# 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 laps at the 2.040-mile (3.283 km) temporary street circuit at Baltimore, Maryland, United States and was co-located with the Baltimore Sports Car Challenge motor race.
The race was won by American racer Ryan Hunter-Reay racing for Andretti Autosport. Hunter-Reay finished 1.4 seconds ahead of Australian driver Ryan Briscoe driving for Team Penske with Frenchman Simon Pagenaud finishing third for Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports. It was Hunter-Reay's fourth win for the year. With just one race left in the season, Hunter-Reay's victory, coupled with Will Power finishing in sixth position closed the gap between the two championship rivals to just 17 points.

## Race

The race was held on September 2, 2012 at 2:40 PM EDT
Power qualified on the pole and led the opening stanza of the race. Hunter-Reay charged from 11th to fifth before Ed Carpenter crashed early at the chicane. Mike Conway and Bruno Junqueira were spun around in two separate incidents at turn 6, and Sebastien Bourdais spun at the final corner as the rain started to fall on the track. On Lap 19, Marco Andretti would crash at turn 1, and the yellow ensured that the leaders would switch to wet tires. As the leaders came to pit, Hunter-Reay stayed out and took the lead.
As the race restarted, Dario Franchitti was turned around by Simona de Silvestro, James Hinchcliffe and Charlie Kimball had retired from the race with mechanical issues.
With seven Laps to go, Hunter-Reay was right behind race leader Ryan Briscoe before the final restart. Briscoe slowed for the restart and Hunter-Reay blew by him to take the lead. In turn 4 on the same lap, Mike Conway got into the tire barrier and Justin Wilson was pitched on to his car, causing a blockage of the track.
Hunter-Reay was able to keep Pagenaud at bay on the restart, by the white flag, Ryan Brisoce had moved back into second and chasing after Hunter-Reay. Hunter-Reay would win the race, his fourth of the year and keep his championship hopes alive heading into Fontana.

## Classification
### Race results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| 1 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 75 | 1:39:48.5083 | 10 | 13 | 50 |
| 2 | 2 | Ryan Briscoe | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 75 | + 1.4391 | 11 | 11 | 40 |
| 3 | 77 | Simon Pagenaud (R) | Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports | Honda | 75 | + 3.0253 | 9 | 14 | 35 |
| 4 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 75 | + 3.9281 | 2 | 0 | 40 |
| 5 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 75 | + 5.0450 | 15 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 75 | + 5.7467 | 1 | 22 | 31 |
| 7 | 22 | Oriol Servià | Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Chevrolet | 75 | + 7.5913 | 16 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | 98 | Alex Tagliani | Team Barracuda – BHA | Honda | 75 | + 7.7701 | 13 | 1 | 24 |
| 9 | 5 | E. J. Viso | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 75 | + 8.8651 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 75 | + 9.0843 | 14 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | 38 | Graham Rahal | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 75 | + 10.2963 | 21 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 4 | J. R. Hildebrand | Panther Racing | Chevrolet | 75 | + 17.1591 | 23 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 74 | + 1 lap | 4 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | 26 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 74 | + 1 lap | 18 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | 27 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 73 | + 2 laps | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| 16 | 14 | Mike Conway | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Honda | 73 | + 2 laps | 12 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 72 | + 3 laps | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 65 | Mechanical | 17 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | 67 | Bruno Junqueira | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing | Honda | 64 | Contact | 20 | 0 | 12 |
| 20 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 52 | Contact | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| 21 | 15 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 50 | Mechanical | 24 | 12 | 12 |
| 22 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | HVM Racing | Lotus | 38 | Contact | 25 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 | 7 | Sébastien Bourdais | Dragon Racing | Chevrolet | 32 | Mechanical | 3 | 32 | 12 |
| 24 | 19 | James Jakes | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 31 | Contact | 19 | 0 | 12 |
| 25 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 7 | Contact | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| OFFICIAL BOX SCORE ||||||||||

#### Notes

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

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Will Power | 453 |
| 2 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 436 |
| 3 | Hélio Castroneves | 401 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | 400 |
| 5 | Simon Pagenaud | 372 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 114 |
| 2 | Honda | 96 |
| 3 | Lotus | 56 |