Hunter-Reay secures hat-trick in Toronto

Ryan Hunter-Reay has taken the lead of the Izod IndyCar Series after scoring his third race victory in succession.

The Andretti Autosport driver had both the speed and the fortune to win around the Toronto street circuit. Pitting immediately prior to a yellow flag period on the first round of stops eventually cycled the American to the front of the field, from where he could control the race.

The race eventually finished under yellow flags after a late restart caused chaos.

“Toronto is one of my favourite races, so this is a special one for sure,” said Hunter-Reay afterward.

“”(For the championship) we’re just concentrating on doing well, doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve been good on street circuits in the past.

“It’s nice to go from the ovals to a street course and be able to win on both.  It shows that this team is capable of a lot.”

Charlie Kimball and Mike Conway filled the top three places at the flag, but only after a Conway-induced fracas saw Kimball bounce into then third-placed Sebastien Bourdais, putting the Frenchman out of the race.

It was a tough day for Hunter-Reay’s key title rivals, with erstwhile points leader Will Power shuffled from the lead to the midpack during the first round of stops before a clash with Josef Newgarden damaged the Australian’s front-wing. He eventually finished 15th.

Countryman Ryan Briscoe took just 19th after contact with eventual 17th place-getter Dario Franchitti.

Franchitti’s team-mate Scott Dixon fared even worse – retiring with an engine failure after just seven laps.

Hunter-Reay now heads to the next event in Edmonton with a healthy 34 point lead over Power in the championship standings.

See below for the full result

Here are the race highlights