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2010 São Paulo Indy 300

The 2010 São Paulo Indy 300 was the first race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The race took place on March 14, on the 2.536-mile (4.081 km) temporary street circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, and was telecast by Versus in the United States. Originally scheduled for 190.2 miles (306.1 km), the race was shortened to 154.696 miles (248.959 km) due to a two-hour time limit brought about by an extended red-flag period due to heavy rain.

Brazil 2010 Streets of São Paulo
Race details
1st round of the 2010 IndyCar Series season
DateMarch 14, 2010
Official nameSão Paulo Indy 300
LocationSantana – São Paulo city
CourseTemporary street circuit
2.536[1] mi / 4.081 km
Distance61 laps
154.696 mi / 248.959 km
Scheduled Distance75 laps
190.200 mi / 306.097 km
Weather75 °F (24 °C), scattered clouds with intermittent rain showers
Pole position
DriverDario Franchitti (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time1:27.7354
Fastest lap
DriverWill Power (Team Penske)
Time1:28.1892 (on lap 60 of 61)
Podium
FirstWill Power (Team Penske)
SecondRyan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)
ThirdVítor Meira (A. J. Foyt Enterprises)

The race was won by Australian driver Will Power for Team Penske. Power was making his race return after an incident during a practice session at the 2009 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, which left him with two broken vertebrae in his back.[2] Second place went to Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was making his first start for Andretti Autosport, and third place went to another returnee, A. J. Foyt Enterprises' Vítor Meira. Meira was making his first start since suffering similar injuries to Power, during the 2009 Indianapolis 500.[3]

Four drivers made their IndyCar Series débuts in the race. Former Formula One driver Takuma Sato, Firestone Indy Lights graduates Ana Beatriz and Mario Romancini, and Atlantic Championship title contender Simona de Silvestro were all classified outside the top ten at the conclusion of the race, with de Silvestro leading four laps during the race.[4]

Report

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Background

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Plans for an IndyCar Series race in Brazil were confirmed on 25 November 2009, with authorities in São Paulo and the Indy Racing League agreeing to a deal for the city to host the series. Race details for the São Paulo Indy 300 were announced on 25 January 2010.[5] It was the first American open-wheel race in the country since the Rio 200 at Jacarepaguá in 2000. Despite a lengthy distance to travel from most team bases, the event promoters offered each team a six-figure sum of money, as well as paying for all expenses.[6] A total of seven Brazilian drivers would compete in the race, including Ana Beatriz, Hélio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Raphael Matos, Vítor Meira, Mario Moraes and Mario Romancini.[7] Of those seven, four drivers—Beatriz, Castroneves, Moraes and Romancini—are natives of São Paulo. The race was scheduled to have two practice sessions on Saturday morning, qualifications on Saturday afternoon with the race on Sunday afternoon.[8] In preparation for the race weekend, the public roads that made up areas of the track were closed off just before midnight on Friday evening.[9]

Practice and qualifying

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Dario Franchitti won the pole position, the 24th of his career.

In the first practice session, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon recorded the fastest lap, ahead of Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe, the Andretti Autosport car of Tony Kanaan and Briscoe's teammate Will Power.[10] Due to the slippery nature of the circuit, drivers were caught out and ended up inflicting damage to their cars. Defending series champion Dario Franchitti ventured down the escape road before damaging his suspension against the Turn 8 wall.[10] He ended the session in seventeenth position. Other drivers to hit the wall included Romancini and Milka Duno.[10] Incidents continued in the second practice session, with no less than five drivers spinning or making contact with the outside retaining walls.[11] The session saw the same top four drivers as the first session.[11]

Having observed the sessions and received feedback from the drivers and the teams about the circuit conditions, the series' president of competition Brian Barnhart and course designer Tony Cotman opted to postpone the qualification session to race morning, with the running of a third practice session and a Sunday morning warm-up instead of it.[12] Power topped this extra session, ahead of Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay, with Justin Wilson—a new arrival at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing—in fourth position.[13] After the session, track officials started grinding down the concrete in order to provide a track surface that was suitable for racing the following day.[11] Hunter-Reay topped the Sunday morning warmup before qualifying, setting the fastest lap time by over half a second ahead of second-year driver Mike Conway in another Dreyer & Reinbold car.[14]

Qualifying followed the usual road and street course system, with the field being split into two groups.[15] In the first group of twelve runners, Wilson topped the session, 0.46 seconds ahead of the HVM Racing machine of Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro—one of four female drivers in the race[16]—with Alex Tagliani in third position. Other drivers to make it into the second session of qualifying were Power, Takuma Sato and Raphael Matos. The remaining twelve drivers took part in the second group, with Hunter-Reay topping his second session of the day. Hélio Castroneves, Briscoe, Franchitti, Dixon and Kanaan were the other competitors in the top six, and thus progressed to the second round of qualifying. In the Top 12, Power recorded the fastest lap time, holding off the British pair Wilson and Franchitti. Hunter-Reay, Kanaan and Tagliani finished between fourth and sixth, and would be the other half of the drivers that progressed to the Fast Six. Franchitti saved his best lap of qualifying to the last possible moment, taking his thirteenth career IndyCar Series pole position, and his 24th in American open-wheel racing.[17] Tagliani took second on the grid, on his début with the FAZZT Race Team. Wilson took third ahead of Hunter-Reay, Power and Kanaan.

Race

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Clouds of dust hampering the drivers' visibility during the race start

Minutes before the race start, reports of rain falling on the track caused the start to be delayed by around ten minutes.[18] Race control eventually deemed the race to be dry enough to be called a dry race, thus the rain tyres were not necessary, but would be required later in the race. Dario Franchitti and Alex Tagliani led the field to the line, with the circuit still being dusty from the previous night's repair work. Dust clouds engulfed the start-finish straight, blinding many of the midfield runners. The top five runners managed to negotiate the first chicane cleanly, while behind, half a dozen cars were involved in a first-corner crash. Takuma Sato misjudged his braking into the first corner and clipped the rear of Will Power's Penske machine, which spun him into Scott Dixon. Hélio Castroneves could not avoid running into Dixon's stationary car at the first corner. After many drivers went down the escape road to avoid being involved in the crash, a separate accident took place between Marco Andretti and Mario Moraes. Moraes lost control of his KV Racing Technology car behind Ana Beatriz, hit Andretti and became airborne before coming to rest across the cockpit of Andretti's car. It took several minutes to extricate Andretti from his damaged machinery, but was uninjured and very critical of Moraes' driving.[19] The crash resulted in a seven-lap caution period,[4] and eliminated Sato, Moraes and Andretti from the race. Dixon and Castroneves both recovered to the pit lane to repair damage.[20]

Franchitti led the field to the restart on lap eight, ahead of Tagliani, Hunter-Reay (up from fourth), Kanaan (up from sixth), and Matos, who advanced seven positions while avoiding the mêlée at turn one.[21] Franchitti became only the third driver in series history to lead the final lap of one season and the first lap of the next,[22] having won the championship by winning the 2009 Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The top five remained the same until lap 15 when Dan Wheldon passed the De Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing car of Matos for fifth place. Hunter-Reay took second place from Tagliani into the final hairpin on lap 19, before Milka Duno brought out the second caution of the afternoon on lap 22 by nudging her Dale Coyne Racing car into the wall at turn four.[4] The entire field except for Simona de Silvestro headed to pit road for the first of two scheduled pit stops. De Silvestro became the first rookie driver since Graham Rahal in 2008 to lead at least one lap on début.[23]

When the race returned to green flag conditions on lap 26,[21] de Silvestro held the lead ahead of Franchitti, Hunter-Reay and Kanaan with Tagliani in fifth position. De Silvestro kept the lead for a further two laps, with Hunter-Reay's Andretti Autosport car moving ahead of Franchitti on lap 27, repeating his move on Tagliani on the defending series champion.[21] Not long after, Hunter-Reay moved ahead of de Silvestro as the pair were under braking for turn five. Hunter-Reay nearly lost control of his car as his car bottomed out on the straight, with lifted the car slightly airborne. Franchitti further demoted the young Swiss driver to third, moving ahead on lap 29.[21] Behind them, Hideki Mutoh hit Vítor Meira which saw his retirement from the race,[24] and Wheldon hit the back of Tagliani which sent him into Kanaan, resulting in the retirement of the Canadian driver.[25] Rain started falling once again, more heavily than before and much of the field pitted to change from dry-weather tyres to wet-weather ones. Alex Lloyd aquaplaned into the wall in the second Dale Coyne car, bringing out the caution for the third time, and with rain falling relentlessly, series officials brought out the red flag to allow the weather conditions to pass.[20] After a 36-minute red flag delay,[22] cars returned to the circuit with slicks being the choice of tyre for the track, despite a few wet patches remaining on the circuit. Some cars gambled on wets thinking that the circuit would not dry quickly enough for their tyres to drop off compared to the slicks.

 
Will Power won the race after overtaking Ryan Hunter-Reay on lap 57.

As the green flag flew on lap 38,[21] Chip Ganassi Racing held a one–two with Franchitti leading Dixon, with two of the Dreyer & Reinbold cars—Conway and Wilson—holding third and fourth places, with the only remaining KV car of E. J. Viso holding fifth, the Venezuelan disposing of Castroneves just after the restart. Realising that the gamble had backfired, the lead quintet pitted on laps 41 and 42, which cycled Hunter-Reay back through to the lead.[21] Power made an error which allowed Matos and Briscoe to move ahead of him. Briscoe moved ahead of Matos on lap 45 and set off in chase of Hunter-Reay.[21] Four laps later, the Australian was on the American's tail, and moved ahead after an outbraking move into the final hairpin.[20] Hunter-Reay immediately regained the position into the first chicane on Lap 51, before Briscoe sealed the place with a similar final hairpin move at the end of the lap.[20] Briscoe's luck would run out, however, when he overcooked it into turn five on lap 54,[4][20] and nudged the barriers with his nose assembly, bringing out the fourth and final caution of the race. The time limit meant that only six laps remained at the restart,[21] with Hunter-Reay leading Power, Matos, Meira and Wheldon. Meira soon passed his fellow Brazilian for third on Lap 57, and began to chase down the lead duo, who had changed positions after Power used the slipstream to overtake Hunter-Reay into the final corner. Power moved away from Hunter-Reay in the final laps, taking the chequered flag to cap his return from injury with a victory. Hunter-Reay took his best result for a year in second, with another injury returnee, Meira, finishing third. Matos was fourth, holding off seven other cars, as fourth to eleventh were covered by 3.49 seconds at the race's conclusion.[20] Wheldon led those seven in fifth, ahead of the Ganassis, Conway, Castroneves, Kanaan and Wilson. Viso finished twelfth ahead of top rookie Beatriz, a recovering Briscoe, Danica Patrick and de Silvestro, the final two off the lead lap.[4][21]

Classification

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Qualifying

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  • All cars were split into two groups of twelve, with the fastest six from each group going through to the "Top 12" session. In this session, the fastest six runners progressed to the "Firestone Fast Six". The fastest driver in the final session claimed pole, with the rest of the runners lining up in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (Fast Six from 1–6, Top 12 from 7-12 and Round 1 from 13 to 24, with Group 1 drivers occupying the odd-numbered grid positions, and Group 2 drivers occupying the even-numbered grid positions).[26]
Qualifying results
Pos No. Driver Team Group 1[27] Group 2[28] Top 12[29] Fast 6[30]
1 10   Dario Franchitti (GBR) Chip Ganassi Racing 1:28.1779 1:27.6841 1:27.7354
2 77   Alex Tagliani (CAN) FAZZT Race Team 1:28.8134 1:27.8474 1:27.7676
3 22   Justin Wilson (GBR) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:28.2275 1:27.6180 1:27.8183
4 37   Ryan Hunter-Reay (USA) Andretti Autosport 1:27.9184 1:27.7474 1:27.8756
5 12   Will Power (AUS) Team Penske 1:28.9942 1:27.5030 1:28.0156
6 11   Tony Kanaan (BRA) Andretti Autosport 1:28.2794 1:27.8382 1:28.6946
7 9   Scott Dixon (NZL) Chip Ganassi Racing 1:28.2184 1:28.0104
8 6   Ryan Briscoe (AUS) Team Penske 1:28.0110 1:28.1176
9 3   Hélio Castroneves (BRA) Team Penske 1:27.9451 1:28.1200
10 5   Takuma Sato (JPN) (R) KV Racing Technology 1:29.6382 1:28.2679
11 78   Simona de Silvestro (SUI) (R) HVM Racing 1:28.6879 1:28.8691
12 2   Raphael Matos (BRA) Luczo Dragon Racing de Ferran Motorsports 1:29.9423 1:29.0994
13 7   Danica Patrick (USA) Andretti Autosport 1:30.1253
14 06   Hideki Mutoh (JPN) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 1:28.4659
15 19   Alex Lloyd (GBR) (R) Dale Coyne Racing 1:30.4641
16 14   Vítor Meira (BRA) A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1:29.1131
17 8   E. J. Viso (VEN) KV Racing Technology 1:30.4947
18 4   Dan Wheldon (GBR) Panther Racing 1:29.1960
19 24   Mike Conway (GBR) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:33.7584
20 34   Mario Romancini (BRA) (R) Conquest Racing 1:30.8838
21 26   Marco Andretti (USA) Andretti Autosport 1:39.6813
22 23   Ana Beatriz (BRA) (R) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:32.4161
23 32   Mario Moraes (BRA) KV Racing Technology no time
24 18   Milka Duno (VEN) Dale Coyne Racing 1:36.0065

Race

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Race results
Pos No. Driver Team Laps Completed Time/Retired Grid Laps Points
1 12   Will Power (AUS) Team Penske 61 2:00:57.7112 5 4 50
2 37   Ryan Hunter-Reay (USA) Andretti Autosport 61 + 1.8581 4 20 40
3 14   Vítor Meira (BRA) A. J. Foyt Enterprises 61 + 9.7094 16 0 35
4 2   Raphael Matos (BRA) Luczo Dragon Racing de Ferran Motorsports 61 + 10.4235 12 0 32
5 4   Dan Wheldon (GBR) Panther Racing 61 + 10.8883 18 0 30
6 9   Scott Dixon (NZL) Chip Ganassi Racing 61 + 11.3473 7 0 28
7 10   Dario Franchitti (GBR) Chip Ganassi Racing 61 + 12.0579 1 29 29
8 24   Mike Conway (GBR) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 61 + 12.1654 19 0 24
9 3   Hélio Castroneves (BRA) Team Penske 61 + 12.7411 9 0 22
10 11   Tony Kanaan (BRA) Andretti Autosport 61 + 13.4850 6 0 20
11 22   Justin Wilson (GBR) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 61 + 13.9193 3 0 19
12 8   E. J. Viso (VEN) KV Racing Technology 61 + 16.9039 17 0 18
13 23   Ana Beatriz (BRA) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 61 + 19.6451 22 0 17
14 6   Ryan Briscoe (AUS) Team Penske 61 + 1:24.9191 8 4 16
15 7   Danica Patrick (USA) Andretti Autosport 60 + 1 Lap 13 0 15
16 78   Simona de Silvestro (SWI) HVM Racing 58 + 3 Laps 11 4 14
17 34   Mario Romancini (BRA) Conquest Racing 46 Contact 20 0 13
18 19   Alex Lloyd (GBR) Dale Coyne Racing 30 Contact 15 0 12
19 77   Alex Tagliani (CAN) FAZZT Race Team 28 Contact 2 0 12
20 06   Hideki Mutoh (JPN) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 27 Contact 14 0 12
21 18   Milka Duno (VEN) Dale Coyne Racing 20 Contact 24 0 12
22 5   Takuma Sato (JPN) KV Racing Technology 0 Contact 10 0 12
23 26   Marco Andretti (USA) Andretti Autosport 0 Contact 21 0 12
24 32   Mario Moraes (BRA) KV Racing Technology 0 Contact 23 0 12
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1   Will Power (AUS) 50
2   Ryan Hunter-Reay (USA) 40 (–10)
3   Vítor Meira (BRA) 35 (–15)
4   Raphael Matos (BRA) 32 (–18)
5   Dan Wheldon (GBR) 30 (–20)
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

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  1. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Combined Results of Practice" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2010-03-14. 2.536 mile(s)
  2. ^ "Will Power breaks vertebrae, suffers concussion in crash at Sonoma". USA Today. 2009-08-22. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  3. ^ Marot, Michael (2009-05-24). "Meira breaks two vertebra in crash-filled Indy 500". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Official Box Score: IZOD IndyCar Series – Sao Paulo Indy 300; March 14, 2010" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  5. ^ Lewandowski, Dave (2010-01-25). "Built for excitement". IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  6. ^ Miller, Robin (2009-11-25). "Series Opens 2010 In Sao Paulo". Speed. Archived from the original on 2009-11-27. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  7. ^ Lewandowski, Dave (2010-03-13). "Brazilian drivers rev up home crowd". IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. Archived from the original on 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  8. ^ "On the track". Telegraph Herald. Dubuque: Woodward Communications, Inc. 2010-03-11.
  9. ^ Cavin, Curt (2010-03-12). "Brazil and its drivers pumped as IndyCar invades Sao Paulo". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  10. ^ a b c Beer, Matt (2010-03-13). "Dixon leads first practice in Brazil". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  11. ^ a b c Beer, Matt (2010-03-13). "Dixon stays on top in second session". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  12. ^ Pruett, Marshall (2010-03-13). "Qualifying Postponed Until Sunday". speedtv.com. Speed. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  13. ^ Lewandowski, Dave (2010-03-13). "Qualifications moved to race day". IndyCar Series. São Paulo: Indy Racing League. Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  14. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Results of Session, Practice 4" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  15. ^ Cutler, Andrew (2008-04-02). "New Road Course Qualifying Format". f1network.net. Durham Associates Group. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  16. ^ "IndyCar opener: Sao Paulo Indy 300". spreadreport.com. Spread Report. 2010-03-13. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  17. ^ "Double Top-10 for Team Target at Sao Paulo Indy 300". Chip Ganassi Racing. Racersites. 2010-03-16. Franchitti earned his 13th IZOD IndyCar Series pole and 24th pole in open wheel racing.
  18. ^ Leone, Christopher (2010-03-14). "IndyCar Race Review: Sao Paulo Indy 300". bleacherreport.com. Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2010-10-16. Not long before the green flag, there were reports of sprinkles on part of the track, delaying the start as race control determined whether or not to mandate rain tires.
  19. ^ "Andretti criticizes Moraes over Sao Paulo start clash". Racer. Haymarket Publications. 2010-03-15. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-19. It's obviously dusty, I think if you have any common sense, you're not going to stay flat-out if you can't see the car ahead of you. I don't know, I got hit from behind.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Beer, Matt (2010-03-14). "Power wins thrilling IndyCar opener". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Race Lap Chart" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  22. ^ a b "Will Power Wins Sao Paulo". speedtv.com. Speed. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  23. ^ "IRL headlines". racecar.co.uk. Racecar New Media Services Ltd. 2010-03-17. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-03-19. 5 – Different leaders, including rookie Simona De Silvestro, who became the first driver since Graham Rahal to lead while in an IZOD IndyCar Series debut race.
  24. ^ "Newman/Haas Racing: Sao Paulo Indy 300 – Sao Paulo, Brazil; Sunday, March 14, 2010". newman-haas.com. Newman/Haas Racing. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original on 2010-11-26. Retrieved 2010-10-16. It was a disappointing race for the Formula Dream / Panasonic team. We had moved up as high as sixth and when I was in seventh I went into the marbles in Turn 3 and couldn't turn the car and many cars passed me while I was sliding everywhere. Then I almost hit Vitor, who was fighting with another car. Vitor slowed so I had to brake harder and lost the back end and had nowhere to go. They were my mistakes. We have to move on and focus on having a good weekend in St. Pete.
  25. ^ Olson, Jeff (2010-03-18). "Hunter-Reay can't switch off Power". Autosport. 199 (11): 46–49.
  26. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300 Daily Trackside Report – March 13". IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-13. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-03-19. In Segment One of qualifying, each group receives 15 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Segment Two, while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13-24. Group One drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17...) while Group Two drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18...) based on their fastest lap times.
  27. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Qualifying Round 1 – Group 1" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  28. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Qualifying Round 1 – Group 2" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  29. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Qualifying – Top 12" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  30. ^ "Sao Paulo Indy 300: Qualifying – Fast 6" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2010-03-16.


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