The GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma was an open-wheel

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

motor race and held as the fourteenth and penultimate round of the

2012 IndyCar Series season The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 17th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 101st season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 96th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 27. The series was sanctioned by IndyCar, and took p ...

. It took place on Sunday, August 26, 2012. The race was contested over 85 laps at the at

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern S ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The race was won by Australian racer

Ryan Briscoe Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America. In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...

racing for

Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona ...

. Briscoe finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Australian team mate

Will Power William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...

with British driver

Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion ( 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the Indiana ...

finishing third for

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

. It was Briscoe's first win since the

2010 Firestone 550 The 2010 Firestone 550 was the twenty-first running of the Firestone 550 and the seventh round of the 2010 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Saturday, June 5, 2010. The race was contested over 228 laps at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort W ...

, and also his last win in IndyCar. Brazilian driver and Formula One veteran

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...

finished fourth in his best result since joining IndyCar. Power's second place, coupled with

Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is a professional American racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became th ...

finishing 18th expanded Power's lead in the championship. Power led Hunter-Reay by 36 points. The event marked a notable change in the course layout. The cars used the inner loop at the back hairpin instead of the outer loop in order to open a passing zone. The exit of the bus stop was widened to allow for more room. Another passing zone was established by using a part of the hairpin instead of cutting it off altogether.

Classification

Race results

;Notes: Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship ;Manufacturers' Championship *Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

References

External links

{{IndyCar Series race report , Name_of_race =

GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma The Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma was an IndyCar Series race held at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The USAC Championship Car circuit raced at the circuit in 1970. In 2005, American open wheel racing returned to the circuit with an IndyCar ...

, Year_of_race = 2012 , Previous_race_in_season = 2012 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio , Next_race_in_season =

2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore The Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT was an open-wheel IndyCar motor race and held as the fourteenth and penultimate round of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Sunday, September 2, 2012. The race was contested over 75 la ...

, Previous_year's_race =

2011 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma The 2011 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma was the seventh running of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma and the fourteenth round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Sunday, August 28, 2011. The race contested over 75 laps at the Infineon Race ...

, Next_year's_race =

2013 GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma The 2013 GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma was an IndyCar Series race held on August 25, 2013 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The race was the fifteenth of the 2013 IndyCar Series season, and was won by Will Power of Team Penske. Report Ba ...

Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma