Honda Indy Toronto
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IndyCar Series | |
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Location | Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario, Canada Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Corporate sponsor | Honda Canada Inc. |
First race | 1986 |
First ICS race | 2009 |
Laps | 85 |
Previous names | Molson Indy Toronto (1986–2005) Molson Grand Prix of Toronto (2006) Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto (2007) |
Most wins (driver) | Michael Andretti (7) |
Most wins (team) | Newman/Haas Racing (7) |
Most wins (manufacturer) | Lola (12) |
Circuit information | |
Surface | Asphalt/Concrete |
Length | 2.824 km (1.755 mi) |
Turns | 11 |
Lap record | 57.143 (Gil de Ferran, Reynard-Honda, 1999, CART) |
The Honda Indy Toronto is an annual IndyCar Series race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was a Champ Car World Series race held annually from 1986 to 2007. The track has 11 turns, is a 2.824-kilometre (1.755 mi) street circuit, and is located at Exhibition Place. It is now IndyCar's second-longest running street race, only behind the Grand Prix of Long Beach.[1]
The Toronto Indy is one of seven Canadian circuits to have held an Indy/Champ Car race, the others being Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Mont-Tremblant, Sanair, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton.
Contents
History
In 1967 the first Indy race held in Canada was the Telegram Trophy 200, held at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario as part of the USAC Championship Car season. The race was won by Bobby Unser for his first career Indy victory. The Telegram Trophy 200 was again held in 1968 at Mosport, this time won by Dan Gurney.
After a nine-year absence, Indycars returned to the Toronto area for the Molson Diamond Indy at Mosport Park won by A. J. Foyt in 1977 and Danny Ongais in 1978.
In the spring of 1985 Molson Breweries in-house promotional division, Molstar Sports & Entertainment proposed to run a CART sanctioned IndyCar race at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Toronto City Council approved the race by two votes in July 1985 for the race to be held the following year. [2]
The first Molson Indy Toronto was won by Bobby Rahal on July 20, 1986. The event quickly became Canada's second largest annual sporting event, eclipsed only by the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, with three-day attendance figures routinely around 170,000 people.[3]
In the 1996 race, American driver Jeff Krosnoff was killed in a crash with 4 laps remaining. In that same crash, volunteer corner marshall Gary Avrin was killed, and marshall Barbara Johnston also received injuries in the crash; she was treated and released that evening. Adrián Fernández won the race.
![](/w/images/thumb/f/f7/2013_Honda_Indy_Toronto_Exhibition_Place.jpg/300px-2013_Honda_Indy_Toronto_Exhibition_Place.jpg)
The name of the race was changed in 2006 from the Molson Indy Toronto to the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto after it was purchased by the Champ Car World Series from Molstar Sports and Entertainment. The name was also changed to distance Champ Car from the rival Indy Racing League (IRL), which had gained the exclusive right to use the "Indy" name after 2002. In 2007, after Molson dropped their title sponsorship to the race, Steelback Brewery signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal to become the event’s title sponsor, renaming it the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto. This marked the first title sponsorship change since the event started in 1986.
The unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League was announced on February 22, 2008, and the Grand Prix of Toronto's future was left in doubt. After attempts were made to preserve the race for 2008, it was confirmed on March 5, 2008, that the race had been cancelled. On May 15, 2008, Andretti Green Racing (co-owned by Michael Andretti) purchased the assets of the former Grand Prix of Toronto.[4] On July 30, 2008, it was confirmed that the race would return to Toronto on July 12, 2009.[5] On September 18, 2008, Andretti Green Racing announced that it had signed a multi-year agreement with Honda Canada Inc. for the title sponsorship of the race, henceforth named from 2009 onward as the Honda Indy Toronto.[6]
Michael Andretti is the all-time race win leader with seven victories.
Past winners
USAC (Mosport Park)
Season | Date | Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine | Race distance | Race time | Average speed (mph) |
Report | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laps | Miles (km) | |||||||||
USAC National Championship Trail | ||||||||||
1967 | July 1 | ![]() |
Leader Cards Racing | Eagle | Ford | 40 6 |
98.36 (158.295) 14.754 (23.744) |
0:59:14 – |
102.770 – |
Report |
1968 | June 15 | ![]() |
Oscar Olson | Eagle | Weslake-Ford | 40 40 |
98.36 (158.295) 98.36 (158.295) |
0:56:45 0:55:16 |
105.727 108.564 |
Report |
1969–1976: Not held | ||||||||||
1977 | July 3 | ![]() |
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Coyote | Foyt | 75 | 184.425 (296.803 km) | 2:03:35 | 90.733 | Report |
1978 | June 11 | ![]() |
Interscope Racing | Parnelli | Cosworth | 76 | 186.884 (300.761 km) | 2:08:38 | 87.164 | Report |
- 1967: Run in two heats of 98 miles (158 kilometers/40 laps) each. Second race stopped after 6 laps due to rain.
- 1968: Run in two heats of 98 miles (158 kilometers/40 laps) each.
CART/Champ Car/IndyCar (Exhibition Place)
- 1990: Race shortened due to rain.
- 1996: Race ended with 1 1/2 laps remaining (93 of 95 laps completed) because of fatal crash on Lake Shore Boulevard. Driver Jeff Krosnoff and a track marshal were killed and the race was stopped near the impact point a lap later.
- 2014: First race was postponed from Saturday to Sunday morning because of rain. The second planned race is still scheduled for Sunday afternoon which means two races in one day. Because of this, both races were shortened from 85 laps to 65 to compensate for the delay. The second race however was further shortened due to time limit.
- 2015: Due to Toronto hosting the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, the race was moved to June to avoid conflicting with the games.
Support race winners
Indy Lights / Atlantic Championship
ARS/Indy Lights | Atlantic Championship | |||
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Season | Winning driver | Season | Winning driver | |
1986 | ![]() |
1986 | Not held | |
1987 | ![]() |
1987 | ||
1988 | ![]() |
1988 | ||
1989 | ![]() |
1989 | ||
1990 | ![]() |
1990 | ![]() |
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1991 | ![]() |
1991 | ![]() |
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1992 | ![]() |
1992 | ![]() |
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1993 | ![]() |
1993 | ![]() |
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1994 | ![]() |
1994 | ![]() |
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1995 | ![]() |
1995 | ![]() |
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1996 | ![]() |
1996 | ![]() |
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1997 | ![]() |
1997 | ![]() |
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1998 | ![]() |
1998 | ![]() |
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1999 | ![]() |
1999 | Not held | |
2000 | Not held | 2000 | ![]() |
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2001 | ![]() |
2001 | ![]() |
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2002 | Not held | 2002 | ![]() |
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2003 | 2003 | ![]() |
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2004 | 2004 | ![]() |
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2005 | 2005 | ![]() |
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2006 | 2006 | ![]() |
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2007 | 2007 | ![]() |
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2008 | 2008 | Not held | ||
2009 | ![]() |
2009 | ||
2010 | ![]() |
2010 | ||
2011 | ![]() |
2011 | ||
2012 | ![]() |
2012 | ||
2013 | ![]() |
2013 | ||
2014 | ![]() |
2014 | ||
2015 | ![]() |
2015 |
SCCA Trans-Am Series
Year | Winning driver | Car | |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | ![]() |
Chevrolet Camaro | [7] |
1994 | ![]() |
Ford Mustang | [8] |
2004 | ![]() |
Jaguar XKR | [9] |
2005 | ![]() |
Jaguar XKR | [10] |
2010 | ![]() |
Chevrolet Corvette | [11] |
Pirelli World Challenge - GT
Season | Winning driver | Car |
---|---|---|
2007 | ![]() |
Porsche 911 GT3 |
2010 | ![]() ![]() |
Volvo S60 Acura TSX |
2013 | ![]() ![]() |
Cadillac CTS-V Chevrolet Camaro |
2014 | Race 1 | |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 911 GT3 R Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 Ford Mustang Boss 302S |
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Race 2 | ||
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Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R Porsche 911 GT3 R Kia Optima |
Pirelli World Challenge - Touring Car
Season | Winning driver | Car |
---|---|---|
2007 | ![]() |
Acura |
2010 | ![]() |
Honda Civic Si |
2013 | Race 1 | |
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Mazdaspeed 3 Honda Fit |
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Race 2 | ||
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Mazdaspeed 3 Mazda 2 |
CASCAR Super Series
Year | Race name | Winner | Car | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Miller Lite 100 | ![]() |
Pontiac | [12] |
2000 | Exide 99 | ![]() |
Ford | [13] |
2001 | ![]() |
Pontiac | [14] | |
2002 | CASCAR Toronto Indy, presented by NAPA | ![]() |
Ford | [15] |
2003 | Avenue ACDelco 100 | ![]() |
Chevrolet | [16] |
2004 | CASCAR Toronto Indy 100 | ![]() |
Chevrolet | [17] |
2005 | ATTO 100 | ![]() |
Ford | [18] |
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
Year | Race name | Winner | Car | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Jumpstart 100 | ![]() |
Dodge | [19] |
2011 | Streets of Toronto 100 | ![]() |
Dodge | [20] |
Current series
- Verizon IndyCar Series
- Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
- Canadian Touring Car Championship
- U.S. F2000 National Championship
- SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks[21]
- IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada
- Pro Mazda Presented by Cooper Tires
Former series
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. A variety of racing series have previously run as support series on the race weekend. These include:
- Champ Car World Series
- Atlantic Championship
- Barber Dodge Pro Series
- Pro Mazda Championship
- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
- CASCAR Super Series
- Trans-Am Series
- Ferrari Challenge
- North American Touring Car Championship
- Motorola Cup
- North American Fran Am 2000 Pro Championship
- Canadian Formula Ford Championship
- Pirelli World Challenge
- Player's Ltd./GM Motorsport series
- Honda Michelin Challenge Series
- F1600 Super Series
Race day attendance
Year | Attendance |
---|---|
1986 | 60,000 |
1987 | 64,000 |
1988 | 59,155 |
1989 | 61,156 |
1990 | 64,245 |
1991 | 61,264 |
1992 | 65,094 |
1993 | 66,225 |
1994 | 66,503 |
1995 | 68,238 |
2000 | 72,976 |
2001 | 73,628 |
2002 | 73,160 |
2003 | 73,255 |
2004 | 72,561 |
2005 | 73,155 |
2006 | |
2007 | |
2008 | Not held |
2009 | 15,000 est.[23] |
2010 | |
2011 | 25,000 est[24] |
References
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External links
Preceded by | Current IndyCar Series races |
Succeeded by Honda Indy 200 |
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- ↑ Andretti Green buys Toronto Champ Car race.
- ↑ Toronto, Edmonton on 2009 IndyCar Schedule.
- ↑ Honda Indy Toronto News
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- ↑ http://thestar.blogs.com/autoracing/2011/07/heres-how-many-people-watched-the-honda-indy-toronto.html