Toronto: Gustavo Yacaman wins Indy Lights

Gustavo Yacaman prevailed over his childhood rival Sebastian Saavedra in the Toronto 100, winning by 2.2874 seconds.

Pole sitter Victor Carbone finished third, Peter Dempsey (in his first race with Belardi Auto Racing) posted a season best of fourth and Oliver Webb finished fifth.

It was the second victory of the season for Yacaman, driving the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, and his third in the past two seasons. Yacaman overtook Carbone in Turn 3 of the 1.75-mile, 11-turn circuit on Lap 13 of 50.

POST-RACE QUOTES:

GUSTAVO YACAMAN (No. 2 TMR – Tuvacol – Xtreme Coil Drilling, winner Toronto 100): "That was a wild first corner. I am not sure what those guys were thinking. We're not in bumper cars, you know, drivers were banging all around. I was lucky to stay out of trouble, and I got hit from behind and got bounced around but nothing happen to me or my car. I was really happy with how the race went and when I got to the front I knew I had a winning car. We had some gear box issues but still stayed in first position even though Sebastian Saavedra was right behind me the whole way. Hey it's another win and out pockets – it's so good to win in Toronto. This is great for the whole team. We win again. I am so happy."

PETER DEMPSEY (No. 9 Belardi/Liberty Engineering): "I'd really like to thank the team on our first weekend together. It was a tough race, the car was certainly a little loose, but it was definitely something to build on. Unfortunately, you're not going to win championships and races by putting the car into the wall, so I'm happy to get a solid finish. I really have to thank the team as I wouldn't be here without them. If fourth place is the worst finish we have all year, we're going to be in a great position going forward."

OLIVER WEBB (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): "I had a really good start and picked up two positions, then Tristan (Vautier) spun and that caused (Gustavo) Yacaman to slam on the brakes. I went straight into the back of him and propelled him forward and I stayed where I was and four cars got past. I was able to pass one more or two more and just stayed there for the rest of the race because I had a broken front wing. Fifth is average, really. we'll try next time for a win."

ESTEBAN GUERRIERI (No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/SSM with Curb Agajanian): "We had a very slow start. In the first corner I got hit from the back and Tristan was on my outside. Tristan and I made contact and unfortunately Tristan went into the wall. It was a crazy start. I ended up breaking my front wing on the front left tire though. Our strategy was good after the incident because we stopped once during the caution to change the tire and went back out to avoid going one lap down. We then came back in a second time still under caution to change the front wing. Unfortunately we got stuck behind the safety vehicle and ended up going a lap down."

TRISTAN VAUTIER (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM with Curb-Agajanian): ""It's a big shame. I had a very good run at the start. I was next to Esteban and it's hard to tell how much room he had, so I decided to go very wide. Through the corner, my ends were straight and he clipped me. I want to watch the video again. We're racing for a championship. For sure, we were all running very hard. I feel like I gave him enough room. It's too bad. We had a fast car. We were the fastest on the dry yesterday. We were P1 when this happened. I realized the car was broken in Turn 1, but I didn't know how damaged it was. So, I kept driving it. It's a shame and so disappointing. But it's racing and just a part of it. The championship is still very long."

JORGE GONCALVEZ (No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing): "What can I say, we didn't finish the race and I'm pretty disappointed. We had a pretty good car, but it was pretty hard to pass (Juan Pablo) Garcia and we ended up crashing in Turn 3. I did my best, the team did their best and we will just look ahead to Edmonton."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 Team AFS): "It's great, second place, I'll take it any day. Crazy start, I knew it was going to be crazy but not that much. I was able to take advantage and pass a couple of guys, a couple guys went out, and from then on I just battled with the front gusy. A big thanks to the No. 27 car and AFS Racing, amazing race for us. Very good for the championship points, and looking forward to whatever comes next."

VICTOR CARBONE (No. 3 Mav TV/Nevoni/SSM with Curb-Agajanian): "It was hard work. I didn't have a good start. Esteban (Guerrieri) got in front of me, but then he got together with Tristan (Vautier) and just tried to keep my nose clean to be honest. And then those two guys (Saavedra and Yacaman) just had less downforce. They were able to run at more top speed than me, and I was able to get a good run as I wanted to keep them behind. So another third place, and I'm happy, but we need to improve from here on, so we'll see."

Results

Pos Car Driver Diff. Gap Start Comment
1 2 Gustavo Yacaman 0.0000s 0.0000s 3 Running
2 27 Sebastian Saavedra 2.2874 2.2874 8 Running
3 3 Victor Carbone 17.5199 15.2325 1 Running
4 9 Peter Dempsey 24.7993 7.2794 6 Running
5 7 Oliver Webb 25.9034 1.1041 5 Running
6 11 Esteban Guerrieri 32.5404 6.6370 2 Running
7 22 David Ostella 50.0610 17.5206 7 Running
8 76 Juan Pablo Garcia 20 LAPS 19 LAPS 10 Contact
9 4 Jorge Goncalvez 20 LAPS 0.4157 9 Contact
10 26 Carlos Munoz 49 LAPS 29 LAPS 11 Contact
11 77 Tristan Vautier 50 LAPS 1 LAPS 4 Spin – Off Course
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 88.711
Time of Race: 00:59:21.0045
Margin of victory: 2.2874
Cautions:1 for 5 laps
Lead changes: 1 among 2 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Carbone 1 – 12
Yacaman 13 – 50
Point Standings: Guerrieri 316, Vautier 295, Saavedra 284, Yacaman 269, Carbone 253, Munoz 218, Webb 196, Ostella 178, Garcia 176, Alon Day 147.


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