held the point at the start and led until a lap-five restart.  He would complete the first 30 laps of the race in the top-five, until contact with Ryan Briscoe on lap 30 forced him to pit-road for repairs on lap 34.  After replacing the front wing, Franchitti returned to the track in 16th.  The remainder of the race went caution-free, making gaining ground difficult.  A mechanical issue on the last lap would prevent the team from crossing the finish line.  The Target team was credited with 15th.

 

Grid penalties also moved Dixon up from his qualifying position of 12th to start fifth.  By the end of lap one Dixon worked his way up to fourth, running the opening 19 laps in the top-five.  The No. 9 Target Honda made its first pit-stop of the day on lap 20 when a full-course caution waved.  Dixon returned to the course and began to work his way through traffic, before his day ended early as his car stalled coming to a restart on lap 29.  Dixon and the car would remain behind the turn eight wall for the remainder of the event after INDYCAR did not elect to tow the car back to pit lane.

 

With the results, Dixon dropped from second to fourth in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with 96 points, 31 points behind new leader, Will Power.  Franchitti now sits 13th in the standings with 53 points.

 

Honda remains second in the manufacturer point standings with 18, trailing Chevrolet with 27.

 

Up next for Team Target is Round 4 of the IZOD IndyCar Series with the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 from the streets of Sao Paulo Brazil on Sunday, April 29th (12:00 pm ET NBC Sports).

 

NOTES
- Today’s race marked TCGR’s 17th visit to Long Beach.
- Franchitti has led at least one lap in two out of three races so far this season.

 

 

Dario Franchitti:  “We were on a two-stop strategy obviously and thought that would be the way the race played out.  We had a mechanical issue at the end and that was it.  Not the result we were hoping for with the Target guys and the 10 team today.  We didn’t have the car handling quite right, but we were still staying close to the front.  We had four over-boost penalties on one restart, and Briscoe came across and damaged the front wing.  After that we lost time making a wing change and to top it all had a mechanical failure.”

 

Scott Dixon:  “Just unfortunate really to not be able to be brought back to pit lane and have the chance to get the car back in the race.  The Target car was good and we had the first stop under our belts.  It just died on track and we don’t know why yet.  The safety team did everything to get us back going but it wouldn’t restart.”