2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma Results: Pagenaud Takes It All
Simon Pagenaud sealed his first-ever IndyCar championship by winning Sunday’s 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma in dominating fashion.
Everything in Sonoma came up Simon Pagenaud. The No. 22 Team Penske driver aced his final test of the IndyCar season on Sunday, nearly crusing to victory in the 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Similar to how defending champion Scott Dixon dominated Watkins Glen two weeks earlier, Pagenaud was an unstoppable force in the season ender. He captured the pole position on Saturday, then led the majority of Sunday’s race – all but nine of the 85 laps.
“It’s unbelievable. I think I will realize it more tomorrow,” Pagenaud said after the checkered flag. “What a race. There is so much emotion right now, to be honest, I don’t know if you can see it. I can’t find the words.
“My whole career has been about this, about today and getting to this point and to this level. When you can perform 100 percent under pressure like this is amazing. It’s such a good thing,” he added. “It’s me winning but it’s the whole team, the No. 22 team and Team Penske.”
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His perpetual front-running gave teammate Will Power almost no chance to win his second IndyCar championship, but the small hope that the No. 12 driver had came to a screeching halt when his car decided to malfunction and slow on track, causing the lone caution of the afternoon. Though Power would get going again, he finished a disappointing 20th and Pagenaud took the 2016 title.
Afterward Power reflected on his near-miss with a sense of humor.
“It was obviously disappointing to have that gearbox problem,” he said. “I think Simon was going to be tough to beat as far as the championship goes. Maybe we could have beaten him for the win, but I doubt it if everything just played out as it was. That was that.
“But honestly it was still a very strong year,” Power added. “Four race wins. I won a 500-mile race. Not the right one, but still a 500-miler. It’s a 1-2-3 [finish] for the team [in the championship], which is really good, considering how it finished last year.
“I think the team is really strong now,” he said, laughing, “Another second place.”
Graham Rahal drove hard but could not close on Pagenaud and finished second, while Juan Pablo Montoya ran up front most of the day to complete the podium in third.
The race results moved Helio Castroneves from fourth to third in the final IndyCar championship standings, followed by Josef Newgarden, Rahal and Dixon.
Below are the complete results for the 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma:
1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 85, Running
2. (5) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
3. (3) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 85, Running
4. (6) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 85, Running
5. (8) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 85, Running
6. (10) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
7. (2) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 85, Running
8. (14) Marco Andretti, Honda, 85, Running
9. (12) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 85, Running
10. (9) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 85, Running
11. (11) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 85, Running
12. (20) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 85, Running
13. (13) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 85, Running
14. (15) Takuma Sato, Honda, 85, Running
15. (16) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 85, Running
16. (18) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 85, Running
17. (7) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 85, Running
18. (17) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 84, Running
19. (22) RC Enerson, Honda, 84, Running
20. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 77, Running
21. (21) Conor Daly, Honda, 36, Mechanical
22. (19) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 35, Mechanical