# 2012 GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

The GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma 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, August 26, 2012. The race was contested over 85 laps at the 2.303-mile (3.706 km) at Sonoma Raceway, California, United States.
The race was won by Australian racer Ryan Briscoe racing for Team Penske. Briscoe finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Australian team mate Will Power with British driver Dario Franchitti finishing third for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was Briscoe's first win since the 2010 Firestone 550, and also his last win in IndyCar. Brazilian driver and Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello finished fourth in his best result since joining IndyCar. Power's second place, coupled with Ryan Hunter-Reay 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

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Ryan Briscoe | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 85 | 2:07:02.8248 | 2 | 27 | 50 |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 85 | + 0.4408 | 1 | 57 | 43 |
| 3 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 85 | + 1.0497 | 6 | 0 | 35 |
| 4 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 85 | + 8.8529 | 11 | 0 | 32 |
| 5 | 38 | Graham Rahal | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 85 | + 9.4667 | 13 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 85 | + 11.2575 | 4 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 | 77 | Simon Pagenaud (R) | Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports | Honda | 85 | + 12.3087 | 9 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | 4 | J. R. Hildebrand | Panther Racing | Chevrolet | 85 | + 22.8121 | 15 | 0 | 24 |
| 9 | 98 | Alex Tagliani | Team Barracuda – BHA | Honda | 85 | + 39.6868 | 8 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 16 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 20 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 19 | James Jakes | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 24 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | 14 | Mike Conway | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 14 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | 17 | Sebastián Saavedra | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 23 | 0 | 15 |
| 16 | 5 | E. J. Viso | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 17 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | HVM Racing | Lotus | 84 | + 1 lap | 27 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| 19 | 22 | Oriol Servià | Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 18 | 0 | 12 |
| 20 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 25 | 0 | 12 |
| 21 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 82 | + 3 laps | 21 | 0 | 12 |
| 22 | 7 | Sébastien Bourdais | Dragon Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | Contact | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 | 67 | Josef Newgarden (R) | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing | Honda | 62 | Contact | 22 | 0 | 12 |
| 24 | 6 | Katherine Legge (R) | Dragon Racing | Chevrolet | 48 | Mechanical | 19 | 0 | 12 |
| 25 | 26 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 46 | Mechanical | 12 | 0 | 10 |
| 26 | 27 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 35 | Mechanical | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 27 | 15 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 2 | Mechanical | 26 | 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 | 422 |
| 2 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 386 |
| 3 | Hélio Castroneves | 381 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | 368 |
| 5 | Simon Pagenaud | 337 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 105 |
| 2 | Honda | 90 |
| 3 | Lotus | 52 |