| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 5th round of the2017 IndyCar Series season | |
 | |
| Date | May 13, 2017 |
| Official name | IndyCar Grand Prix |
| Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.439 mi / 3.925 km |
| Distance | 85 laps 207.315 mi / 333.64 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Will Power (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:07.7044 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver |  Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:09.3888 (on lap 68 of 85) |
| Podium | |
| First | Will Power (Team Penske) |
| Second |  Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Third | Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) |
The2017 IndyCar Grand Prix, officially known as the2017 IndyCar Grand Prix presented by Sea-Doo for sponsorship reasons, was the fifth round of the2017 IndyCar Series season. The race took place over 85 laps on the infield road course atIndianapolis Motor Speedway inSpeedway,Indiana.Will Power, driving forTeam Penske, won the race.[1]
Qualifying was held on Friday, May 12.Will Power broke his own track record, setting a time of 1:07.7044 at an average of 129.69 mph (208.44 km/h). It was his 47th career pole, which moved him into fifth place on the all-time list of American open-wheel pole position winners. Alongside him on the front row was his teammate,Hélio Castroneves.Josef Newgarden qualified third,Scott Dixon fourth, andJuan Pablo Montoya, in his first race in an IndyCar since the 2016 season closer, qualified fifth.[2]
The race was held on Saturday, May 13. The field was able to make its way through the first few corners cleanly, withWill Power holding his lead overHélio Castroneves, whileScott Dixon moved into third. As the field moved through turn 7 for the first time,Marco Andretti made contact withTony Kanaan, sending Kanaan into a spin and sending Andretti andEd Jones into the grass. Kanaan was forced to pit with a punctured tire, while Andretti was assessed a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact. However, the race resumed with no caution. The field continued on, though on lap four,Sébastien Bourdais pulled off course in at turn 1, an engine failure forcing him out of the race.Alexander Rossi moved into the top sixth following Bourdais' misfortune. By lap 17, however, bothRyan Hunter-Reay andSpencer Pigot moved around Rossi, while up front, Power still held the lead.
The first round of pit stops came around lap 20. During this sequence, Castroneves, who had stayed on the red alternate tires, was able to move ahead of Power, who had changed on the black primary tires. Dixon remained third after the stops, whileJosef Newgarden,Ryan Hunter-Reay, andSimon Pagenaud rounded out the top six. Pigot, who had been making a charge toward the front, stalled his car during the stops, dropping him back down the order. Shortly after stops, Pagenaud came under fire fromJames Hinchcliffe, Rossi, andMax Chilton. Hinchcliffe, however, faded from the battle after both Rossi and Chilton made their way by him on the same lap. Pagenaud, however, maintained his sixth.
The second round of stops came just after lap 40. During this sequence, Power and Castroneves switched positions again, thanks to Power being on the alternate tires again. Besides this, the running order remained largely the same, though Chilton managed to move ahead of Rossi. Further down in the order,Graham Rahal, who had started 20th, managed to break into the top 10 with a considerably good run through the field, eventually bringing him up to sixth place. At the same time, Rossi began to drop back due to being on the primary tires, allowing him to fall into the clutches ofJuan Pablo Montoya. At the end of this stint,Scott Dixon began to close in on the leaders; the first time he had been able to do so the entire race.
The final round of stops came at roughly lap 65. Power and Castroneves remained the top two, but Castroneves, now forced onto the primary tires, was now considerably slower on track. During the pit sequence, Newgarden was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on the pit-lane, removing him from his fourth place. He was then assessed another drive-through penalty for speeding on the pit-lane while serving the first penalty. With this, Hunter-Reay moved up to fourth and Pagenaud to fifth. Up front, Power began to pull away significantly from his teammate Castroneves, while Dixon rapidly gained on the Brazilian. On lap 69, Dixon was by into second place. Castroneves was then quickly dispatched by both Hunter-Reay and Pagenaud, dropping him all the way to fifth. However, this was not enough to stop Power, who was finally able to convert one of his dominant performances into a win on the 2017 season. For Power, it was his 30th IndyCar win, breaking a three-way time between himself, Castroneves, andRick Mears for 11th all-time for most American Open-Wheel victories. The win also moved him into the top five in the championship after a disastrous start to the season.Simon Pagenaud maintained the points lead, holding a 10-point advantage overScott Dixon.[1][3][4]
For the first time in the race's history, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis saw no caution periods.
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
| Pos | No. | Name | Grp. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Firestone Fast 6 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Will PowerW | 2 | 1:08.1894 | 1:07.9823 | 1:07.7044 | ||||
| 2 | 3 |  Hélio Castroneves | 2 | 1:08.2619 | 1:08.1428 | 1:08.1169 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | 1 | 1:08.1223 | 1:08.1526 | 1:08.1622 | ||||
| 4 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 2 | 1:08.3653 | 1:08.3560 | 1:08.2454 | ||||
| 5 | 22 |  Juan Pablo Montoya | 2 | 1:08.4167 | 1:08.0158 | 1:08.2478 | ||||
| 6 | 18 |  Sébastien Bourdais | 2 | 1:08.3497 | 1:08.3921 | 1:08.3973 | ||||
| 7 | 1 | Simon PagenaudW | 1 | 1:08.3435 | 1:08.4461 | |||||
| 8 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 2 | 1:08.4490 | 1:08.5735 | |||||
| 9 | 98 | Alexander Rossi | 1 | 1:08.6134 | 1:08.5824 | |||||
| 10 | 5 |  James Hinchcliffe | 1 | 1:08.9403 | 1:08.8668 | |||||
| 11 | 27 | Marco Andretti | 1 | 1:08.6686 | 1:08.9151 | |||||
| 12 | 10 | Tony Kanaan | 1 | 1:08.9358 | 1:08.9853 | |||||
| 13 | 19 |  Ed JonesR | 1 | 1:09.0025 | ||||||
| 14 | 8 |  Max Chilton | 2 | 1:08.6675 | ||||||
| 15 | 4 | Conor Daly | 1 | 1:09.0557 | ||||||
| 16 | 20 | Spencer Pigot | 2 | 1:08.9484 | ||||||
| 17 | 7 |  Mikhail Aleshin | 1 | 1:09.1777 | ||||||
| 18 | 14 | Carlos Muñoz | 2 | 1:08.9937 | ||||||
| 19 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | 1 | 1:09.1796 | ||||||
| 20 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 2 | 1:09.0985 | ||||||
| 21 | 21 | J. R. Hildebrand | 1 | 1:09.6123 | ||||||
| 22 | 26 |  Takuma Sato | 2 | 1:09.3134 | ||||||
| OFFICIAL BOX SCORE | ||||||||||
Source for individual rounds:[5]
All cars ran Dallara chassis with aerokits supplied by their respective engine manufacturer.
This wasSébastien Bourdais last race until the August 26 race at Gateway due to suffering injuries inIndy 500 time trials
1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
Source for time gaps:[6]
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| Previous race: 2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix | Verizon IndyCar Series 2017 season | Next race: 2017 Indianapolis 500 |
| Previous race: 2016 Grand Prix of Indianapolis | Grand Prix of Indianapolis | Next race: 2018 IndyCar Grand Prix |
