Competition
At more than 30 laps shorter than the street and road course races that precede it, the Long Beach race offers limited opportunities for strategy differentiation.
Will Power had his first race at COTA destroyed by what he labels “the worst rule in IndyCar.”
IndyCar’s preseason test at COTA revealed to Race Control that it had no choice but to accept total track limits violations at Turn 19.
Action up front may have been limited but IndyCar’s COTA debut included more general and position passes per mile than the St. Pete season opener.
INDYCAR has taken a hands-off approach to officiating track limits at COTA’s 19th turn, enabling faster lap times and slower tire degredation.
Through the lens of a new statistic, the on-track action of each IndyCar race can be quantified and compared.
For the first time in 13 years, a direct comparison of lap times between F1 machines and Indy cars will be possible, but it doesn’t matter.
The streets around Toronto’s Exhibition Place are as unique as they are lucrative for IndyCar.
Speaking objectively, James Hinchcliffe knows that the tradition of Bump Day must carry on.