- Honda Indy Toronto
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Honda Indy Toronto 
IndyCar Series Location Exhibition Place
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
43°38′14″N 79°24′56″W / 43.63722°N 79.41556°WCoordinates: 43°38′14″N 79°24′56″W / 43.63722°N 79.41556°WCorporate sponsor Honda Canada Inc. First race 1986 First ICS race 2009 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.
The Toronto Indy is one of six Canadian circuits to hold an Indy/Champ Car race, the others being Mont-Tremblant, Sanair, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton.
Contents
History
In 1977 and 1978, the race, then named the Molson Diamond Indy and sanctioned by USAC was held at Mosport International Raceway in nearby Bowmanville, Ontario. The first Indy race held in Canada was the 1967 Telegram Trophy 200 race at Mosport, which was won by Bobby Unser (his first career Indy victory).
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.
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 Molson 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, multi-million dollar deal to become the event’s title sponsor, re-naming 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.[1] On July 30, 2008, it was confirmed that the race would return to Toronto on July 12, 2009.[2] 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.[3]
Michael Andretti is the all-time race win leader with seven victories.
Past winners
USAC (Mosport)
Season Winning Driver Chassis Engine Team Race title 1967 
Bobby UnserEagle Ford Leader Cards Racing Telegram Trophy 200 1968 Dan GurneyEagle Weslake-Ford Oscar Olson Telegram Trophy 200 1969–1976: Not held 1977 A.J. FoytCoyote Foyt A.J. Foyt Enterprises Molson Diamond Indy 1978 Danny OngaisParnelli Cosworth Interscope Racing Molson Diamond Indy CART/Champ Car/IndyCar (Exhibition Place)
Indy Lights/Formula Atlantic
ARS/Indy Lights Atlantic Championship Season Winning Driver Season Winning Driver 1986 
Fabrizio Barbazza1986 Not held 1987 
Tommy Byrne1987 1988 
Calvin Fish1988 1989 Gary Rubio1989 1990 
Paul Tracy1990 Freddy Rhemrev1991 P.J. Jones1991 Stuart Crow1992 Bryan Herta1992 David Empringham1993 Bryan Herta1993 Claude Bourbonnais1994 Steve Robertson1994 Richie Hearn1995 Greg Moore1995 Richie Hearn1996 
Gualter Salles1996 Patrick Carpentier1997 Hélio Castro-Neves1997 Memo Gidley1998 Guy Smith1998 Alex Tagliani1999 Geoff Boss1999 Not held 2000 Not held 2000 Andrew Bordin2001 Townsend Bell2001 David Rutledge2002 Not held 2002 Michael Valiante2003 2003 A.J. Allmendinger2004 2004 Jon Fogarty2005 2005 Antoine Bessette2006 2006 Robbie Pecorari2007 2007 
Franck Perera2008 2008 Not held 2009 
Sebastian Saavedra2009 2010 Jean-Karl Vernay2010 2011 Stefan Wilson2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
Year Race Name Winner 2011 Streets of Toronto 100 Andrew Ranger2010 Jumpstart 100 Andrew RangerRace 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. [4] 2010 2011 25,000 est [5] References
- ^ Andretti Green buys Toronto Champ Car race.
- ^ Toronto, Edmonton on 2009 IndyCar Schedule.
- ^ Honda Indy Toronto News
- ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/toronto-indy-organizers-pleased-despite-low-turnout/article1215925/
- ^ http://thestar.blogs.com/autoracing/2011/07/heres-how-many-people-watched-the-honda-indy-toronto.html
External links
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IndyCar Series racesNext race: Races of the IndyCar Series Ovals Road & Street Courses Former Atlanta · Charlotte · Chicagoland · Dover · Gateway · Homestead · Kansas · Kentucky · Michigan · Milwaukee · Motegi · Nashville · Nazareth · New Hampshire · Phoenix · Pikes Peak · Richmond · Surfers Paradise · Walt Disney World · Watkins GlenCategories:- Indy Toronto
- Visitor attractions in Toronto
- Festivals in Toronto
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