Live blog: Honda Indy Toronto

The Honda Indy Toronto will start today in less than an hour. Meantime . . .

Stefan Wilson, younger brother of IZOD IndyCar Series star Justin Wilson, won the Firestone Indy Lights race Sunday at the Honda Indy Toronto in a car owned by Michael Andretti, who won seven Indy races over the years.

It was a “first time” for both Andretti and Wilson – Andretti, of Nazareth, Pa., as a Lights car owner in Toronto and Wilson, of Sheffield, Engl., as a driver in the series.

Peter Dempsey of Ashbourne, Ireland, finished second and Gustvao Yakaman, of Santiago de Cali, Col., was third.

Esteban Guerrieri of Buenos Aires, the series leader, was enjoying a comfortable lead when he spun and stalled. By the time he got the car running again, he was last but managed to gather himself and his car together and fought back to finish fourth.

David Ostella of Maple, the only Canadian in the race (his car owner, Eric Jensen of Toronto, toyed with driving a second Jensen Motorsport entry in the race but decided he wasn’t in shape for the 50-lap grind), started last in the 14-car field and was trying a pass for eighth place when he lost control and hit the tire wall at turn eight.

“I’m really disappointed,” Ostella said at his pit moments later. “The car was awesome this weekend, I have to thank the crew for that, and I was picking off cars, heading for the front.”

So what happened?

“I went to make the pass, and I went down the inside, over the bumps there, and I shifted down to second. But as I hit the bumps, the gear slipped into neutral and I lost the front end and couldn’t turn. I went straight into the tires.”

Ostella said the car wasn’t damaged – the front nose was quickly replaced – but since he’d have to start from the back again the team felt it would be better to load the car up and head for the next race in Edmonton in two weeks.

“And then we have the race at Trois-Rivieres in August,” he said. “It’s better to save the car for those other Canadian  races rather than go back out and maybe damage it more in Toronto.”

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