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| July 07, 2012 News |
| Indy Lights: Yacaman Returns to Victory Lane in Round Eight |
 | Gustavo Yacaman (center) scored his third street circuit win with the Round Eight victory in Toronto
(Photo: INDYCAR-LAT USA) |
Gustavo Yacaman and Sebastian Saavedra used to battle on kart tracks in their native Colombia, and a decade later, the Firestone Indy Lights drivers battled on Saturday (July) on the streets of Exhibition Place, with Yacaman capturing the Round Eight win.
Yacaman prevailed in the Toronto 100 by 2.2874 seconds over Saavedra, who made the biggest move in the field, advancing from eighth in qualifying up to second.
Polesitter Victor Carbone finished third, while Peter Dempsey (in his first race with Belardi Auto Racing) posted a season best of fourth, ahead of Oliver Webb in 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.
"I was lucky to stay out of trouble and I got hit from behind and got bounced around but nothing happened to me or my car," said Yacaman, who placed third at Toronto the past two years. "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 gearbox issues, but still stayed in first position even though Sebastian Saavedra was right behind me the whole way."
Yacaman overtook Carbone in turn 3 of the 1.75-mile, 11-turn circuit on lap 13 of 50. Saavedra passed Carbone for second a lap later, and the hunt was on.
Yacaman led by 0.7016 of a second at the halfway mark and by 0.7255 with 10 laps remaining. Saavedra, who won the race from the pole in 2009 and competed at Toronto in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2011, however, couldn't close the gap the remaining laps.
"Really good battle against Gustavo and Victor," said Saavedra, driving the No. 27 Team AFS car. "Of course, we knew that right away that Tristan [Vautier] was out and I was just picking up points at that point. Points are the most important thing for me at this moment and it's crucial to finish and finish well.
"Some moment I thought I was able to have Gustavo. Starting in the back, we needed to start with a really low downforce to really go through. So I'm very happy to be here, and looking forward to whatever comes."
Esteban Guerrieri and Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Vautier made contact exiting turn one of lap one, ending the day for Vautier and sending Guerrieri's No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/SSM with Curb-Agajanian car to pit lane to replace the front wing assembly.
Guerrieri rejoined the race in ninth and advanced to sixth at the checkered flag to minimize damage to his championship points lead. With Vautier placing 11th, Guerrieri's margin actually increased from 12 points to 21 over Vautier. Saavedra remains third (32 points back) and Yacaman is now fourth (47 points behind).
"Tristan and I made contact and unfortunately Tristan went into the wall," said Guerrieri, who started on the front row. "It was a crazy start. I ended up breaking my front wing on the front-left tire though."
The Firestone Indy Lights title chase continues on July 21, with Round Nine at the Edmonton City Center Airport track in Alberta.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, and EFCN Twitter page.
Indy Lights
Round 8 - Race Results
July 7, 2012
Streets of Toronto - Toronto, Ontario
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | Gustavo Yacaman | Team Moore Racing | - | 1:04.7261 | | 2. | Sebastian Saavedra | AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport | 2.2874 | 1:04.8546 | | 3. | Victor Carbone | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 17.5199 | 1:05.1640 | | 4. | Peter Dempsey | Belardi Auto Racing | 24.7993 | 1:05.3523 | | 5. | Oliver Webb | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 25.9034 | 1:05.1558 | | 6. | Esteban Guerrieri | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 32.5404 | 1:05.0982 | | 7. | David Ostella | Team Moore Racing | 50.0610 | 1:05.5413 | | 8. | Juan Pablo Garcia | Jeffrey Mark Motorsport | 20 Laps | 1:06.1545 | | 9. | Jorge Goncalvez | Belardi Auto Racing | 20 Laps | 1:06.0048 | | 10. | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | 49 Laps | 1:14.3317 | | 11. | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt motorsports | 50 Laps | 1:46.8050 | |
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