see more Racing:
speedworld.sports-classics.stream
speedworld.sports-classics.stream
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00♪ I said speed, speed, give me what I need. I said speed, speed, give me what I need. All right! ♪
00:00:19Mid-season for the IndyCar World Series, today's stop, Toronto.
00:00:24From Exhibition Place on the shores of Lake Ontario, the ninth Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix.
00:00:33This year, ninth in a series of 16 races that lead to the IndyCar World Series Championship.
00:00:38Hello again, I'm Jim Lampley, today working with former IndyCar and Formula One racing star Derek Daly.
00:00:44Derek, what's the heart of the story here?
00:00:46I think the story so far has been Robbie Gordon, often known as Brash Gordon,
00:00:49comes here with the reputation of having blinding speed but lots of crashes.
00:00:53Now, he put one over the IndyCar fraternity yesterday by capturing his very first pole position of his career,
00:00:59beating out the likes of Nigel Mansell and the Penske Super Team.
00:01:02So we know he can win the battle, but is he strong and stable enough to win the war?
00:01:07That's what we'll have to wait and see.
00:01:10How the 31 cars qualified, Robbie Gordon earned his first career pole with a new track record.
00:01:14Nigel Mansell still looks for his first win of the year.
00:01:17Row two, all Penske. Al Unser Jr. looks for his sixth win in nine starts this year.
00:01:21Emerson Fittipaldi, second in points behind Unser Jr.
00:01:24Paul Tracy, defending Toronto champion, hometown favorite, third Penske car.
00:01:28Michael Andretti, winner in three of his last four starts here.
00:01:31Row four, Johansson of Sweden, Vassar of the United States.
00:01:34Row five, Bobby Rahal, who won the first IndyCar race here in 86.
00:01:37Mario Andretti's record 400th start in Arrivaderci Mario his last year on the circuit.
00:01:42Row six, Adrian Fernandez of Mexico, Teofabio of Italy.
00:01:45Row seven, Montermini of Italy, Guzelman of Brazil.
00:01:48Row eight, Jacques Villeneuve of Canada, big favorite here.
00:01:51Dominic Thompson of the United States.
00:01:53Row nine, Raul Vossel of Brazil, Scott Goodyear of Canada.
00:01:56Row ten, Americans, Graf and Sharp.
00:01:58Row eleven, Marco Greco of Brazil, Mark Smith of the USA.
00:02:01Row twelve, Mimo Scatarella's first ever IndyCar start.
00:02:04Ari Leijondijk, former Indy 500 champ.
00:02:06Alessandro Zanpedre and Claude Courbinet of Canada.
00:02:09Row thirteen, Willie T. Ribbs and Parker Johnstone of the United States.
00:02:12Row fourteen, row fifteen, Hiro Matsushita of Japan and Ross Bentley of Canada.
00:02:17Row sixteen, Jeff Wood, a last minute change.
00:02:19Mark Smith changes cars, moves from row eleven all the way back to the back of the pack.
00:02:24And a look at the race analysis.
00:02:26Ninety-eight laps, just under 175 miles.
00:02:29Paul Tracy won it a year ago.
00:02:31They'll take their first pit stop sometime after the 22nd, before the 36th lap.
00:02:36A look at the course, Derek.
00:02:37We have 11 turns here, squeezed into just under 1.8 miles.
00:02:41Now it's proving very difficult this year because of so many surface changes.
00:02:45The key to success here is do not stray off the racing line or you could get into big trouble.
00:02:51Somebody who did get into big trouble yesterday was Brian Hurta.
00:02:54A huge crash coming off the very demanding turn eleven.
00:02:58Hits the outside wall and Brian Hurta has suffered multiple pelvic fractures,
00:03:04fractures to his right leg and an unspecified urological injury.
00:03:08We wish Brian Hurta a speedy recovery.
00:03:10We'll have two pit reporters today.
00:03:12Let's meet Brian Hammons first.
00:03:14Thank you very much, Jim Lampley.
00:03:15Nigel Mansell is a very confident man this weekend.
00:03:18So far this year, it's been very frustrating.
00:03:20No matter how hard he drives, he just can't seem to beat the Penske cars.
00:03:24Here at Toronto, he's been faster than Team Penske in every session.
00:03:27So, Nigel feels today is his best bet to pick up his first win of the year.
00:03:31Now, let's meet Jan Bekus.
00:03:33Brian, Allenser Jr. was asked if he had the advice for first-time pole sitter Robbie Gordon.
00:03:39What was his advice for Robbie?
00:03:40Wait for me to go by, then stand on it.
00:03:42Jim?
00:03:43All right, thanks a lot, Jan Bekus.
00:03:45They're coming to the end of the last pace rap.
00:03:47We get ready for a green flag, and there's a lot of speculation
00:03:50about what Gordon and Mansell will do off the start.
00:03:53Derek, most suspecting that Nigel will lay back and let Robbie go.
00:03:57I don't know if Mansell wants to do that.
00:03:59Remember, Gordon had the choice of the right side or left side of the grid.
00:04:04He has chosen the right side, which is the inside line, down to turn one
00:04:08and he knows all he has to do is equal Nigel Mansell's start
00:04:11and he'll still get to the first apex first.
00:04:13And here they come onto the front straight around this last left-hand turn
00:04:19and then they will take the green flag and the race will be underway
00:04:22and we're starting with a yellow.
00:04:24Yellow flag out, so the first lap is a caution lap.
00:04:27Robbie Gordon has the choice of the speed to bring the cars down to the line.
00:04:32However, this lap will count, remember,
00:04:35but he didn't feel that Mansell was lined up,
00:04:38so we go around one more time under yellow.
00:04:42It will take a replay look at that start to see the judgment which led to the yellow flag.
00:04:48Gordon on the inside, but Mansell is too far behind,
00:04:53so we deem this an unfair start.
00:04:56We'll do it all over again.
00:05:00So the first lap under the caution,
00:05:02and you can see the cars moving back and forth to warm their tires.
00:05:05There are the three Penske cars, Unser Jr., then Fittipaldi, then Tracy,
00:05:09and here is how dominant they've been on the IndyCar circuit this year.
00:05:121,016 total laps in eight races coming into this weekend
00:05:17and you can see that all but 94 laps have been led by Penske cars
00:05:22and, of course, headlining that the tremendous dominance of Al Unser Jr.,
00:05:26who has won five of the eight races so far on the circuit.
00:05:29And there was actually some controversy with some newspaper headlines here in Toronto this weekend
00:05:34when Robbie Gordon suggested there may be some cheating going on by the Penske team.
00:05:39Absolutely refuted by Roger Penske.
00:05:43I personally believe the Penske chassis is the best car in the class of the field.
00:05:48That's why they're so successful.
00:05:50And now they'll come by the start-finish line and the flag tower for the second time,
00:05:54so we watch to see if they go green on this, the second lap.
00:05:59Gordon just ahead of Mansell again, this time they go green
00:06:03and Robbie Gordon plunges into the first turn with the lead.
00:06:06Mansell in second place, the three Penske cars stringing out behind them,
00:06:09and then Michael Andretti.
00:06:11And Paul Tracy got the jump on Al Unser Jr. under braking, down into the braking zone,
00:06:16but Robbie Gordon did exactly what he wanted to do and got that opening apex.
00:06:21So there is Robbie Gordon, 25 years old, from Orange, California,
00:06:25coming off of an off-road racing background similar to that that produced Rick Mears.
00:06:30And now the on-board camera in the car of Nigel Mansell in second place.
00:06:35Heavy braking, second gear, infield corners, Mario Andretti,
00:06:39tremendous run by his mechanics after the warm-up this morning.
00:06:42They rebuilt his car, led by John Simmons,
00:06:45and he didn't even know whether he could take the start.
00:06:48Big crash.
00:06:50Four cars are involved here, one, two, three, four, five, six of them now.
00:06:54We go back to the lead and look at Robbie Gordon in front of Mansell.
00:06:57Michael Andretti has made a big first lap run to get into third place.
00:07:01Full course yellow now, and they'll sort out these six cars
00:07:05to determine which ones are capable of continuing in the race.
00:07:08Well, they will have to move those cars very quickly
00:07:11because there is no way through for the leading cars.
00:07:15The yellow car was Zampadri, Scott Arell is involved in it,
00:07:18two Italians there, Parker Johnstone can't go anywhere,
00:07:21and the Acura car, Machuster, the Japanese,
00:07:24Zampadri stops in sympathy, the third Italian,
00:07:27so they're all there in a group.
00:07:29And while this is going on, Al Unser Jr. has left the race course
00:07:33and gone into the pits, so an early adjustment for Unser Jr.
00:07:37in one of the three Penske cars,
00:07:39and there's a look at the Penske pit crew working with Al Jr. right now.
00:07:43And one of the most spectacular starts was Michael Andretti
00:07:47because he just rocketed all the way through
00:07:51from his lower-than-he-likes starting position.
00:07:53Here's a replay of the incident.
00:07:55Zampadri comes down the inside of Scott Arell,
00:07:59nowhere to go, clips the inside of him, goes onto the surface change,
00:08:04and now the traffic jam starts.
00:08:06Claude Bourbonnais sneaks around the outside,
00:08:09Parker Johnstone has to stop,
00:08:11Mark Smith crawls around the outside, but there was a traffic jam.
00:08:1626-year-old Mimo Scott Arell in his first ever IndyCar start.
00:08:20At the beginning of that incident, we go back to Brian Hammonds now in the pit.
00:08:23Brian.
00:08:24It looks like the problem is terminal for Al Unser Jr.
00:08:26He reported he thought he had a fire on board early in the race.
00:08:30He was missing out, he came in, they were looking for electric problems.
00:08:33It is an engine problem, he's climbing out,
00:08:36and it's a tough, tough day for the points leader.
00:08:38Brian, Paul Tracy is also in the pits, as I understand it.
00:08:41Do you have any idea what's happened with Tracy?
00:08:43I will check it out, Jim.
00:08:45All right.
00:08:47So already we have yellow out on the entire track,
00:08:50the second yellow of the race, two Penske cars in the pits,
00:08:53much going on in the first few laps of the Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix,
00:08:58and we'll be back right after these messages.
00:09:02Automobiles in America for the past 11 years.
00:09:05By Goodyear, number one in tires.
00:09:07By new Quicksilver wheel cleaner from Armor All,
00:09:10just spray it on and hose it.
00:09:12And by Craftsman, a line of 1,600 hand tools,
00:09:16made in America, guaranteed forever, only at Sears.
00:09:23We bring you back live to Exhibition Place, the Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix.
00:09:27Early Penske disaster, you saw the trouble for Al Unser Jr.,
00:09:31and now let's go down to Brian Hammonds in the pits.
00:09:33Al just discussed what he said.
00:09:34Man, this is really going to hurt the points.
00:09:36This is unlike a Penske problem.
00:09:38What happened?
00:09:39Well, something in the engine, it just all of a sudden happened.
00:09:42You know, everything was okay with the marble car this morning,
00:09:45and, you know, it was all of a sudden, and it just went away.
00:09:51I don't know exactly what happened.
00:09:53Tough break, another race coming up.
00:09:55Yeah, you know, we definitely hurt the points,
00:09:58but, you know, we're there, and, you know, we're very competitive.
00:10:04All right, now let's go to Jan Beekus.
00:10:06Well, Brian, as Jim mentioned,
00:10:07Paul Tracy also found himself on pit road at the same time.
00:10:11It turned out that he made contact with another car with the right front wheel
00:10:15that had to replace a bolt that actually holds the steering arm itself.
00:10:19We could not see exactly how many laps he has lost,
00:10:21but certainly he's well off the front of the field.
00:10:25Thank you very much, Jan Beekus,
00:10:26and our information for the moment is that Tracy is one lap down
00:10:30after four laps of this 98-lap race.
00:10:33And here is another look from inside Michael Andretti's car
00:10:36at the early action for Michael there.
00:10:38This is turn 11. He takes the checkered flag.
00:10:41Now, watch what he does here, because he is spectacular.
00:10:44He was sixth on the grid, lines everything up here,
00:10:48across the concrete with the service chasers.
00:10:50Look at Tracy sideways in the Penske ahead of him.
00:10:57Let's just follow Michael's progress here.
00:10:59This is the braking zone.
00:11:02Because I asked him if it was an EDE.
00:11:04I don't want it an EDE.
00:11:06OK, thank you.
00:11:07See here, still behind the two Penskes.
00:11:09There's Tracy.
00:11:10Looks like Tracy hit the wall on the right side.
00:11:14And now we visit the car of Nigel Mansell
00:11:17as he chases leader Robbie Gordon.
00:11:19You saw the brief work by Michael Andretti under the green
00:11:23as he got around two Penske cars
00:11:25and moved himself into third place in the standings
00:11:28behind Gordon, the leader,
00:11:30who is there in the middle of your screen,
00:11:32and Mansell in second place.
00:11:34Now, let's take a look at the car of Michael Andretti.
00:11:37He's in second place.
00:11:39And Gordon, the leader,
00:11:40who is there in the middle of your screen,
00:11:42and Mansell in second place.
00:11:46And now they're getting ready to go green again.
00:11:48All four laps so far under the yellow.
00:11:51Only the one brief stretch of racing under the green.
00:11:53And now they go green again as Gordon goes back into turn one
00:11:56ahead of Mansell and Andretti
00:11:58with Emerson Fittipaldi now in fourth place.
00:12:00And Stefan Johansson in the 93 Penske
00:12:03is hanging on to this group here.
00:12:05But Gordon, who is the fastest
00:12:07in a single official session here,
00:12:09again controls this race.
00:12:11But having Nigel Mansell
00:12:13and Michael Andretti right behind you
00:12:15turns the pressure cooker up.
00:12:18We're back in Michael Andretti's car.
00:12:20You look at his perspective from behind Nigel Mansell.
00:12:24The fastest Reinhardt in the field here.
00:12:27Didn't get a fair run in qualifying.
00:12:29Just couldn't get the balance he liked.
00:12:31Made more changes this morning.
00:12:34How hard did they try with our pole sitter
00:12:36having set the pole, then went out and hit the wall.
00:12:38Mansell is running second.
00:12:40Has been in the wall twice this weekend already.
00:12:42In fact, he has a very heavy bruising
00:12:44on his left wrist
00:12:46as a legacy of one of those wall bangers.
00:12:48Michael Andretti coming off
00:12:50of his year of Formula One racing.
00:12:52Not a big success, but as a road racer
00:12:54in Indy cars, he has been spectacular, Derek.
00:12:57Winning more than 33% of the road races in the 90s
00:13:00despite the dominance of the competitive Penske cars.
00:13:03Absolutely spectacular.
00:13:05He understands track position.
00:13:07He also knows that Gordon
00:13:09is the fastest man on the racetrack at the moment.
00:13:11He's got to be careful of his own tires.
00:13:13Robbie Gordon still on the lead.
00:13:15Let's visit Jan Binkus in the pits.
00:13:17You both mentioned that Nigel Mansell
00:13:19has hit the wall twice here this weekend.
00:13:21Remember last year, he hit the wall three times.
00:13:23Let's go back upstairs, guys.
00:13:25It looks as though Emerson Fittipaldi
00:13:27has just been able to go by Michael Andretti.
00:13:29We just talked about Michael's bravery.
00:13:31He tried the outside move
00:13:33on Nigel Mansell under heavy braking,
00:13:35and he lost out on the tussle.
00:13:37Almost hit the tire barrier,
00:13:39and Emerson takes advantage and slides through.
00:13:42A canny piece of work by Fittipaldi,
00:13:44spotting the momentary opportunity.
00:13:46Mansell moves inside, blocks the line.
00:13:48Michael is too brave here,
00:13:50because at this position, he can't turn in.
00:13:52And he runs out of road
00:13:54right here, kisses the tires,
00:13:56and there goes Emerson.
00:13:58As Emerson's left front just pokes his nose in.
00:14:00He gets an easy place.
00:14:02So the change in the standings now.
00:14:04Seven laps completed out of 98.
00:14:06Robbie Gordon, the leader, Nigel Mansell in 2nd place.
00:14:08Emerson Fittipaldi moves up to 3rd.
00:14:10Michael Andretti, 4th.
00:14:12Stefan Johansson is in a secure 5th place
00:14:14and moving well.
00:14:16And Mario Andretti follows him.
00:14:18Bobby Rahal is in the old-spec Honda engine.
00:14:20But Robbie Gordon beginning to stretch his legs here,
00:14:22because the fight is from Mansell
00:14:24all the way back.
00:14:26And for the moment, Derek, there's no indication
00:14:28that what's happening on the track is any different
00:14:30than was the case in qualifying,
00:14:32when as you pointed out, Robbie Gordon was fastest
00:14:34in all four sessions.
00:14:36All sessions and in control.
00:14:38And he actually came here to the racetrack this morning
00:14:40with two sets of tires that had only
00:14:42two laps on them.
00:14:44So he has preserved his tires, which is critical in the race.
00:14:46Good look at Stefan Johansson
00:14:48embroiled in a huge tussle
00:14:50with Mario Andretti, who again
00:14:52didn't have a fair crack in qualifying
00:14:54because he blew his engine
00:14:56before he went out to do his fastest laps.
00:14:58And of course then,
00:15:00he had all that gearbox trouble this morning.
00:15:02But Michael Andretti closes again on Emerson.
00:15:06There's the battle for 3rd place
00:15:08behind Gordon and Mansell, Michael Andretti
00:15:10right on the rear wing of Emerson Fittipaldi.
00:15:12Fittipaldi in 3rd place,
00:15:14looking ahead to later this afternoon
00:15:16when his Brazilian soccer team
00:15:18will be gunning for a World Cup.
00:15:20But all concentration right now
00:15:22on this piece of work as he tries to stay ahead of Andretti.
00:15:24Now we visit the onboard car
00:15:26with Michael Andretti
00:15:28as he looks at Nigel Mansell ahead of him.
00:15:30Or Emerson Fittipaldi, I should say.
00:15:32Concrete patches.
00:15:34They're so slippery.
00:15:36Long, long right-handers.
00:15:38This is 3rd gear.
00:15:404th gear.
00:15:425th gear.
00:15:46Sequential gearbox down to 2nd.
00:15:48There's the concrete patch. So slippery.
00:15:50Causes so many people to go off into the wall.
00:15:54Fittipaldi with the blast through
00:15:56the most demanding corner of all of racing.
00:15:58Turn 11 right here.
00:16:00Big bang. Look at his hands
00:16:02fight with that steering wheel
00:16:04as he tries to keep that car straight
00:16:06in an attempt to get the place from Emerson.
00:16:08Turn 11 on this course.
00:16:10Doesn't look like much on the map
00:16:12but because you take it flat out,
00:16:14you say, Derek, the highest testosterone turn
00:16:16in all of IndyCar racing.
00:16:18Fittipaldi there. Still ahead of Michael Andretti.
00:16:20It is every bit of that gym and more.
00:16:24Look at Michael under brake.
00:16:26He closes it right up
00:16:28but he's not quite close enough
00:16:30as he exits some of these corners.
00:16:34So the leader remains.
00:16:36Robbie Gordon after 9 of 98 laps
00:16:38in this IndyCar Grand Prix at Toronto.
00:16:40Nigel Mansell 2nd.
00:16:42Fittipaldi 3rd. Michael Andretti 4th.
00:16:44And we'll be back.
00:16:46As he chases Mario Andretti.
00:16:48This is the battle for 6th and 7th place.
00:16:50Well up ahead of him.
00:16:52Robbie Gordon has built a 3.5 second lead.
00:16:54A working margin early.
00:16:56Rahal battling with Mario Andretti here.
00:17:00And Robbie Gordon
00:17:02has spun out.
00:17:04So Gordon falls foul again
00:17:06to over-enthusiasm.
00:17:08Clips the wall
00:17:10and just hands the race lead to Nigel Mansell.
00:17:12A critical mistake
00:17:14for Robbie Gordon.
00:17:16This on the 12th of 98 laps
00:17:18and with Gordon having already
00:17:20seemed to demonstrate that just as was the case
00:17:22in qualifying, his car was the quickest.
00:17:24A look now.
00:17:26Comes through turn 11, finishes another lap.
00:17:28Heavy braking for the first corner.
00:17:30Look at this.
00:17:32Flat left rear tyre
00:17:34for Robbie Gordon.
00:17:36So unfair of us to suggest that he made a mistake.
00:17:38Robbie Gordon shreds
00:17:40that left rear tyre
00:17:42and limps
00:17:44down the escape road.
00:17:46Derek Walker gets on the radio to his driver
00:17:48to understand how a possible win
00:17:50slipped away from Walker Racing.
00:17:54Brian Ammons,
00:17:56what's the word from the Walker Pit?
00:17:58Well as soon as Robbie slid off the race course
00:18:00he was on the radio saying,
00:18:02push me, push me, push me.
00:18:04He wants to get back to the pits very badly
00:18:06but unfortunately when he gets back here
00:18:08he's going to find himself almost out of contention
00:18:10of this race.
00:18:12So your new leader boy
00:18:14finds Nigel Mansell on top
00:18:16beating him.
00:18:18So Robbie Gordon as you can see
00:18:20didn't get back on the racetrack.
00:18:22He is now one lap down to Nigel Mansell
00:18:24but he is trying to make his way back
00:18:26and we saw this again yesterday
00:18:28in qualifying.
00:18:30I don't know how it happened here
00:18:32but Robbie Gordon touched a wall yesterday
00:18:34and exactly the same thing
00:18:36happened as we see here.
00:18:38It was the other tyre, the right rear
00:18:40but Gordon is helpless
00:18:42as he locks the brakes
00:18:44and slides the car down the escape road
00:18:46and the debris that he has left on the racetrack
00:18:48has now brought out a full
00:18:50course yellow. Gordon can take
00:18:52advantage of that.
00:18:54Bitter piece of racing luck. 25 year old
00:18:56Robbie Gordon, never yet a winner in an IndyCar race.
00:18:58Second last year at Mid-Ohio
00:19:00appeared to have his best possible chance
00:19:02of winning here this year
00:19:04and after having sat on the pole
00:19:06and controlled the early stages of the race
00:19:08the shredded rear left
00:19:10ends Robbie Gordon's chance at victory
00:19:12at least for the moment.
00:19:14So Robbie Gordon can do nothing
00:19:16except try and preserve that left rear
00:19:18suspension. Don't go too fast because you can
00:19:20break it. Get a new set of tyres
00:19:22and get back into the
00:19:24fray but I'm afraid his chance of
00:19:26success is zero. Brian Hammond is down
00:19:28there. And it'll be a four tyre change
00:19:30and they might as well fill him with fuel while he's in
00:19:32here. A dejected Robbie Gordon sitting in the
00:19:34cockpit. The work is now done.
00:19:36No evidence really that he touched the wall
00:19:38like he did yesterday, Derek. I believe the left
00:19:40rear just blew.
00:19:42Well then that is most
00:19:44unfortunate for Robbie Gordon because that is
00:19:46the first piece of bad luck he
00:19:48has had here all weekend.
00:19:50Gordon has dominated every session
00:19:52and now a puncture seems to have
00:19:54taken away a possible win.
00:19:56Last year IndyCar's World Series
00:19:58champion Nigel Mansell, the former
00:20:00Formula One champion, is
00:20:02winless so far this year.
00:20:04But now he leads in Toronto
00:20:06over another former World Formula One
00:20:08champion, Emerson Fittipaldi.
00:20:10We'll be back.
00:20:14Drivers reach nearly 200 miles an hour
00:20:16and then slow down to 30 or 40 miles
00:20:18per hour in the slow sections of the track.
00:20:20The brakes are really what take a beating.
00:20:22So the crews replace these normally
00:20:24nice aerodynamic coverings
00:20:26with large brake ducts which are designed
00:20:28to route air to the braking systems
00:20:30for cooling. The air is directed
00:20:32through this duct to an area
00:20:34called the upright. The air is
00:20:36forced through that upright
00:20:38through the actual brake disc itself
00:20:40and then it's exhausted out the side
00:20:42of the wheel. Now because the brake disc
00:20:44itself, the temperature that it runs at
00:20:46is so crucial, the teams will choose
00:20:48from different sized ducts
00:20:50to get that temperature optimized.
00:20:52Now everyone runs these ducts. The only time
00:20:54that you wouldn't is if it were raining
00:20:56because then instead of an air duct, it turns out
00:20:58to be a rain duct. If you get water all
00:21:00over these brakes, the driver has a real hard
00:21:02time slowing the car down.
00:21:06Back live to IndyCar Racing in Toronto.
00:21:08As you watch from the in-car camera
00:21:10of leader Nigel Mansell, we remind you
00:21:12coming up next NBC Sports presents the final round
00:21:14of the JAL Big Apple Classic
00:21:16presented by Golf Magazine. Current
00:21:18leader Beth Daniel with a
00:21:20three-shot lead going into the fourth round
00:21:22against the LPGA's best golfers.
00:21:24Final round of the JAL Big Apple Classic
00:21:26presented by Golf Magazine coming up
00:21:28next right here on NBC Sports.
00:21:30And now we are back in the in-car camera
00:21:32of leader Nigel Mansell.
00:21:34Last year's IndyCar World Series
00:21:36champion. Amazingly to some,
00:21:38Derek Daly, four
00:21:40of his five wins in IndyCars
00:21:42have been not on road courses where
00:21:44he was so dominant in Formula 1, but
00:21:46rather on oval tracks. And it was a
00:21:48surprise to me and probably to everybody
00:21:50else that he was so good on those oval
00:21:52tracks. I think it demonstrates
00:21:54that he understands the car technique
00:21:56but more than anything else, he learns
00:21:58racetracks very fast and he's
00:22:00very brave. It does not faze
00:22:02him to run at high speed right
00:22:04against the concrete walls.
00:22:06So, normal drivers, let's say,
00:22:08that have to get used to oval tracks and concrete
00:22:10walls, doesn't apply to
00:22:12someone like a Nigel Mansell. Quickly,
00:22:14let's go back to the pits and visit again with Brian Hammons.
00:22:16Carl Hogan is the co-owner of
00:22:18Rahal Hogan Racing. Bobby qualified
00:22:20with the updated version of a Honda, yet
00:22:22you switched to the old motor for the race.
00:22:24What was the reason? Well, the
00:22:26original engine is sort of still
00:22:28a little bit in the experimental stage, so
00:22:30for reliability, we went with this engine.
00:22:32This is the engine we sort of raced at the beginning
00:22:34of the year and we felt it was reliable, so
00:22:36we went with that and trying to see if
00:22:38that won't hold out. And you're testing a brand new
00:22:40Honda motor this coming week. Yeah, this Wednesday
00:22:42we've got a new motor, which is an all-new motor
00:22:44and we're anxious to get it because
00:22:46we don't know what to expect, but we're hoping for the best.
00:22:48Good luck today. Thank you very much.
00:22:50Carl Hogan. Honda's really trying
00:22:52hard to do well in IndyCar racing. This will be their
00:22:54third motor and we're just past the halfway point
00:22:56of the season. Derek? I think
00:22:58they were surprised just how competitive
00:23:00and how difficult it is to
00:23:02produce horsepower
00:23:04enough to run at the frontier
00:23:06and these failures, let's say,
00:23:08might actually spur Honda on
00:23:10to get even more development, much
00:23:12faster, and give Reiha something decent.
00:23:14They were able, Derek, to produce enough
00:23:16horsepower a few years back to win races
00:23:18in Formula 1, but that was an entirely
00:23:20different engine. When Honda make
00:23:22an official commitment, they
00:23:24do and have tended to dominate
00:23:26every series. That's what we expected
00:23:28here. If it follows true to form,
00:23:30they will be winners in
00:23:32IndyCar racing. Something
00:23:34unusual, however, about the IndyCar engine,
00:23:36it uses methanol as opposed
00:23:38to regular gasoline, which is
00:23:40what they've worked with for many years in the past.
00:23:42A quick trip to our other pit reporter, Jan Binkus.
00:23:44Jan? Jim, earlier we started
00:23:46to talk about Nigel Mansell and why he's
00:23:48hit the wall so many times here at Toronto.
00:23:50Well, his quote is that this track
00:23:52has a lot less grip than most of the drivers
00:23:54expect, but during the race,
00:23:56as the rubber gets laid down, it gets
00:23:58stickier and stickier as the race progresses.
00:24:00It's always been in practice that
00:24:02Mansell ends up in the wall. Obviously, this is the
00:24:04circumstances that he's been hoping for.
00:24:06And we revisit the car of Nigel
00:24:08Mansell right now. The
00:24:10leader in the race with
00:24:12pole sitter Robbie Gordon having
00:24:14exited and dropped now
00:24:16to number 27, one lap down
00:24:18after the shredded rear tire. And you get a good
00:24:20look here of Mansell's right front suspension.
00:24:22See the top bar? That's the steering
00:24:24tie rod. He broke that this
00:24:26morning when he clipped the wall on the inside.
00:24:28See the wishbone, the top
00:24:30wishbone? He broke that on the left-hand
00:24:32side when he hit the wall yesterday.
00:24:3417 out of 98
00:24:36laps completed. Just a little bit short
00:24:38of one-fifth of the way into the race.
00:24:40We are anticipating a green
00:24:42flag as they come around this time.
00:24:44Leaderboard shows Nigel Mansell on
00:24:46top, Fittipaldi second, Michael Andretti
00:24:48third, Stefan Johansson fourth, Mario
00:24:50Andretti fifth, and Bobby Rahal sixth
00:24:52as they get ready to come past the
00:24:54front straight and go green.
00:24:58And Nigel Mansell knows how to
00:25:00make green cars. Pulls out a huge lead
00:25:02over Emerson, but
00:25:04look at Michael. He's all over the place, going down
00:25:06the inside of Emerson. He pulls it off.
00:25:08Michael Andretti has
00:25:10already had more passes here
00:25:12than any other racer. Probably
00:25:14twice as many passes in the race as
00:25:16any other racer so far. A renewed
00:25:18confident Michael Andretti
00:25:20now being engineered by Mo Non
00:25:22who engineered Ganassi's cars last
00:25:24year. Michael and Mo have a very
00:25:26good rapport almost immediately. Started
00:25:28working in Cleveland. Michael said he
00:25:30enjoys the rapport with
00:25:32Michael, and here's what happened in the first
00:25:34corner. Under braking, down
00:25:36the inside of Emerson, and
00:25:38the steering movement was when he turned
00:25:40onto the concrete, slips
00:25:42and slides, keeps her in control,
00:25:44and away he goes. A race course that
00:25:46Michael Andretti absolutely loves
00:25:48as you ride in his car now. He's
00:25:50led the most laps ever here, 256
00:25:52of them. Two times in
00:25:541991 and 92, Derek. He
00:25:56led every lap of the race. Then he
00:25:58missed last year during his tour of duty in
00:26:00Formula One, so he comes back to a race
00:26:02course where he feels utterly
00:26:04dominant. And look at that rear suspension
00:26:06bounce up and down.
00:26:08And now here's a
00:26:10replay. Replay
00:26:12of an incident earlier with
00:26:14Robbie Gordon. You see him go down
00:26:16the inside of Mike Groff.
00:26:20We do get our pictures from
00:26:22CBC Canada, so we're not
00:26:24sure what that replay was to show us,
00:26:26but look at the traffic jam down
00:26:28the long back straight here, and
00:26:30we're up to yellow for Jeff Wood.
00:26:34Mark Smith out of the race. Problem with the
00:26:36drivetrain. You saw Jeff Wood pull to the
00:26:38side of the track there on the long back
00:26:40straight. Yellow caution flag out there.
00:26:42We haven't seen the yellow on the front straight, so it is
00:26:44not yet a full track yellow.
00:26:46Nigel Mansell with a lead now of
00:26:481.26 seconds over
00:26:50Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi
00:26:52chasing in third place with Stefan
00:26:54Johansson in fourth. And the significance
00:26:56of Johansson is that he is
00:26:58the fourth Penske chassis
00:27:00in the field. A 1993
00:27:02Penske chassis purchased from
00:27:04Roger by his team for Johansson to drive.
00:27:06That's right. This car last year
00:27:08was painted in Marlboro colors. It was used
00:27:10by Paul Tracy to win
00:27:12at Laguna Seca. As Rahal
00:27:14continues his tremendous
00:27:16chase of Mario Andretti,
00:27:18even if he is a couple
00:27:20of Honda horses shy of what
00:27:22Mario's Ford may produce. Fittipaldi,
00:27:24then Johansson, and then Mario
00:27:26Andretti, and then Bobby Rahal. Here's
00:27:28another look at the same procession as
00:27:30they go by the disabled car on the back straight.
00:27:32Look at the line of cars here.
00:27:34There's Montermini, the Hollywood
00:27:36car of Guzelmin. Scott
00:27:38Goodyear is there. Bozell is there.
00:27:40Way back, Mark. Paul Tracy
00:27:42is there. That's Willie T. Rives
00:27:44and Claude Bourbonnet.
00:27:46And now back to the front of the pack, and you look at the leader
00:27:48Nigel Mansell, and there's his margin.
00:27:501.3 over Andretti.
00:27:523.6 over Fittipaldi.
00:27:54And they are bunching up once again
00:27:56with that yellow out on the back straight.
00:27:58Oh, Michael is beginning
00:28:00to take the fight to Nigel Mansell
00:28:02here. Now a problem the Lola cars
00:28:04have had. About 20
00:28:06laps into the race,
00:28:08they seem to have problems with their
00:28:10rear tires. That's when
00:28:12other cars pounce. Those other cars in the past
00:28:14have been the Penske's, but
00:28:16Michael in the Raynard beginning to
00:28:18take the fight to Nigel
00:28:20Mansell. Quick update on Emerson
00:28:22Fittipaldi with Brian Ammons. Brian?
00:28:24Emerson Fittipaldi is sliding
00:28:26backwards just a little bit because he feels
00:28:28he has pressure going down in one of the
00:28:30rear tires, but he is comfortable
00:28:32enough to ride it out until the first
00:28:34pit stops. They had the tires laid out
00:28:36here in the Penske pits, anticipating
00:28:38a stop, but he feels comfortable enough
00:28:40with the pressure going down in one of the rear tires
00:28:42to ride it out for a while.
00:28:4421 laps into the race and we're anticipating
00:28:46pit stops sometime within the next
00:28:4810 or 12 laps. Brian Ammons, he certainly
00:28:50was comfortable earlier on because Emerson
00:28:52at the moment has set the fastest lap
00:28:54of the race at a 59.85.
00:28:56Only
00:28:58a hundredth of a second quicker
00:29:00than this man here, Michael Andretti.
00:29:02But Michael is on
00:29:04the charge. He has not been in a position
00:29:06to challenge for the lead
00:29:08almost since Australia, the opening
00:29:10race, when he was dominant and managed to
00:29:12win. Indeed, Andretti after his
00:29:14year away in Formula 1 made a triumphant
00:29:16return at the first race on the circuit
00:29:18this year in Australia, when he won
00:29:20out-dueling Nigel Mansell.
00:29:22Right now, we have the potential
00:29:24for a replay of that particular drama.
00:29:26Andretti has not won
00:29:28since that race. He's been frustrated
00:29:30and mystified, and he may get
00:29:32satisfaction today.
00:29:36Back live at the Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix
00:29:38there's a look at your leader, Nigel Mansell
00:29:40being chased by Michael Andretti.
00:29:42You see the margin. It is now down to
00:29:44less than half a second as Michael
00:29:46is dogging Mansell from behind,
00:29:48Eric Daly. And this is a great
00:29:50fight. Nothing Michael likes more
00:29:52than make a run down the inside. He has a look
00:29:54again, the same move as he
00:29:56pulled off on Emerson. It'll be more
00:29:58difficult, though, with Mansell.
00:30:00So much talent,
00:30:02Derek. Such a great road racer
00:30:04as he shows here. How could the Formula
00:30:061 experiment have failed?
00:30:08Well, it affected him badly because it took
00:30:10a lot of confidence away, but I'll tell you what,
00:30:12look at the confidence! Who's back
00:30:14now as he sees Mansell brake
00:30:16so late, misses the apex.
00:30:18Michael is putting pressure
00:30:20under Nigel Mansell.
00:30:22Andretti dueling there with the only
00:30:24man ever to have won the Formula 1
00:30:26World Championship and in the IndyCar
00:30:28World Series Championship back to
00:30:30back. That was Mansell in 92
00:30:32and 93. Michael Andretti
00:30:34looking for the inside line
00:30:36and taking the lead
00:30:38away from Nigel Mansell there.
00:30:40Loves to do it under braking.
00:30:42Slices down from a 5th gear
00:30:44kink, flat kink, and comes
00:30:46down the inside for the first time
00:30:48since Australia.
00:30:50Michael Andretti takes the lead
00:30:52in dominant style to the delight
00:30:54of everybody at Gym Ganassi Racing.
00:30:56But Mansell looks to be in trouble.
00:30:58He's got a puncture. Mansell's right
00:31:00rear is flat. So Mansell
00:31:02goes the way of Robbie Gordon before
00:31:04him.
00:31:06And he just passed the pit so he has to
00:31:08go all the way around almost
00:31:102 full miles as that tyre
00:31:12shreds itself on the back. Mansell
00:31:14is dropping way, way
00:31:16down the order and that tyre
00:31:18will leave the car any second. And this
00:31:20could cost him any chance
00:31:22to challenge again for the lead because
00:31:24when all this is over, Derek, he's going to be
00:31:26a lap down, isn't he? He will be a lap
00:31:28down the way it is at the moment.
00:31:30Unless he gets lucky and Andretti decides
00:31:32to pit for some reason. But that isn't likely.
00:31:34No. Michael right now
00:31:36has the speed that if he could just control
00:31:38himself and stay between these very
00:31:40damaging concrete walls, he
00:31:42is in the driver's seat in no uncertain
00:31:44terms. And the man who will move up
00:31:46the 2nd place to chase Michael Andretti
00:31:48is Emerson Fittipaldi. Good
00:31:50news in terms of racing skill
00:31:52because Fittipaldi is certainly one of the
00:31:54great drivers of his era, but his car
00:31:56hasn't had a great grip this week. You look at
00:31:58Mansell still struggling around the track
00:32:00on that rim. I would love to get a look
00:32:02at the right rear rim of
00:32:04Nigel Mansell. We're now inside with him.
00:32:06See how slow he has to go.
00:32:08But if there was contact
00:32:10between Mansell and
00:32:12Michael, that could easily cause
00:32:14the puncture. We will hopefully get
00:32:16an update from the pits to see
00:32:18is there damage on that right rear tire
00:32:20from Nigel Mansell that caused him
00:32:22to drop out of the lead. And now you go
00:32:24into the pits with Nigel Mansell.
00:32:29And this is a look at the tire as
00:32:31it shredded on the car.
00:32:33And now as Mansell pulls
00:32:35into the pit, we go to Brian Hammonds. And the
00:32:37right rear tire is completely shredded.
00:32:39Evidently, observers along the racetrack
00:32:41corner worker said that when Michael
00:32:43Andretti was right up Nigel Mansell's
00:32:45tail, there was some contact.
00:32:47That puncture, the right rear tire, that
00:32:49caused this pit stop. He takes a full load of
00:32:51fuel, new tires, and Nigel Mansell is again
00:32:53away, but out of contention.
00:32:56Now here's the pass. It's under
00:32:58heavy braking at turn
00:33:00nine. No contact here. Obviously
00:33:02safely down the inside.
00:33:04Mansell knows the apex is already
00:33:06Michael's. They go onto the concrete
00:33:08patch, so the contact
00:33:10obviously was not there.
00:33:12Here it is from inside with Michael.
00:33:14Accelerates.
00:33:16Sets him up through the kink
00:33:18right here.
00:33:20And takes a beeline for the apex
00:33:22and Nigel, I'll use my
00:33:24muscle and my Ford power, and
00:33:26I have the lead.
00:33:28The Mansell drops all
00:33:30the way down to 22nd place
00:33:32for the moment after an 11.9
00:33:34second pit stop, fuel
00:33:36and tires. And there's a look
00:33:38at Paul Tracy back out on the
00:33:40race course after having lost a lap
00:33:42early. Tracy not for the moment
00:33:44in tension, but still the object
00:33:46of affection of much of the crowd here.
00:33:48Native of town
00:33:50near Toronto and winner of the
00:33:52race a year ago.
00:33:54And how good is Michael? How
00:33:56fast is he right now?
00:33:58He just set the fastest lap of the
00:34:00race on lap 28 at a 59.47.
00:34:04That is three-tenths of a second
00:34:06quicker than everybody else in
00:34:08the field. And call it killer instinct,
00:34:10Derek, because with that fast lap,
00:34:12Michael Andretti has now opened up
00:34:14a nearly 11 second lead,
00:34:16commanding margin over
00:34:18second place Emerson Fittipaldi.
00:34:20The Toronto IndyCar Grand
00:34:22Prix will continue live on
00:34:24NBC Sports after this word
00:34:26and a message from your local
00:34:28stations.
00:34:32Back live in Toronto and you ride in the race car
00:34:34of Bobby Rahal, currently in
00:34:36fifth place and chasing Mario Andretti
00:34:38for fourth place, two-time IndyCar
00:34:40World Series champion. Derek Daly?
00:34:42And moments ago, Emerson
00:34:44Fittipaldi put Mansell a lap down.
00:34:46Look at the squeeze job here down
00:34:48into the apex. Mansell has to let him through.
00:34:50He's one lap down.
00:34:52But consider this. He's made
00:34:54his pit stop. He's full of fuel.
00:34:56Emerson still has to make his pit stop
00:34:58and take on fuel. So if there's a
00:35:00caution at the opportune time
00:35:02as Scott Urrella finds himself
00:35:04in trouble, Mansell could make up
00:35:06most of that time. He is now lost.
00:35:08We are on the 33rd
00:35:10lap of the race for leaders Andretti
00:35:12and Fittipaldi and those who are chasing
00:35:14them. Most of the leaders not
00:35:16yet having elected to take a pit stop.
00:35:18And there's a look at Emerson
00:35:20Fittipaldi in second place.
00:35:22And a tremendous run by Stefan Johansen
00:35:24who now also wants to put Mansell
00:35:26a lap down. Tony Bentenhausen's
00:35:28Algemax car has been fast
00:35:30all weekend here, despite
00:35:32missing most of Friday morning
00:35:34session when they had a gear shifting
00:35:36problem. But Johansen jumped into a spare
00:35:38car within four laps.
00:35:40He was the fourth fastest car on the
00:35:42racetrack. He stayed in that spare car.
00:35:44That's the one he liked. That's the one
00:35:46he's using here to tremendous effect.
00:35:48Stefan Johansen, the best run of the
00:35:50year so far. Stefan Johansen,
00:35:52the only Swedish race car driver in the
00:35:54field. There are five Canadians, including
00:35:56former Indianapolis 500 runner-up
00:35:58Scott Goodyear.
00:36:00And here's a good look at the
00:36:02Delco telemetry given to
00:36:04us from Scott Goodyear's car. This is
00:36:06real time. You get a feel
00:36:08for the revs he uses.
00:36:1012.9
00:36:12on the short run down here to turn
00:36:149, turn 8.
00:36:16Watch the speed on the left.
00:36:1860 miles an hour to the left-hander,
00:36:20but now it gets quicker.
00:36:22Watch the speed through turn 11.
00:36:24Right here.
00:36:26142
00:36:28miles an hour at the apex
00:36:30and then up to almost 100
00:36:32Scott Goodyear, who has not enjoyed
00:36:34good handling this weekend,
00:36:36struggled mightily here in his
00:36:38hometown and has a teammate
00:36:40also this weekend in
00:36:42Andrea Montermini.
00:36:44Closest ever
00:36:46runner-up in the Indianapolis 500
00:36:48back in 1992 when he lost to
00:36:50Al Unser Jr. in the closest race
00:36:52in Indy history. Then he went out
00:36:54and won at Michigan shortly after that
00:36:56to become the only Canadian ever to
00:36:58win an Indy car.
00:37:00Many believe
00:37:02that he will be eclipsed
00:37:04eventually by young talents like
00:37:06Paul Tracy and Jack Villeneuve,
00:37:08who is here with a lot of anticipation
00:37:10and has not had that great a week of qualifying.
00:37:12Just look at that
00:37:14right front suspension bounce up
00:37:16and down as
00:37:18they try to absorb the tremendous
00:37:20bumps here this weekend.
00:37:22Has caused a lot of trouble. Lack of
00:37:24grip is the main concern with drivers
00:37:26here. Look at that front suspension.
00:37:28Bounce up and down as he goes over those
00:37:30high-speed bumps. But lack of grip
00:37:32is the biggest problem here, particularly
00:37:34on these white concrete patches.
00:37:36Big Canadian incursion in the sport
00:37:38after Goodyear won in 92.
00:37:40Paul Tracy won five races last year
00:37:42and has won another one this year. Of course,
00:37:44Tracy has the advantage of racing
00:37:46for Roger Penske. Goodyear hasn't
00:37:48had a ride quite like that yet.
00:37:50And now Bobby Rahal
00:37:52and Mario Andretti in the battle
00:37:54for fourth place.
00:37:56Andretti still holding off Rahal for the moment.
00:37:58Rahal, considered by many to be a little bit
00:38:00underpowered, but chasing Mario here.
00:38:02And this is a tremendous
00:38:04battle. All race long, Rahal
00:38:06has been trying to squeeze past
00:38:08Mario Andretti, who is one of the most
00:38:10difficult people to pass
00:38:12because he knows how to position his car
00:38:14properly. But what a great
00:38:16effort by John Simmons, the crew chief
00:38:18on Mario's car, to
00:38:20unbolt the back end of the spare car
00:38:22and get Mario
00:38:24at the back end of the spare car,
00:38:26put it on to Mario's after the warm-up
00:38:28when he had that severe and serious
00:38:30gearbox trouble. Well done, boys.
00:38:32Bobby Rahal, doubling in the roles
00:38:34of car owner and driver, has finished
00:38:36in the points in four of the past
00:38:38five races. A good look at Mario
00:38:40from behind.
00:38:42Let's listen.
00:38:48See him play with the throttle?
00:38:54This is where Michael
00:38:56made the pass earlier.
00:38:58Not close enough.
00:39:02And that's Johansson
00:39:04just up the road, so Rahal
00:39:06is well in contention here
00:39:08to be on the podium,
00:39:10and he hasn't been in that position many times
00:39:12this year.
00:39:16Nor, for that matter, has
00:39:18Mario Andretti.
00:39:20This is the largest single-day sports event
00:39:22in Canada, with a crowd of 66,000
00:39:24plus a year ago, and perhaps
00:39:26even more here today.
00:39:28Many of them hoping against hope
00:39:30that Mario, in his 400th IndyCar
00:39:32start, could somehow produce
00:39:34a sentimental miracle and threaten
00:39:36to win the race here. But well out in front
00:39:38for the moment is his son,
00:39:40Michael Andretti, with a near 13-second
00:39:42lead over Emerson Fittipaldi.
00:39:44And there's Emerson in second place.
00:39:46You see the distance from which he chases
00:39:48Michael now.
00:39:50And Emerson still trying
00:39:52to get the handling of this Penske
00:39:54into an ideal window
00:39:56that he likes. You can see he started fourth,
00:39:58now running second, because
00:40:00of attrition from other people, as opposed
00:40:02to sheer speed from his car.
00:40:04Three times the pole sitter here, won the race in
00:40:061987. Emerson Fittipaldi
00:40:08in second place, but well back of Michael
00:40:10Andretti. Let's go to pit reporter Jan Minkes.
00:40:12Well, Michael Andretti's team had
00:40:14just rolled out to do a pit stop, but they've
00:40:16decided to wait one more lap.
00:40:18We check with Mike Hall, the team manager
00:40:20of Ganassi Racing,
00:40:22and he said, not surprisingly,
00:40:24no changes for Michael Andretti during
00:40:26this stop.
00:40:30Fittipaldi moving past slower traffic.
00:40:32At
00:40:34this moment, Derek Daly, you suspect
00:40:36that Emerson says to himself,
00:40:38I don't have the speed to
00:40:40contend with Michael today. I'll bide my time
00:40:42and hope the race plays into my hands.
00:40:44And Emerson is thinking about his
00:40:46teammate, Al Unser Jr.
00:40:48He leads the championship. Right now, he's
00:40:50back in his motorhome, cannot score
00:40:52points. So if Emerson cannot
00:40:54win, he sure as hell
00:40:56can get second place and a big
00:40:58chunk of championship points, bring him
00:41:00closer to Al Unser Jr.
00:41:02Emerson understands how to win championships.
00:41:04Yep, and this will close up the points race
00:41:06dramatically, Derek. Al
00:41:08came in here with a 41
00:41:10point lead over
00:41:12Emerson Fittipaldi. If Emo could win the race,
00:41:14he would slice that lead to 21.
00:41:16That is what
00:41:18he is thinking about. And let Michael
00:41:20run on ahead, because Michael
00:41:22has not been a championship contender
00:41:24because they completely lost
00:41:26their way after that dominating performance
00:41:28earlier this year in Australia.
00:41:32Stefan Johansson has chosen to go into the pits,
00:41:34so he, for the moment, surrenders his
00:41:36place in the top five. Most of the
00:41:38other leaders not yet having pitted,
00:41:40despite the fact that we are all the way to
00:41:42lap 38. Now we follow
00:41:44in Michael Andretti's car to see when he's
00:41:46going to choose to go into the pits. Great to see
00:41:48it. Look at the number on his steering wheel,
00:41:5037.9.
00:41:52So when his fuel
00:41:54digital readout is 37.9, he
00:41:56goes straight to the pit lane, and Arjan
00:41:58Beekes is down there. Here comes
00:42:00Michael Andretti, he has pitted on a part,
00:42:02oh yes, he locks it up just a little, because he has
00:42:04pitted where the pit road actually
00:42:06curves. He's trying to get the bottle,
00:42:08yes, he has now gotten the drink bottle,
00:42:10reset his fuel. Right now, all the tires,
00:42:12one more tire to go, yes, all the
00:42:14tires are changed, they're just waiting for fuel.
00:42:16He's off the jacks,
00:42:18underway, 15.4
00:42:20seconds for Michael.
00:42:22And he smokes
00:42:24those rear tires as he drops the clutch,
00:42:26gets back into contention. The
00:42:28number one thing you want is
00:42:30consistency from your sixth
00:42:32man over the pit wall,
00:42:34to just allow you to keep your lead
00:42:36and keep you in contention. The leader
00:42:38for the moment now, Bobby Rahal, who has
00:42:40not yet pitted. Likewise, Adrian Fernandez,
00:42:42who moves up to second place, behind
00:42:44Rahal. Another, Andrea
00:42:46Montermini has not yet pitted, he is
00:42:48up to number five now in the race. Michael
00:42:50and Mario holding on to their positions
00:42:52at three and four, despite the pit stops.
00:42:54And pictures again of
00:42:56Robbie Gordon, who is back on the racetrack,
00:42:58but way out of contention because
00:43:00of that terrible loss of time
00:43:02earlier, but Robbie Gordon is back out there.
00:43:04Here's Rahal, our leader.
00:43:06Can you anticipate that we may be going
00:43:08into the pits with Rahal this time around?
00:43:10This is lap number
00:43:1240. Very late for Bobby Rahal
00:43:14to be taking this very first pit stop of the race.
00:43:16It is late. The Honda obviously
00:43:18has very good fuel economy.
00:43:20That could play a role here,
00:43:22but the yellow flags earlier has
00:43:24actually helped Michael Andretti because
00:43:26when you're up to Ford engines, flat out
00:43:28for this whole race, it's very
00:43:30doubtful whether you could make it all
00:43:32the way with the fuel allotment that's available.
00:43:34Almost certainly a brief tour of
00:43:36duty on the lead as you look at Scott
00:43:38Goodyear, but this is the first time
00:43:40Rahal has led an IndyCar race
00:43:42since Vancouver at the end of the 1993
00:43:44season. There's Fernandez
00:43:46in the green and red car.
00:43:48He's the man who is for the moment
00:43:50in second place behind Rahal. Both of them
00:43:52elect to go around one more time
00:43:54as we stay with Goodyear.
00:43:56And Avery Fernandez could lead this race
00:43:58and Bobby Rahal elects to pit
00:44:00on this lap if Fernandez stays in.
00:44:02I can't imagine Fernandez
00:44:04taking the risk of going too
00:44:06far on the fuel load.
00:44:08We're watching for Rahal to see
00:44:10does he peel off after
00:44:12turn nine here
00:44:14and does he go to pit lane?
00:44:16He is in pit lane. Rahal, our leader,
00:44:18peels off down to pit lane.
00:44:22Let's go to Brian Amundson in the pits.
00:44:24Well Emerson Fittipaldi pitted
00:44:26just when Michael Andretti did just a little
00:44:28bit earlier. Remember, he was nursing
00:44:30a pretty sick race car. Let's go
00:44:32now to Jan Bekus. Bobby Rahal
00:44:34is in and they are in the process of changing
00:44:36the tires. He radioed in that he wanted
00:44:38some tire pressure changes, but everything
00:44:40going as planned. Oh, they did not wait
00:44:42for it. 11.9. The reason that
00:44:44pit stop was quicker, they said, as soon as we get
00:44:46those tires changed, you're out of here. We don't need all
00:44:48the fuel.
00:44:50Bobby Rahal, one of the great
00:44:52in-race thinkers of his time.
00:44:54Trying to manage his way now
00:44:56to an upset victory here at Toronto,
00:44:58but he has surrendered the lead
00:45:00to that man, Michael Andretti.
00:45:02So it's Michael back on the lead
00:45:04as NBC Sports brings you the
00:45:06Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix from the
00:45:08shores of Lake Ontario. We'll be
00:45:10back.
00:45:12World Championship of Basketball
00:45:14will be here in Toronto. We bring
00:45:16you back live to Toronto, where for a moment
00:45:18you were in the car of Bobby Rahal.
00:45:20Now you see Rahal chasing Emerson
00:45:22Fittipaldi from behind. Fittipaldi has moved
00:45:24back into second place. Rahal is third.
00:45:26Both of them behind leader Michael Andretti
00:45:28as we are 43 laps into
00:45:30this 98-lap race, almost
00:45:32to the halfway mark. And you can see
00:45:34clearly here Rahal is about to give Emerson
00:45:36a king-size headache because
00:45:38you saw him look in his mirrors. He sees
00:45:40Rahal is closing. Rahal
00:45:42who believes he has probably one of the best
00:45:44handling Lola cars here.
00:45:46They were seven miles an hour slower
00:45:48down the straight in qualifying because
00:45:50of the lack of horsepower, but they believe
00:45:52they have a very good handling car.
00:45:54That's what he's using
00:45:56to close in on Emerson.
00:45:58For an update on Fittipaldi, let's go to Brian Hammons.
00:46:00Well, don't look for Emo to make any bonsai
00:46:02moves on Michael Andretti. He radioed
00:46:04in and said, I'm not going to do anything
00:46:06stupid because there's just too many
00:46:08points to pick up. He let's Bobby Rahal
00:46:10go by. Just too many points to pick up on
00:46:12Allenser Jr. just by finishing pretty
00:46:14far up in the morning. And while you were saying that
00:46:16Brian, Bobby Rahal moved past
00:46:18Fittipaldi on our screen and right now
00:46:20you see that Jimmy Vassar of the United States
00:46:22number 18 has spun out and hit the
00:46:24wall, so the caution will come out again.
00:46:26So Jimmy Vassar loses it
00:46:28under braking, locks up those rear brakes
00:46:30has a harmless spin. Didn't
00:46:32actually make contact with that outside
00:46:34wall, but he stalls the engine
00:46:36and if they can't push
00:46:38him out of there very quickly, he's
00:46:40right in the line of path under
00:46:42heavy braking. They may have to
00:46:44go yellow. What about the Rahal
00:46:46pass on Fittipaldi, Derek?
00:46:48Good pass, under
00:46:50braking, car handles well, and as
00:46:52Brian said earlier, Emerson was not going
00:46:54to challenge any Banzai
00:46:56move by Rahal. But look how
00:46:58strong Rahal is running here
00:47:00benefiting, I think, from working with
00:47:02his new engineer, Tim Reiter
00:47:04who's from Wisconsin
00:47:06the new engineer for Bobby Rahal
00:47:08Here's the pass again
00:47:10down the inside
00:47:12as soon as you get alongside, Emerson
00:47:14turns in and then he turns
00:47:16back out and says, I don't want to fight
00:47:18away you go. Here he is
00:47:20from onboard. Almost as if
00:47:22Rahal said, I'm going to get to the apex first
00:47:24and that
00:47:26was it. Gets onto the concrete patch
00:47:28What a surprise Rahal is in this race
00:47:30Given the perception that Rahal might be
00:47:32a little bit underpowered, do you think that Michael Andretti
00:47:34will feel considerably more secure
00:47:36with Rahal ahead of Fittipaldi in
00:47:38second place? And believe
00:47:40me, Michael will know that
00:47:42Rahal is behind him, even though he can't see him
00:47:44because his pit crew will tell him
00:47:46I think Michael will be surprised
00:47:48and maybe relaxed that it's a Rahal
00:47:50Let's get an update from Jan Vinkas
00:47:52Well, speaking of Emerson Fittipaldi
00:47:54and him dropping back slightly there with Rahal
00:47:56he has since radioed in and said
00:47:58at the next pit stop, he wants more
00:48:00left front wing. We would suspect that
00:48:02means he's picking up some push out there
00:48:06And there you see the leader, Michael Andretti
00:48:08going past slower Scott Goodyear on the
00:48:10inside. Andretti, for the moment
00:48:12with a 17.5 second lead
00:48:14over Bobby Rahal as he picks his way
00:48:16through slower traffic. In control
00:48:18Michael is a master of
00:48:20street circuit dominance
00:48:22We saw him bounce this Reinhardt
00:48:24of everything in sight in Australia
00:48:26and unbelievably this
00:48:28Reinhardt withstood the punishment
00:48:30because he hit walls, he hit cars
00:48:32curbs, and finally he hit the tyre
00:48:34barrier and still managed to bring
00:48:36the car home in first place
00:48:3848 road races
00:48:40on the IndyCar circuit so far in the
00:48:4290s despite having taken a whole year off
00:48:44last year to race Formula 1
00:48:46Michael Andretti has won 17
00:48:48of those races. Throw together
00:48:50the 10 that Al Unser has won and between
00:48:52the two, Unser Jr. and
00:48:54Michael Andretti, they've won more than
00:48:56half of the IndyCar road races in the
00:48:5890s. There is no doubt, they have been
00:49:00the two star names, second generation
00:49:02names to dominate IndyCar
00:49:04racing and the Robbie Gordons of this
00:49:06world are now coming up. But look at the traffic
00:49:08jam here. Was that Mario that
00:49:10moved over? Or was that Nigel?
00:49:12I believe it was Nigel that moved over
00:49:14and let Michael get on his way
00:49:16An interesting
00:49:18piece of racing courtesy from Nigel
00:49:20Mansell to move over for Michael Andretti
00:49:22given the perception on
00:49:24the part of some people that Michael
00:49:26may have nudged Mansell earlier
00:49:28and helped to create the problem with
00:49:30Mansell's rear left. Well I think Nigel
00:49:32was a perfect English gentleman
00:49:34to move over and allow Michael
00:49:36to go through. However that has put
00:49:38Nigel down by one
00:49:40lap now, so I'm surprised
00:49:42he didn't maybe give him a bigger
00:49:44fight
00:49:46Maybe a mark of what Nigel
00:49:48thinks of his car and its chance for
00:49:50real contention today
00:49:54So here's the Reynard chassis with the
00:49:56anhedral front wing, very distinctive style
00:49:58Debut win
00:50:00They won in their very first debut event
00:50:02for IndyCar racing, a phenomenal record
00:50:04Can Michael make it two wins
00:50:06for Reynard? He's got a
00:50:08fifteen and a half second lead over
00:50:10Bobby Rahal to this point
00:50:12almost halfway through the race
00:50:14Emerson Fittipaldi third and we'll be
00:50:16back
00:50:20We bring you back live to Exhibition
00:50:22Place in Toronto. There's a look
00:50:24at Robbie Gordon in car number nine, the pole
00:50:26sitter at the beginning of the day, man who
00:50:28dominated the first ten laps of the race before
00:50:30going out with a shredded tire and
00:50:32falling a lap down. As we bring you back
00:50:34the leader remains, Michael Andretti
00:50:36now with a sixteen second margin
00:50:38over Bobby Rahal. Andretti
00:50:40in the car at the back of the pack right
00:50:42there, moving toward the middle of your screen
00:50:44has been moving effectively
00:50:46through slower traffic during the time
00:50:48when we were away in New York and continues to hold
00:50:50his lead in the race. And now
00:50:52for an update from the pits, we go to Jan Vekas
00:50:54Well, Stefan Johansen was
00:50:56one of those drivers who did not do well during
00:50:58that first series of pit stops. He came
00:51:00in early and then they had a problem fueling the car
00:51:02He went from fourth
00:51:04place back to seventh. Now Adrian Fernandez
00:51:06waited like Rahal did till the
00:51:08very end. He came in, the Gallus
00:51:10crew made a very quick stop. He actually
00:51:12went from seventh up to fourth. Everything's
00:51:14happening here in the pits and not on the track
00:51:16Alright Jan
00:51:18and part of the import of that
00:51:20Adrian Fernandez move as you
00:51:22look at leader Michael Andretti
00:51:24is a strong day for the Reynard chassis
00:51:26Derek Daly, the chassis being driven
00:51:28by both Fernandez and Michael
00:51:30Michael Andretti. Very good day
00:51:32for the Reynard cars here on the streets of
00:51:34Toronto. Michael now embroiled in a
00:51:36traffic jam that is
00:51:38Scott Sharp right ahead of him
00:51:40Raul Bozel about to go a lap down
00:51:42and Willy T-Ribs is the lead
00:51:44group in this traffic jam
00:51:46the lead driver in this traffic jam
00:51:50Michael well in control
00:51:52still has the fastest lap at a 59.4
00:51:54It is now still
00:51:56four tenths of a second
00:51:58quicker than any other driver on the
00:52:00racetrack. So Michael in
00:52:02control. Looking for his
00:52:04second win of the year. The first came
00:52:06at the first race in the IndyCar
00:52:08World Series down in Queensland
00:52:10Australia in a town called Surfer's
00:52:12Paradise. Robbie Gordon
00:52:14was the man who dominated qualifying
00:52:16here and was given a chance
00:52:18by many to get his first IndyCar win
00:52:20Now we visit his car
00:52:22Running all the way back in 18th
00:52:24place gives us a chance to pop up our
00:52:26car for telemetry
00:52:28again real time
00:52:30coming
00:52:32this is exactly what's happening Gordon's
00:52:34engine and speed
00:52:36as we look over his shoulder
00:52:38look at the revs
00:52:40this is all stop and go
00:52:42point and squirt stuff in the infield
00:52:44now he stretches his legs
00:52:4612.8 on the rev counter
00:52:48150 on the run
00:52:50before he gets under braking
00:52:5225 year old
00:52:54rising star of IndyCar racing
00:52:56came out of an off road
00:52:58racing background similar to that which
00:53:00produced Rick Mears spent last year
00:53:02working for car owner A.J.
00:53:04Voigt. This year moved to
00:53:06another team as Voigt picked up another
00:53:08driver and that's another story this weekend
00:53:10as his driver Brian Herter went out
00:53:12with an injury yesterday. Now watch the
00:53:14blast down the straight. Let's watch his maximum
00:53:16speed and maximum revs
00:53:22183
00:53:24182 miles an hour
00:53:26before he jumps on the brakes
00:53:28with a maximum revs down the straight of
00:53:3012,100 revs
00:53:32conservative I would have thought
00:53:34fastest lap today
00:53:36just over 60 seconds
00:53:38about 6 tenths of a second slower
00:53:40than the fastest lap of the race
00:53:42that turned not surprisingly
00:53:44by Michael Entredi
00:53:46So Gordon now
00:53:48the fastest man all weekend has to
00:53:50try and hope he can pick up valuable
00:53:52championship points
00:53:54we get to look over his shoulder
00:53:56in what is not the fastest
00:53:58car in the race and we expected
00:54:00he would be because Michael Entredi
00:54:02has shown something
00:54:04on Sunday afternoon that he wasn't able to show
00:54:06on Friday or Saturday
00:54:08Strong Sunday for Michael Entredi
00:54:1057 laps into this 98
00:54:12lap race with a near
00:54:1413 second lead for the moment
00:54:16over Bobby Rahal. Rahal
00:54:18wishing and hoping that something
00:54:20will happen to Michael in front of him
00:54:22We'll be back
00:54:26Back live in Toronto
00:54:28you look at the car of Canadian Claude Bourbonnais
00:54:30pulling to the side of the track
00:54:32a caution on that turn for the moment
00:54:34no full track caution
00:54:36and we give you a look at SkyDome
00:54:38from where on August 7
00:54:40NBC Sports will return you to the city of Toronto
00:54:42to bring you the World Championship of Basketball
00:54:44Dream Team 2 taking the floor
00:54:46led by Kevin Johnson, Sean Kemp, Larry Johnson
00:54:48on a quest to bring home the gold
00:54:50the gold I should say
00:54:52and the World Championship
00:54:54that's the World Championship of Basketball
00:54:56from here in Toronto beginning August 7
00:54:58that'll be NBC Sports
00:55:00next visit to Toronto
00:55:02today we're here for the
00:55:04IndyCar Grand Prix
00:55:06and right now we're in the car of second place driver
00:55:08Bobby Rahal
00:55:10and Rahal is trying to fend off
00:55:12Emerson Fittipaldi
00:55:14Emerson Fittipaldi who last time
00:55:16passed our start finish line
00:55:18was only 6 tenths of a second
00:55:20behind Rahal
00:55:22Rahal was caught behind
00:55:24Zampadri, that's Willie T. Ribbs
00:55:26in the service merchandise car
00:55:28just ahead of him
00:55:30he needs to clear Willie T. Ribbs
00:55:32to stay clear of Emerson Fittipaldi
00:55:34but look how good a run Rahal has had
00:55:36started 9th and he's all the way
00:55:38up to 2nd place
00:55:40by far his strongest run for Rahal
00:55:42and the Honda engine
00:55:44Indianapolis 500 champion in 1986
00:55:46IndyCar World Series champion
00:55:48in 86 and 87
00:55:50since then has become the owner of his own team
00:55:52slower traffic now
00:55:54bunching the leaders up just a bit
00:55:56Rahal needs to have
00:55:58some fairly healthy horses
00:56:00to pull out and pass some of these cars
00:56:02that's a Ford engine
00:56:04and Willie T. Ribbs Lola
00:56:06Rahal much quicker through turn 11
00:56:08can he slide? He doesn't get to slide
00:56:10down the inside of Willie T. Ribbs
00:56:12so Emerson is now right behind
00:56:14Rahal
00:56:16and while
00:56:18Rahal is fighting to hold off Emerson
00:56:20Fittipaldi and keep
00:56:222nd place for himself
00:56:24he is falling farther behind Michael
00:56:26Andretti who has gotten past the slower traffic
00:56:28now there goes Bobby into clear air
00:56:30and Emerson had hoped to follow
00:56:32Rahal down that inside line
00:56:34and Willie T. blocks it off so Rahal
00:56:36clears one and Emerson comes up the
00:56:38inside and doesn't make it. He waves
00:56:40his fist at Willie T.
00:56:44Fittipaldi furious that
00:56:46Willie T. Ribbs won't give him an avenue
00:56:48to keep chasing Bobby Rahal
00:56:50big break for Rahal here as he
00:56:52tries to secure 2nd place
00:56:54and Emerson's pit crew
00:56:56are ready for him to make a
00:56:58pit stop so he may be ready
00:57:00to dive down the pit lane
00:57:02here they are ready and waiting
00:57:05and Jan Bikas is there
00:57:07as we follow Emerson Fittipaldi
00:57:09into the pits. Jan
00:57:11Emerson Fittipaldi is rounding
00:57:13the corner as we speak
00:57:15they're now waving him down and he's going to try
00:57:17and bring it to stop right on the marks
00:57:19which he does. They were losing a lot of time
00:57:21in traffic as you guys had talked about. They decided
00:57:23to take this pit window now
00:57:25the only change that they are
00:57:27going to do is tire pressures
00:57:29no wing changes. Remember where
00:57:31he is right now. He has to watch his speed
00:57:33on the exit. 13, just a little
00:57:35over 13 seconds for Fittipaldi
00:57:37remember the speed on the pit lane
00:57:39he was coming in awful quick. He looked ok
00:57:41on the way out. We'll have to find out from the cart
00:57:46and there's a spin there
00:57:48car number 22
00:57:52Machusta
00:57:58so Emerson gets in
00:58:00and gets out and now Adrian Fernandez
00:58:02again finds himself in a
00:58:04rostrum position if he can hold it
00:58:06he's running 3rd. Mauricio Guzman
00:58:08from Brazil is 4th
00:58:10and Mario Andretti is 5th
00:58:12and Nigel Mansell
00:58:14continues to be a lap down following
00:58:16leader Michael. And no full track caution
00:58:18on the Machusta spin. They are apparently
00:58:20still racing under the green
00:58:22Nigel in fact is 2 laps
00:58:24down from
00:58:26Michael Andretti. So Nigel not having
00:58:28a good day and Rejo stretches his legs
00:58:30a little bit and pulls well clear
00:58:32now obviously of Emerson
00:58:34but Fernandez is the next man that may
00:58:36come into his mirrors. 5 seconds
00:58:38now between Rejo in 2nd place
00:58:40and Adrian Fernandez in 3rd
00:58:4222 seconds between
00:58:44Michael Andretti and Bobby
00:58:46Rejo. That is almost half
00:58:48a lap of distance between Michael
00:58:50Andretti and Bobby Rejo
00:58:52and Michael did
00:58:54more than 3000 miles
00:58:56of winter testing and Machusta
00:58:58is still there in a very precarious
00:59:00position but Michael
00:59:02over 3000 miles of testing
00:59:04and it paid off extensively
00:59:06in Australia. Then they
00:59:08lost their way and they're right back on
00:59:10track again with the target Scotch video
00:59:12rainers.
00:59:14One question facing Emerson
00:59:16Fittipaldi. Will he have to pit
00:59:18one more time? 35 laps
00:59:20still to go between here and the finish
00:59:22that's very close to the limit. Jan
00:59:24Beekus what's the answer to that question?
00:59:26The answer is from the Penske pit that
00:59:28Emerson Fittipaldi will not be back. That
00:59:30was his final stop.
00:59:32So Emerson Fittipaldi
00:59:34will be running very low with fuel when
00:59:36we get close to the end of the race.
00:59:38And we got a good shot of Michael there
00:59:40under power exiting with oversteer
00:59:42beginning to get a
00:59:44loose rear end on this car. He can
00:59:46handle it as long as the
00:59:48rear tires do not begin to
00:59:50wear out too much on him.
00:59:52Michael Andretti cruising with a near
00:59:5422 second lead two thirds
00:59:56of the way through this Toronto
00:59:58IndyCar Grand Prix. Bobby Rehal
01:00:00second and clinging. We'll be
01:00:02back.
01:00:04Back live at the Toronto IndyCar
01:00:06Grand Prix. Arrivederci Mario
01:00:08the unofficial title of this year in
01:00:10IndyCar racing as Mario Andretti
01:00:12makes his final farewell from
01:00:14this segment of automobile racing.
01:00:16But it is his son Michael Andretti who's
01:00:18the central story today leading over that
01:00:20man Bobby Rehal two thirds of the way through
01:00:22this. Adrian Fernandez of Mexico
01:00:24in third place. Mauricio Guzman
01:00:26of Brazil in fourth place.
01:00:28Mario Andretti for the moment
01:00:30is running in fifth and no doubt hoping
01:00:32in his heart that well up ahead his
01:00:34son can hold on to the lead and win the race.
01:00:36Stefan Johansen another Formula
01:00:38One veteran like Mario like
01:00:40Michael up there in sixth place.
01:00:42What a great run Jim for Adrian
01:00:44Fernandez. A young
01:00:46kid from Mexico driving
01:00:48for Rick Gallas sponsored by
01:00:50Atlantic Beer. Lots of Mexican backing
01:00:52very big name in Mexico
01:00:54and lost his way after Australia
01:00:56just a little bit but having a tremendous
01:00:58run this afternoon. His car owner
01:01:00Rick Gallas twice won this race
01:01:02with Al Ansu Jr. in 1988
01:01:04and 1990.
01:01:06And Fernandez and Brawley in a traffic
01:01:08jam here. Now that's Paul Tracy behind
01:01:10him one of the quicker Penske's.
01:01:12Tracy is running in 17th place
01:01:14so out of contention.
01:01:16Fernandez has only made one
01:01:18pit stop. Emerson is
01:01:20the only member
01:01:22of the leading group that has actually made
01:01:24two pit stops at the moment.
01:01:26Fernandez's best ever finish in an IndyCar
01:01:28race. Seventh place. He's done that twice
01:01:30for the moment. He is running in
01:01:32third.
01:01:34And another look at Fernandez's car
01:01:36and there is a look at Paul Tracy
01:01:38two cars behind Fernandez.
01:01:4030 laps to
01:01:42go out of 98.
01:01:44In totals to close to
01:01:4675 miles and we
01:01:48quickly go to Jan Binkes for an update on
01:01:50Nigel Mansell. Jan? Yes we have
01:01:52just heard that Nigel Mansell may be here
01:01:54shortly. He feels he has a problem with the car
01:01:56that he's going to bring it in and actually park it.
01:01:58Nigel Mansell's day may be over.
01:02:04Tough luck for Nigel Mansell
01:02:06who held the lead briefly
01:02:08early in the race. And there's
01:02:10a crash involving Fernandez.
01:02:12And third and fourth places get
01:02:14involved because Maurizio Guzman
01:02:16had to spin also
01:02:18in avoidance and Mike Groff in the Honda
01:02:20car. Teammate Rahal also
01:02:22gets taken out.
01:02:24So this will occasion a full track
01:02:26caution as there are three
01:02:28cars splayed across the track
01:02:30there as you saw. We go back into
01:02:32Bobby Rahal's car. Rahal
01:02:34in second place behind Michael
01:02:36Antretti. And what a
01:02:38huge break this would be for Bobby Rahal
01:02:40if indeed the full course yellow is
01:02:42thrown. He was scheduled to come in on this lap
01:02:44no matter what. He is in. The servicing
01:02:46is being done. The last stop, they
01:02:48changed tire pressure. That seemed to really
01:02:50help the handling of this Lola
01:02:52powered by the Honda. Remember, this is the old
01:02:54Honda power. This is the first motor that they came
01:02:56up with. Rahal peels out of here.
01:03:00Alright, thank you Brian Hammond. Tremendous chance
01:03:02now for Rahal to close some distance
01:03:04on leader Michael Antretti. Should Michael pit
01:03:06too, Derek? Michael
01:03:08will have to pit, but he's in
01:03:10so much control at the moment. I think if he
01:03:12just gets a good, an
01:03:14average pit stop, he will be clearly
01:03:16in the lead. Now here's a traffic jam from
01:03:18inside of Robbie Gordon's car.
01:03:20Gordon locks up the right front.
01:03:22His teammate Willie T is down the inside.
01:03:24It was Willie T who made contact
01:03:26with Fernandez. Here it is.
01:03:28Watch the inside by the wall.
01:03:30Fernandez ducks down
01:03:32inside. Ribs.
01:03:34Ribs doesn't give him enough
01:03:36room. Fernandez rides
01:03:38the roller coaster up over the top.
01:03:40Guzman also hits ribs
01:03:42on the other side, so he was attacked from
01:03:44both sides. So third and fourth
01:03:46places suddenly become
01:03:48passengers down at the end of the
01:03:50long back straight.
01:03:52And part of the import
01:03:54of all that, for the moment,
01:03:5654-year-old Mario Antretti
01:03:58moves up to third place behind
01:04:00Michael and Rahal.
01:04:02Great run from Mario as Guzman
01:04:04Fernandez did make it back, but
01:04:06Guzman still stationary
01:04:08back at the end of the pit straight.
01:04:10Jan Vickas, what's the status of the Fernandez car?
01:04:12Well, Adrian is in pit road
01:04:14right now. We're looking around the car, surveying
01:04:16for damage. It does not appear to be any.
01:04:18They've changed all four tires. They've fueled it up.
01:04:20Very routine stop, but obviously he lost
01:04:22a lot of time out there. Looks also like
01:04:24his neighbor here in the pits, Mauricio
01:04:26Guzman, will be in soon. There's not too much
01:04:28conversation between these two crews right now.
01:04:30We go on board
01:04:32meanwhile with Scott Goodyear.
01:04:34Goodyear has been running in 11th
01:04:36place behind Dominic Dodson and
01:04:38ahead of him, Jacques Villeneuve of Canada.
01:04:40And Scott Goodyear is now
01:04:42a free agent.
01:04:44They will not drive together.
01:04:46He will not drive with
01:04:48Kenny Bernstein next year as we go
01:04:50on board again with the telemetry,
01:04:52watching the revs and the speed of Scott
01:04:54Goodyear. Scott has had a
01:04:56new engineer to work with over the last few races,
01:04:58John Dick, who tells me
01:05:00they are on version number five
01:05:02of rear suspension,
01:05:04and tried a new development front
01:05:06wing this weekend here, trying to get
01:05:08this Scott Goodyear Budweiser
01:05:10car up to speed
01:05:12to run in the front.
01:05:14Goodyear
01:05:16in 11th, as we mentioned. His teammate
01:05:18Andrea Mantermini is all the way up
01:05:20in 5th place, Derek.
01:05:22Still looking at the
01:05:24telemetry, the slow speed
01:05:26corners.
01:05:28Takes his hand off the change gear,
01:05:30but Fernandez is one that we do want
01:05:32to watch to see, was there any
01:05:34mechanical damage
01:05:36when he made contact with
01:05:38Willy T. Riz. But Fernandez goes across
01:05:40the start-finish line, running in
01:05:42now 17th place.
01:05:44He was 3rd when the accident took place,
01:05:46a terrible break for Adrian Fernandez
01:05:48who drops back now to 17th.
01:05:50And in the middle of the screen, we visit
01:05:52the car of Michael Andretti,
01:05:54the leader. The Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix
01:05:56will continue after this word, and a message
01:05:58from your local stations.
01:06:02With 24 laps to go in this
01:06:0498-lap Toronto IndyCar
01:06:06Grand Prix, and quickly
01:06:08into the pits, is Stefan
01:06:10Johansson.
01:06:12So Stefan, who was running in 2nd place
01:06:14right before he made this
01:06:16pit stop, and Michael Andretti
01:06:18is also down the pit lane, and
01:06:20Jan Beekus is there.
01:06:22Stefan Johansson goes by, and here is
01:06:24Michael, he's coming in, he's taking it a bit easy, he's not
01:06:26taking any chances, he knows he has a lot
01:06:28in hand. It's very hot and humid here, so
01:06:30yes, he's going for the drink bottle, we do
01:06:32not, oh it came off the air jacks! It fell
01:06:34off the air jacks, this is going to slow down this stop,
01:06:36this will make a big difference,
01:06:38they got it back up, obviously they have
01:06:40to keep their composure here, wait for the
01:06:42fuel, he has to wait for the crew chief now,
01:06:44boy this is a long one, oh they had fuel problems!
01:06:46Oh man, a disaster
01:06:48for Michael Andretti, will he keep
01:06:50the lead?
01:06:53Andretti exits the pit,
01:06:55and we said earlier, all he needs
01:06:57is a good average pit stop,
01:06:59now he just comes out ahead
01:07:01of Bobby Rahal, that was Andretti's
01:07:03car who went through turn one,
01:07:05and Rahal is now in hot
01:07:07pursuit, I don't know who got
01:07:09all the fuel into Michael
01:07:11Andretti's car, watch what happens here,
01:07:13they take the wheels
01:07:15off, and suddenly
01:07:17the car falls off the jacks,
01:07:20so Michael Andretti goes
01:07:22furious, watch his gestures
01:07:24as he sits,
01:07:26yeah they may have got all the fuel in,
01:07:29look at this, look at this, head gestures,
01:07:31let me go, here we go,
01:07:33Jan Beekes is down there. Yes, and I can
01:07:35tell you that they did get all the fuel, even with
01:07:37that miscue, Michael is full of fuel, so he will
01:07:39not be back again.
01:07:43We're back in the car of leader Michael
01:07:45Andretti, for the moment the margin goes
01:07:47down to under 10 seconds, so Bobby Rahal
01:07:49gets much closer as a result of that
01:07:51botched pit stop on the part of
01:07:53Andretti's crew, but still Michael,
01:07:55by far the dominant car today holds
01:07:57the lead, with 23 laps to go.
01:07:59And from here on in, you have to
01:08:01be very careful, Rahal is
01:08:03also a master of knowing how
01:08:05to win races, if he can win
01:08:07a race in the Honda, he would be surprised
01:08:09or even shocked, but we are even
01:08:11surprised to see him have such a good
01:08:13chase of Michael, you can see
01:08:15the gap here, it is under 10 seconds,
01:08:17there's Rahal, whoa,
01:08:19two seconds maybe.
01:08:21One car between Rahal and Andretti
01:08:23for the moment, that's the car of
01:08:25Maciusta, which is back and running
01:08:27after his spin, no one
01:08:29who saw it will forget Rahal's
01:08:31little piece of gamesmanship in 1986
01:08:33when he accelerated rapidly off the
01:08:35yellow at Indianapolis to take Kevin Kogan
01:08:37in the closing laps and win the race,
01:08:39may not get a chance for such magic
01:08:41here, but he's got a chance
01:08:43to get a chance for such magic here,
01:08:45but surely it's in the back of his mind.
01:08:47And changed his life when he made
01:08:49that move, and also changed
01:08:51Kevin Kogan's life.
01:08:57Does Rahal have
01:08:59enough punch to
01:09:01challenge Michael, 3.8 was the last
01:09:03time through,
01:09:05I don't think it's 3.8 now.
01:09:09Well, here's where we find out exactly
01:09:11what Michael's got
01:09:13in terms of power.
01:09:15When you smell a possible win,
01:09:17you dig a little bit deeper,
01:09:19but you gotta have something extra
01:09:21in the bag. Does Rahal
01:09:23have something extra in that bag
01:09:25of tricks to challenge Michael?
01:09:27As the laps unfold, the answer
01:09:29will come out. So for the moment
01:09:31as you can see, Michael Andretti is
01:09:33nowhere in sight for second
01:09:35place Bobby Rahal. No doubt
01:09:37his pit crew giving him an accurate reading
01:09:39on precisely how big the margin is.
01:09:41It stretches on that lap from
01:09:433.84 to 4.25
01:09:45so it would appear that in
01:09:47clean air, Michael Andretti is able to gain
01:09:493 or 4 tenths of a second on
01:09:51Bobby Rahal. And now the chase will
01:09:53be Emerson to Rahal.
01:09:55Emerson's fastest lap, 59.8.
01:09:57Rahal has
01:09:59not broken out of 60 seconds.
01:10:01So Rahal
01:10:03now may begin to give
01:10:05Emerson now may be able
01:10:07to give Rahal a bit of a headache
01:10:09in his chase. 20 laps to go as you
01:10:11can see. There's a good look at
01:10:13Emerson Fittipaldi in 3rd place
01:10:15and looking to get close to 2nd
01:10:17place Bobby Rahal. For the moment, 4th
01:10:19place belongs to Johansen. 5th place
01:10:21belongs to Mario Andretti. There is
01:10:23the leader, Michael Andretti. And there
01:10:25is the margin between Andretti and Bobby
01:10:27Rahal. And there is Emerson Fittipaldi
01:10:29in 3rd place.
01:10:31We may have a
01:10:33barn burner yet because the top
01:10:353 are all beginning to close
01:10:37in on one another. Emerson
01:10:39has Rahal in the sandwich.
01:10:41He's thinking Jambijuk
01:10:43but he loves to win.
01:10:45A battle for the lead between Michael
01:10:47Andretti and Bobby Rahal. A battle for 2nd
01:10:49between Rahal and Emerson
01:10:51Fittipaldi. The others hanging on
01:10:53and watching after 78 of
01:10:5598 laps. We'll be back.
01:10:57We're back
01:10:59live at the Toronto IndyCar Grand
01:11:01Prix and riding in the car a pole sitter
01:11:03Robbie Gordon.
01:11:05Currently running in 7th place
01:11:07so he's hauled himself all the way
01:11:09from the back of the field
01:11:11after that early puncture. Currently
01:11:13runs 7th but he does have one more
01:11:15pit stop to make.
01:11:17185 miles an hour
01:11:19down the long back straight
01:11:21that time. 5th gear. Only used 5 gears.
01:11:23And having been a lap down
01:11:25for most of the race, Robbie has managed
01:11:27to get himself temporarily, Derek,
01:11:29back onto the lead lap. That
01:11:31must change when he takes a pit stop, right?
01:11:33That probably will change but yet again
01:11:35a good run for Robbie Gordon
01:11:37as we watch the Ford Telemetry
01:11:39revs 12.7
01:11:41speed 149
01:11:43on the run to the 2nd
01:11:45gear right hander.
01:11:47You can see the speed he goes to the right hander.
01:11:4955. 85 on the run.
01:11:55And now 149
01:11:57miles an hour at the apex
01:11:59of turn 11.
01:12:01Turn 11, which you identified
01:12:03earlier, Derek, as the number 1
01:12:05testosterone turn in all
01:12:07of IndyCar racing. Doesn't
01:12:09look that dramatic as we go through it
01:12:11but it's the speed at which they take it
01:12:13that makes it so big.
01:12:15You need to be in there to experience
01:12:17because it is what you said and plenty
01:12:19more.
01:12:21We continue to go around
01:12:23this 11 turn Toronto
01:12:25track. It's called the
01:12:27temporary street course
01:12:29with pole sitter Robbie Gordon who was
01:12:31throughout 2 practice sessions and 2
01:12:33qualifying sessions the quickest car on the
01:12:35track. He's in trouble, did you see that?
01:12:37He locked up the brakes
01:12:39got in trouble with his gears
01:12:41and completely missed the apex
01:12:43on that double right hander on the
01:12:45infield.
01:12:51Tremendous work here
01:12:53by Robbie Gordon, 25 year
01:12:55old future superstar of the sport
01:12:57if he elects to remain in
01:12:59IndyCar racing. There are some who
01:13:01believe, Derek, that he'll go to
01:13:03NASCAR. Well he's been the busiest man
01:13:05in America racing the last
01:13:0710 weekends. He's been in IndyCar
01:13:09NASCAR, off road
01:13:11racing and now here at Toronto.
01:13:13He was to do the Brickyard
01:13:15400. He's made a decision
01:13:17not to do that race.
01:13:19Interesting
01:13:23story. He rode on the plane
01:13:25here with our director and Steve said
01:13:27to him, I'm the man who determines whether
01:13:29you get on the air and Robbie Gordon said to Steve
01:13:31no no, I'm the one who determines
01:13:33whether I get on the air.
01:13:35Now let's quickly go to
01:13:37Brian Hammons in the pit. Carl
01:13:39Hogan, you put the old Hyundai in the car but I
01:13:41bet you're surprised to be where you are right now
01:13:43with it. Yeah, we're a little bit
01:13:45surprised truthfully because we're, you know
01:13:47a little bit down but evidently
01:13:49the motor's performing very well
01:13:51and hopefully it'll be reliable to take us to
01:13:53the end and Bobby's doing a good job with the
01:13:55car that's handling very well so
01:13:57so far the combination's working.
01:13:59Can you catch Michael Andretti?
01:14:01Well, I think a lot's going to
01:14:03depend upon traffic. I don't think we can catch
01:14:05him unless we get into traffic and
01:14:07Bobby's good at passing in traffic but
01:14:09then Michael's good too so we'll just
01:14:11have to wait and see. Bobby's hoping for
01:14:13a traffic jam to try to catch Michael.
01:14:15And we go back into the car
01:14:17of Bobby Rahal as he looks, Derek,
01:14:19for racing luck.
01:14:21And he will need luck because right now
01:14:23Michael is running five
01:14:25tenths of a second faster
01:14:27than Bobby Rahal.
01:14:29Rahal needs some help.
01:14:31He needs some bad luck to befall
01:14:33Michael Andretti if he is to have
01:14:35a realistic chance of
01:14:37winning because Michael is in control. He has
01:14:39the speed. You see that the margin
01:14:41is widening between Andretti and Rahal
01:14:43at the front of the pack. Likewise,
01:14:45the margin between Rahal and third
01:14:47place Emerson Fittipaldi
01:14:49is also getting
01:14:51larger or staying stable at best
01:14:53so Emerson not a real threat
01:14:55but Johansson still running
01:14:57fourth. Mario and Paul Tracy
01:14:59haul themselves from the back
01:15:01up into the top six. There number
01:15:0324 you saw out of the race.
01:15:05Nigel Mansell still looking
01:15:07for an IndyCar circuit win this
01:15:09year while some suspect that he
01:15:11will go back to Formula One next year.
01:15:13Also out early, IndyCar
01:15:15points leader Al Unser Jr.
01:15:17So whoever wins this race, the point
01:15:19standings will tighten considerably
01:15:21as the result of today's action.
01:15:23And Al Unser Jr., when we interviewed him, all he
01:15:25thought about was the points race.
01:15:27Not just the win, the
01:15:29points race. That's what you work hardest
01:15:31for all the way through the
01:15:33season. But Al Jr. will be
01:15:35back to challenge another day.
01:15:37Unser Jr. out on the second lap here
01:15:39on a race course he likes. In a race
01:15:41he thought he would have an excellent chance
01:15:43to win. We are live
01:15:45with 13 laps to go in this
01:15:47Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix.
01:15:49Ninth of the 16 races that lead
01:15:51to the IndyCar World Series Championship.
01:15:53Let's go to pit reporter
01:15:55Jan Beekus with a word on Michael Andretti.
01:15:57Yes, we talked earlier. Derek
01:15:59mentioned about Mo Nunn, the engineer
01:16:01that has come here and made such a big
01:16:03difference. He's only been here 11 days
01:16:05and look what Michael Andretti is doing.
01:16:07But he doesn't want to take all the credit.
01:16:09He says, I looked through all their notes
01:16:11and I found a place where they lost their way.
01:16:13All I did was help them get back in the direction
01:16:15they should be going. Also, keep in mind
01:16:17the Reinhardt chassis are all running well.
01:16:19That's because these teams share
01:16:21that information that Mo has brought.
01:16:23Michael did admit at dinner last night
01:16:25that it was a mistake not to have
01:16:27Mo Nunn remain with his team
01:16:29all through the season. And as
01:16:31you go around the track with leader Michael
01:16:33Andretti, imagine yourself
01:16:358.3 seconds ahead of Bobby Rahal
01:16:37with a dozen laps to go.
01:16:39That's where it's at. The Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix.
01:16:45In the car of second place, Bobby Rahal
01:16:4710 laps to go in the IndyCar Grand Prix
01:16:49of Toronto. Michael Andretti still with the lead
01:16:518.11 seconds in front.
01:16:53Emerson Fittipaldi though
01:16:55beginning to move up on
01:16:57Bobby Rahal's rear wing, Derek.
01:16:59Coming up next, J.A.L. Big Apple Classic
01:17:01from the Waikiko Country Club in New Rochelle, New York.
01:17:03At the start of the day, Beth Daniel had a
01:17:05three-shot lead win last we checked.
01:17:07She was still nursing a three-shot lead
01:17:09in the fourth and final round of that tournament.
01:17:11Going through the track now, this 11-turn
01:17:13course with Rahal as he tries
01:17:15to bite off Fittipaldi and hold on
01:17:17to second place. And Emerson is
01:17:19closing. It'll take a while to
01:17:21inch ever closer. You can see
01:17:23only nine laps left.
01:17:25But Emerson smells and feels
01:17:27that second position on the rostrum
01:17:29and he'd like to wrench it away from Rahal.
01:17:31Meanwhile, you were recently riding
01:17:33in the car of pole sitter Robby Gordon.
01:17:35For more on him, let's go to the pits
01:17:37in Janbinkes. Well, Jim, while we were
01:17:39at commercial, he came in and he took on
01:17:41no tires, just fuel.
01:17:437.2 seconds for Gordon
01:17:45in here. The Walker pits
01:17:47very excited. Of course, they're still trying to make up
01:17:49ground.
01:17:51But as a result of the stop, Janbinkes
01:17:53dropped off the lead lap.
01:17:55So while running in seventh place,
01:17:57he remains one lap down
01:17:59behind leader Michael Andretti.
01:18:01Second place, Bobby Rahal. Third place,
01:18:03Emerson Fittipaldi. Fourth place, Mario
01:18:05Andretti. Fifth place, Stefan Johansson.
01:18:07And Stefan Johansson
01:18:09is in trouble. He's just gone by our
01:18:11commentary box here, way off the
01:18:13pace. But Rahal has to back
01:18:15out of the power to avoid Johansson.
01:18:17And Emerson is now less than
01:18:19a second behind Bobby Rahal.
01:18:21So the active battle with eight
01:18:23laps to go is the battle for second and third
01:18:25as Rahal tries to hold off Emerson
01:18:27Fittipaldi. Here comes Emo looking for the
01:18:29inside line. Didn't quite get it.
01:18:31And he's going to have his hands full
01:18:33now with Emerson because that Penske
01:18:35is very good, particularly
01:18:37under braking. Rahal believes
01:18:39his Lola handled exceptionally well.
01:18:41It may be a battle between
01:18:43Ilmore and Honda. And what's at stake
01:18:45here for Emerson? A critical
01:18:47two points. He's the man who came in in
01:18:49second place in the point standings behind his teammate
01:18:51Al Unser Jr. Every point he
01:18:53gains today is a point picked up
01:18:55on Al Jr. because while going out
01:18:57on the second lap, Unser lost any
01:18:59chance of picking up points today.
01:19:01So Emerson Fittipaldi looking
01:19:03for two more points if he can
01:19:05get past Rahal. Two more
01:19:07critical points in his battle with Al
01:19:09Jr. for the IndyCar Championship.
01:19:11But he's not known, Emerson
01:19:13is not known to make brave moves
01:19:15so he'll have to be very sure of his chances
01:19:17of passing if he makes a lunge at
01:19:19Rahal. Seven laps to go
01:19:21and we'll bring you back to the conclusion of
01:19:23this battle at Toronto
01:19:25when we return to Exhibition Place
01:19:27for the closing moments of this
01:19:29Toronto IndyCar Grand Prix
01:19:31right after these messages.
01:19:35Battle for position as Paul Tracy
01:19:37goes around Robbie Gordon and moves
01:19:39into fifth place, possibly picking
01:19:41up more points for the Penske team.
01:19:43Gordon doing all he could for a couple of laps
01:19:45there, Derek, to hold off Paul Tracy
01:19:47but didn't have enough car. And Tracy
01:19:49absolutely hounded Robbie
01:19:51Gordon and suddenly forced him into
01:19:53a mistake. Gordon locks up
01:19:55the rear brakes. Watch it here.
01:19:57Rear brakes locks up, gets out of control
01:19:59Tracy goes down the inside
01:20:01takes the apex.
01:20:03Arabidachi
01:20:05Gordon. The two hottest 25-year-olds
01:20:07in IndyCar racing. Paul Tracy,
01:20:0925 years old from West Hill, Ontario.
01:20:11Robbie Gordon, 25
01:20:13from Orange, California. And there's
01:20:15a chart on Tracy. Started fifth,
01:20:17was all the way back on 24th
01:20:19place after 23 laps and now
01:20:21has made it all the way back up
01:20:23to number five. An update on Robbie Gordon from
01:20:25Jan Binkus. That's right, gentlemen. Keep in mind
01:20:27that I mentioned his pit stop. He did not
01:20:29change tires. That's why he could not hold off
01:20:31Paul Tracy. Those tires were shot
01:20:33for Gordon. Good
01:20:35observation, Jan Binkus. We take another
01:20:37look at the leader, Michael Andretti, as Andretti
01:20:39cruises toward his second
01:20:41title of the year. Now with a margin
01:20:43of nearly 11 seconds over Bobby
01:20:45Rahal. And with an update on third
01:20:47place, Emerson Fittipaldi lets go
01:20:49to Brian Hammonds. Well, I told you earlier that
01:20:51Emil was not going to make any bonsai moves
01:20:53trying to improve his position, but
01:20:55with 15 laps to go, he went full rich
01:20:57on the fuel mixture. He's gassing it.
01:20:59That's why he's right behind Bobby Rahal
01:21:01right now.
01:21:03A little more than three laps to go
01:21:05now for Rahal and Fittipaldi.
01:21:07A little bit less than three laps to go
01:21:09for the leader, Michael Andretti.
01:21:11So Michael now
01:21:13just has to behave himself,
01:21:15particularly passing traffic.
01:21:17There's the second and third battle. Rahal
01:21:19again stretches and puts a bit of
01:21:21daylight between himself and
01:21:23Emerson. I don't think
01:21:25Emerson will make that risky move
01:21:27that we saw Tracy just pull off
01:21:29trying to get by Rahal
01:21:31because of the championship, but some
01:21:33Padre pulls Dale Coinscar
01:21:35off the road.
01:21:37Proud of 65,000 plus,
01:21:39many of them perhaps thinking of the
01:21:41possibility of a sentimental moment
01:21:43that I don't think should happen to Rahal
01:21:45or Fittipaldi because if that were to be the case,
01:21:47then Mario Andretti would move up to third
01:21:49and would get to stand on the podium
01:21:51with his son Michael. Exactly
01:21:53the same as what happened down
01:21:55in Australia. What a moment it was
01:21:57for Mario. I doubt
01:21:59if it will happen here unless something
01:22:01very serious happens to Rahal
01:22:03or to Emerson, but Michael
01:22:05is in overdrive.
01:22:07Two laps to go now for Michael Andretti.
01:22:09Dramatic return to IndyCar
01:22:11from his year in Formula One
01:22:13with a season opening victory in
01:22:15Australia, but since then
01:22:17seven races of frustration,
01:22:19no more victories, and a constant
01:22:21mystery in his mind as to why he couldn't
01:22:23get the Ford Raynard to behave
01:22:25the way he wanted it to behave. This weekend
01:22:27everything falling into place.
01:22:29It is, and Emerson closes up again
01:22:31on Rahal, particularly
01:22:33in that braking zone. We saw Michael
01:22:35coming up to put another lap on
01:22:37his dad Mario, so Michael would have
01:22:39lapped all the way up to fourth place,
01:22:41but Rahal still has his
01:22:43hands full trying to hold off Emerson.
01:22:49A little bit more than one
01:22:51lap to go now
01:22:53for Michael Andretti.
01:22:55There's the white flag, one lap to go.
01:22:57So Michael Andretti's in his last lap
01:22:59needing to hold on for his
01:23:01second IndyCar victory of the year.
01:23:03And his fourth
01:23:05in his last five starts
01:23:07on this particular race course.
01:23:09And all the directors of the Raynard
01:23:11racing car company from
01:23:13Bicester in England are here
01:23:15to watch Michael Andretti. Adrian Raynard
01:23:17is here, Rick Gorne is here,
01:23:19Malcolm Ostler, the designer of the car
01:23:21is here, and Paul Owens
01:23:23who helps engineer Jimmy Vassar,
01:23:25he's also here. There's Mario,
01:23:27securely in fourth place.
01:23:29Seven of the eight IndyCar races
01:23:31on the circuit coming in here had been
01:23:33won by Roger Penske-owned cars.
01:23:35The only variance, that season opening
01:23:37win for Michael Andretti in Australia.
01:23:39So now Michael will become
01:23:41only the second car
01:23:43to win a race this year, other than a
01:23:45Penske car. Actually, it's the same car.
01:23:47He'll have won two. And Zampedri
01:23:49causes a local yellow,
01:23:51but it doesn't make any difference for Michael
01:23:53because he's on his way.
01:23:55Checkered flag
01:23:57coming for Michael Andretti.
01:23:59And he's got it.
01:24:01Now will
01:24:03Rahal hold off Fittipaldi
01:24:05for second place?
01:24:07He does. So Rahal
01:24:09is second, Fittipaldi is third,
01:24:11there they are on the screen.
01:24:13Michael Andretti has career win number
01:24:1529, tied for fifth
01:24:17on the all-time IndyCar
01:24:19win list with the great Rick Mears.
01:24:21You can call him the great
01:24:23Michael Andretti. We'll be back.
01:24:27This special has been brought to you by
01:24:29the all-new Ford Mustang.
01:24:31It is what it was, and more.
01:24:33By Valvoline Motor Oil,
01:24:35people who know use Valvoline.
01:24:37By Budweiser, Beechwood aged
01:24:39for a crisp, clean, classic taste.
01:24:41And by Thompson's WaterSeal
01:24:43waterproofer, the brand to trust
01:24:45for all your waterproofing needs.
01:24:51Back on the shores
01:24:53of Lake Ontario where Michael Andretti
01:24:55has wrapped up victory in the Toronto
01:24:57IndyCar Grand Prix. Bobby Rahal second,
01:24:59Fittipaldi third, Mario Andretti
01:25:01fourth, and the 400th start
01:25:03of his historic IndyCar career.
01:25:05Paul Tracy fifth, and
01:25:07Robbie Gordon is sixth. Those are unofficial results
01:25:09for the moment. And you look
01:25:11at the rest of the top 12.
01:25:13Montermini, Fabi, Villeneuve,
01:25:15Goodyear, Dominic Dobson, and
01:25:17Raul Bozel. Again, unofficial.
01:25:19We'll take you all the way through the field, all
01:25:2131 cars. Fernandez, Johansson, Greco,
01:25:23Sharp, Zanpedri, and Matshusta.
01:25:25Bentley,
01:25:27Groff, Bourbonnais, Guzelman,
01:25:29Nigel Mansell, who held the lead
01:25:31early in the race, but then couldn't compete
01:25:33after shredding a tire.
01:25:35Willie T. Ribbs, Jimmy Vassar,
01:25:37Scatarella in his very first start,
01:25:39Parker Johnstone, Jeff Wood, Al Unser Jr.,
01:25:41who went out with a fire on the second lap,
01:25:43Mark Smith, and Ari Leyondyke.
01:25:45Those are the unofficial results, and our
01:25:47Brian Hammond is with the winner, Michael Andretti.
01:25:49Brian? Michael Andretti accepting the congratulations
01:25:51of Morris Nunn, and Michael, I would imagine
01:25:53it seems like forever since Australia.
01:25:55It really does, I'll tell you, and
01:25:57I gotta give a little
01:25:59credit to the engineers.
01:26:01Mo Nunn, who joined the team last race,
01:26:03and Julian Roberts. The combination
01:26:05really seems to work out. They gave me a great car
01:26:07all weekend, and that's
01:26:09why we're here. Congratulations. Great day.
01:26:11Thanks a lot. Michael Andretti, the winner
01:26:13here in Toronto. Jim?
01:26:15Alright, let's quickly take a look at point
01:26:17standings to this point. Nine races
01:26:19into the 16-race IndyCar season.
01:26:21Leaving here, Al Unser Jr.'s lead
01:26:23shrinks to 27 points over teammate
01:26:25Emerson Fittipaldi. Michael Andretti moves
01:26:27into third place with 80 points, then Robby
01:26:29Gordon, Paul Tracy, and Nigel
01:26:31Mansell. Let's go to Jan Bikas
01:26:33who's with Bobby Rahal, the runner-up.
01:26:35Bobby Rahal, your best finish of the season.
01:26:37You went back to last year's engine, but boy, that
01:26:39didn't hurt you today, did it? No, no.
01:26:41This engine's done us good.
01:26:43Milwaukee, this was the engine.
01:26:45You know, I think it's
01:26:47I think the characteristics on the engine
01:26:49fit the tires today. You know, you really had to be careful
01:26:51with the tires.
01:26:53Everybody had a lot of wheel spin.
01:26:55We really made a good change at the end,
01:26:57and the car really hooked up.
01:26:59I could run with Michael for a while, but boy, he was
01:27:01hooked. We got caught up
01:27:03in traffic by Emerson, but we were able to pull away.
01:27:05Hey, we're just thrilled. It ain't a win,
01:27:07but it's damn close. Thanks, Bobby.
01:27:09Thank you. Jim? Alright, thanks, Jan.
01:27:11Derek Daly, a couple of dominant editorial
01:27:13teams, the re-emergence of Andretti
01:27:15and Rahal, and also the failure
01:27:17of the Penske team to dominate mean
01:27:19a new season from here on in? It really
01:27:21does, and I think today was an example that there
01:27:23is no magic to being successful
01:27:25in racing. You just have to cover all
01:27:27the basics. Chip Ganassi's
01:27:29team covered all the basics this
01:27:31afternoon, and then you get
01:27:33success.
01:27:35A spectacular racing effort by Michael
01:27:37Andretti. I'd like to thank a hundred
01:27:39people who made my return to IndyCar
01:27:41racing after a seven-year absence
01:27:43entirely enjoyable. Now for Derek
01:27:45Daly, Brian Hammons, and Jan
01:27:47Beekus, I'm Jim Lampley. Thanks very much
01:27:49for being with us from Toronto, where
01:27:51Michael Andretti was the winner.