2nd RBR 500

The RBR 500 #2 was the 2nd running of the Red Bull Indy 500 Megarace. It took place between July 23, 2009 and July 28, 2009.

Entry List

 * All teams used a Dallara chassis, a Honda engine and Firestone tyres.

Qualifying Report
Welcome all to the second running of the RBR Clan 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This time we have a 14 car field including last times winner Paul DiGiovanni Lee. Also making a return to the 500 is last years pole sitter Paul Smart along with Paul McAdam, Chris Dickinson, Caamen Soukup, James Matthews, Wong Ka Meng and Wayne Static. They are joined by new comers to the 500 in Michael Routh, Tom Ratcliffe, Joel Mangnall, Ryan Neville, Stephen Brooks and Steven Costin. It is set to be another cracker of a race.

Practice was done in the dry and Caamen Soukup was out to prove that he was the man to beat in the 500 this time by setting the fastest lap of practice. He was followed by Static in 2nd and Dickinson in 3rd. James Matthews who had such a bad run at the last 500 was out to show that he could be a contender this time around as he went 4th fastest. The fastest of the new comers was Michael Routh down in 6th. Both last times winner DiGiovanni Lee and last times poles sitter Smart were of the pace. DiGiovanni Lee crashed in practice and was not able to set a time and Smart was down in 11th.

Qualifying was again dry and with everyone out to prove they had what it takes to win this race it was going to be a great session. Joel Mangnall had a difficult run with only one of his 4 laps being a good time. He really struggled to find his rhythm on his way to 14th at around 7.5 seconds of the pace. Paul Smart was keen to grab another pole here but on his first lap he had some sideways movement, then lap 2 went to deep into a corner and was way off the pace on his 3rd lap. He ended up in 13th position around 7.4 seconds off the pace. Chris Dickinson, who is out to prove that he has what it takes at this venue after a disappointing race last time around, looked good after his first lap but then on lap 2 he almost spun and it seemed to throw him off his game. He was not helped when he locked a wheel on his last lap. He ended up in 12th 7 seconds off pole. Ryan Neville who is one of the six new comers here was next in 11th 5.6 seconds off the pace. He too spun on his second pass and also had trouble on his final lap. Another new comer in Stephen Brooks was next 5.1 seconds behind 1st in 10th. He didn’t really push hard on his first lap and on lap 3 had some sideways movement into a corner which cost him time. James Matthews keen to undo the bad fortunes of last race was in 9th 5 seconds behind the pole. His first two laps were pretty awful but he made it up on his last 2. Last year’s winner Paul DiGiovanni Lee atoned himself a little bit after his practice accident by putting himself in 8th for the start of the race. On his first lap he seemed a bit nervous from his crash but was able to turn it around to end up only 3.7 seconds from pole. Last year’s pre race favorite Wong Ka Meng was a little bit disappointed after his laps. Wong will start from 7th 3.1 seconds behind the pole man. Tom Ratcliffe was pretty consistent but not extremely quick and it showed as he ended qualifying in 6th only 1.8 seconds behind pole.

Steven Costin looked like he would be at the back of the field after his practice times were slow but was able to push his car when it was needed and ended up in 5th .2 of a second ahead of 6th and 1.6 seconds behind the pole. Caamen Soukup had high hopes of grabbing pole after setting the fastest practice time and the fastest lap of qualifying but could not put together 4 quick laps and ended up in 4th .4 seconds from the pole sitter. Paul McAdam set some blistering lap times but was unable to do any better than 3rd .3 of a second behind the pole man. Wayne Static too was quick but not quite quick enough and was 2nd just .2 of a second behind the pole sitter Michael Routh, who in his first attempt at the 500 set the pole time at 2:35.543.

This is looking like it will be a great race so stay tuned for more.

Race Report
Lap 1 and pole sitter Michael Routh dropped down the field to 5th with Wayne Static, Wong Ka Meng, Paul DiGiovanni Lee and Tom Ratcliffe all getting past him. Steven Costin slipped to 6th and both Paul McAdam and Caamen Soukup dropped 4 places to 7th and 8th respectively. Ka Meng and DiGiovanni Lee both got past Static on lap 2, Ka Meng setting the fastest lap of the race so far at a 40.316 on his way past Static.

Lap 5 and while the front of the field has now settled into a good rhythm, Soukup who started in 4th has now slipped down to 11th. On lap 8 DiGiovanni Lee overtook Ka Meng for the lead. Lap 9 and Ka Meng sets a new fastest lap at 40.161 as he gets past DiGiovanni Lee too take the lead back. Joel Mangnall made an error at turn 3 on lap 14, He came in on the following lap to repair the damage, unfortunately this put him 2 laps down and he now would have a lot of work to do to catch back up. Ka Meng then pitted on lap 18 from the lead. DiGiovanni Lee would take over the lead which was now out to 8.7 seconds over Routh.

James Matthews then made an error at turn 3 in the same spot as Mangnall and would have to pit the following lap to fix the damage incurred from the incident. He did manage to get out in front of Joel and only a lap down on the field. Ka Meng then made an error at turn 2, His accident brings out the first safety car of the day and allowed Ka Meng to get back to the pits to repair the damage, It also allows Matthews and Mangnall to unlap themselves. The top 2 cars in DiGiovanni Lee and Ratcliffe pit during the safety car period which allows Routh to take the lead from Static and Steven Costin.

The safety car comes in on lap 28 and Wong shows how eager he is to make up for his accident by setting a new fastest lap at 40.147 on lap 29. Mangnall and Ratcliffe have a coming together on lap 30 Mangnall had to pit to fix the damage from the incident but Ratcliffe decided to continue on, it looked like a 50/50 incident and no one was really to blame.

Lap 32 and race leader Routh makes an error at the first turn and falls back down the field a little bit. Meanwhile the damage from the earlier incident involving Ratcliffe seems to of affected his car as he has trouble in turn 3 and damages the car more, meaning he would have to come into the pits and repair the car. Static had a tire blow as well and would need to nurse his car back to the pits. James Matthews also stormed through the field to put himself into second place just behind Ka Meng, who got the lead from Routh after his accident. Ka Meng then pitted from first, this gave Matthews the lead of the race. Lap 40 and Matthews leads from Ryan Neville in 2nd by 5.9 seconds. Stephen Brooks is in 3rd, Chris Dickinson is 4th. Then it’s Paul McAdam from DiGiovanni Lee and Paul Smart. Soukup is 8th, Ka Meng 9th and Costin is 10th. Then Ratcliffe and Routh are the last two cars on the lead lap. Mangnall and Static are both a lap down at this early stage of the race. Lap 41 and Neville pits from second, it is a pretty slick stop at 9.51 seconds and it manages to put him back on track in 9th. Lap 42 and Routh is in the wars again this time it is turn 3, he would need to come in on the next lap to fix the car. Both Matthews from 1st and Brooks from 3rd pit on lap 45. This moves Dickinson in to the lead from McAdam and DiGiovanni Lee.

Neville then reported problems with his fuel system on lap 49, this would mean that he would need to pit again to fix it. As he did that both McAdam who was in 2nd and Smart who was 4th pitted as well. Mean while on track Dickinson seemed to be slowing for some unknown reason, it would be reported that this was due to no fuel left in the tank and he would need to limp back to the pits. This meant that DiGiovanni Lee would take the lead, He would be 13.7 seconds ahead of Ka Meng who was then 15.1 seconds ahead of Matthews in 3rd. Dickinson’s fuel problem would mean that he would re join the race properly down in 11th now a lap down.

Ka Meng then set a new fastest lap on lap 58 of 39.934 seconds, as he begun to chase down DiGiovanni Lee. DiGiovanni Lee’s lead was now to 9.6 seconds. Matthews was now 36.4 seconds behind the leader in 3rd. Ka Meng then pitted on lap 59, this meant the DiGiovanni Lee now had a 37.2 second lead over Matthews.

DiGiovanni Lee was really pushing hard and had extended his lead out to 41.5 seconds over Ka Meng. But the pace was too much for him as he put his car into the wall at turn 2 and brought out the second safety car of the day. There was a lot of damage to his car and he ended up being in the pits for 180.14 seconds to repair his car, He would now be 2 laps down after being almost 1 lap ahead of the entire field. But managed to get back on to the lead lap by way of the safety car.

Back under green on lap 70, with Ka Meng leading from Matthews and McAdam. Smart then makes an error at turn 4 and would need to pit for repairs to his car. But luckily for Smart, the 3rd safety car of the day is called out when Neville and Routh have a coming together over 5th place, Routh loses a bit of track position but has no significant damage to the car, but Neville would need to pit for repairs after the incident. Dickinson would be harmed by this as he begun to pick up the pace and set a new fastest lap at 39.871 seconds. As you would expect with a safety car it leads to a lot of people pitting. Ka Meng now led from Dickinson and Brooks. Both Neville and Smart where able to unlap themselves and take there place at the back of the field before the safety car would pull in. After the safety car pulled in on lap 77, Smart showed that he was still in with a chance to win the race as he jumped from 13th to 8th on the first lap under green. Dickinson sets another new fastest lap on lap 79 of 39.548 seconds.

Lap 80 and Ka Meng leads by 3 seconds over Brooks. DiGiovanni Lee is 3rd with Static 4th, Smart up to 5th after some good laps after the safety car. Ratcliffe is 6th, Routh 7th, Mangnall 8th, Costin 9th, McAdam is 10th. Matthews is 11th, Neville 12th, Soukup 13th and Dickinson who is in the pits at the moment is 14th and last. Lap 83 and Ryan Neville is in trouble again at turn 3. He seems ok, looks like it was just a little incident. Turn 3 is turning out to be a troublesome corner today. Lap 86 and Ka Meng pits from 1st place, this gives DIGiovanni Lee the lead from Smart by 0.456 seconds with Brooks now 3rd just 0.847 seconds behind Smart. Ratcliffe then makes an error at turn 4 and touches the wall. He would need to pit to repair the car. Soukup then touches the wall at turn 2 after a small driver error on lap 89 and he too would need to come in to repair his vehicle. Meanwhile upfront DiGiovanni Lee and Smart were beginning to pull away from the field.

Lap 90 and Smart finally manages to get around DiGiovanni Lee for the lead. Brooks was having problems with his gearbox and would need to pit to have a look at it. 91 and DiGiovanni and Smart switch places again and again on 92. Lap 100 and Smart pits from 1st, He wastes a bit of time when he makes a mistake entering the pits. This gives DiGiovanni Lee the lead again, His lead would be 15.7 seconds back to Routh who was now in 2nd and Costin was 3rd a further 14.6 seconds back. DiGiovanni Lee pitted on lap 102. His gave Routh the lead by 15.9 seconds over Costin. Lap 120 and with Routh and Costin pitting the order looks like this, DiGiovanni Lee back in the lead from Ka Meng by 4.3 seconds. Then Static is in 3rd followed by Routh and McAdam, Smart is 6th followed by Mangnall, Costin, Neville and Matthews. Brooks is down in 11th with Dickinson and Soukup behind him. Ratcliffe who is also in the pits is currently 14th.

Lap 121 and Smart steps it out at turn 4 and taps the wall. He would need to pit to repair the damage.

Lap 128 and after a few steady laps of a bit of chopping and changing of positions in the field, DiGiovanni Lee our leader by around 18 seconds runs wide at 4 and spins but manages to recover it in time before putting it in the wall. He does lose a little time too Routh who is in 2nd. However on lap 135 he is not as lucky as he puts it in too the wall at turn 4 this time. He would need to get back to the pits to repair his car. Meanwhile Static also makes an error at turn 2 and he too would need to pit for repairs. Luckily for both of these guys the 4th safety car of the day is called out on track to bunch the field up again. As the safety car prepares to pull in the running order is Routh leading from Ka Meng then Neville is 3rd, Costin 4th Mangnall 5th. McAdam follows in 6th then it is Static, Brooks, Dickinson, Smart, Matthews, Soukup, Ratcliffe and DiGiovanni Lee who has managed to get back on the lead lap.

Back under green on lap 142 and Smart is on a mission as he sets a new fastest lap at 39.397 seconds. He also gains 3 positions while doing it. Smart is really flying on lap 145 as he sets another fastest lap at 39.306 seconds. He has managed to jump in to the top 3 now. Ratcliffe however is not having the same sort of luck as he taps the wall at turn 4 and would need to pull in for repairs. Mangnall has a moment at turn 2 and seems to have done a little bit of damage to his car, but he would not be coming into to fix it.

Lap 148 and Smart gets past Routh for 1st. He then sets another new fastest lap on lap 149 of 39.227 seconds. 2nd place Routh has a moment at turn 1 but it all looked good for him and he would continue on. Lap 150 and Smart pulls in from the lead. Routh takes over by 1.3 seconds from Ka Meng who is 1.1 ahead of Static. Meanwhile word comes over the radio that Dickinson is running out of fuel and needs to crawl back to the pits. Dickinson is fired up after having to pit due to running out of fuel and sets a new fastest lap, dropping the time down to 39.204 seconds. Again Dickinson grabs a new fastest lap time dropping the time down under the 39 second barrier with a 38.949 seconds. Lap 158 and Dickinson is flying with a 38.938 second lap.

Lap 160 and while Dickinson sets another fastest lap at 38.858, Routh pits from 1st to give the lead to Static by 7.3 seconds over Mangnall. Then it is DiGiovanni Lee from McAdam, Brooks and Ka Meng. Routh is showing as 7th while in the pits, Neville is 8th and Costin 9th, although he is in the pits as well. Matthews is 10th and Ratcliffe is 11th even after he has a moment at turn 2. Soukup is 12th followed by Smart and Dickinson at the back of the field. Dickinson is in the pits again for some reason. The last 40 laps were looking like they were going to be great.

Routh then had another run in with turn 4, it costs him a few places but he saved it and was able to continue on. On lap 165 Static pitted from the lead. Mangnall would take over with a 2.2 second advantage over DiGiovanni Lee and McAdam was 10 seconds further back. Static then had a problem with his steering and would need to pit again to fix it.

Mangnall pitted on lap 172 to DiGiovanni Lee a 12.2 second lead over McAdam who was a further 4.5 seconds ahead of Brooks. DiGiovanni Lee pitted on the next lap. McAdam would take over with a 5 second lead from Brooks and Ka Meng 10.8 seconds back in 3rd. McAdam and Ka Meng Pitted on lap 175. Brooks would take the lead by 14.8 seconds from Mangnall and DiGiovanni Lee who was right on his tail.

Routh had a moment at turn 1 and tapped the wall on lap 176 and would have to pit to repair the damage incurred. Matthews also had a moment at turn 4 but escaped unscathed. Routh’s incident would bring out the 5th safety car of the day.

On lap 182 the safety car pulled in and after the pit stops made under the safety car the field looks like this. DiGiovanni Lee leads from Mangnall, Brooks and McAdam. Ka Meng was 5th with Static, Costin, Neville and Matthews behind him. Soukup was 10th with Ratcliffe, Dickinson, Routh and Smart making up the rear of the field.

A bit of chopping and changing for a few laps before the 6th safety car of the day is brought out after Routh touches turn 3 and puts parts of his car all over the road. Lap 193 and the field is unchanged as no one pits under the safety car. Now that the safety car has pulled in the last laps will be hopefully incident free.

DiGiovanni Lee is making the most of the clear track in front of him as he sets a new fastest lap at 38.846 seconds. DiGiovanni Lee knocks a further .001 seconds of that time on the next lap, but the 7th safety car is called as again Routh sprays car parts across the track, this time at turn 1. This Safety is a shame as it means that the race will finish under a safety car and not a green.

The final result is that DiGiovanni Lee has won back to back RBR Clan 500’s, he was followed by Brooks, Ka Meng, McAdam and Dickinson. In 6th was Mangnall followed by Soukup, Neville, Costin, Ratcliffe, Matthews, Smart, Routh and Static was last.

Pace Car Breakdown

 * 7 Pace cars for a total of 41 Laps