IndyCar- Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

D

DanicaFan

Guest
Well, its finally here, the IndyCar season kicks off this week. I am so excited! My first IndyCar race thread of the year..

Race 1 of 17

Race - Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg

Location - Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida

Date - Sunday, March 27th

Time & TV Schedule - 12:00PM Eastern -Green Flag -12:30PM Eastern -ABC

Course Type - 1.8 Mile Street Course

Distance - 100 Laps / 180 Miles

Practice Sessions - Friday, March 25th -10:15AM-11:15AM Eastern & 3:00PM-4:00PM Eastern / Saturday, March 26th - 10:10AM -11:10AM Eastern / Warm-Up Session - Sunday, March 27th -8:40AM-9:10AM Eastern

Qualifications - Saturday, March 26th -2:30PM -3:50PM Eastern

2010 Pole Sitter - Will Power - Lap Time -1:01.6026 / Speed -105.190

2010 Winner - Will Power
 
Map of the track layout..

StPete2011.jpg
 
DanicaFan said:
Well, its finally here, the IndyCar season kicks off this week. I am so excited!
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I'm really looking forward to the twin Texas races. I wonder if the drivers will be using the same car for each race, or different ones?
 
nascage said:
I'm really looking forward to the twin Texas races. I wonder if the drivers will be using the same car for each race, or different ones?
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Obviously if they crash, a new car but they will use the same car otherwise.

Personally, I think the twin ideas is a gimmick and Im not crazy about it.
 
DanicaFan said:
Obviously if they crash, a new car but they will use the same car otherwise.

Personally, I think the twin ideas is a gimmick and Im not crazy about it.
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The Texas Indycar race never fails to deliver. This should be no exception.

Rules are revealed in my other thread.
 
nascage said:
The Texas Indycar race never fails to deliver. This should be no exception.

Rules are revealed in my other thread.
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I love the race at Texas but I dont think this idea of a dual race is good. I think its just a gimmick and not needed.
 
DanicaFan said:
I love the race at Texas but I dont think this idea of a dual race is good. I think its just a gimmick and not needed.
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I disagree. It may be a little gimmicky, but sometimes gimicky is needed to put butts in seats. Maybe, just maybe, this gimicky stuff that Randy Bernard is doing will help right the tracks.
 
Here are your qualifying groups for tomorrow.

Group 1

#3 Helio Castroneves
#4 JR Hildebrand
#5 Takuma Sato
#7 Danica Patrick
#10 Dario Franchitti
#14 Vitor Meira
#22 Justin Wilson
#26 Marco Andretti
#38 Graham Rahal
#59 EJ Viso
#78 Simona De Silvestro
#83 Charlie Kimball
#02 Oriol Servia

Group 2

#6 Ryan Briscoe
#9 Scott Dixon
#12 Will Power
#17 Raphael Matos
#18 James Jakes
#19 Sebastien Bourdais
#24 Ana Beatriz
#27 Mike Conway
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#34 Sebastian Saavedra
#77 Alex Tagliani
#82 Tony Kanaan
 
Practice Session 2 Results..

Rank / Car# & Driver / Lap Time / Speed / Difference

1. #12 Will Power / 01:03.3759 / 102.247 / --
2. #10 Dario Franchitti / 01:03.5180 / 102.018 / 0.1421
3. #27 Mike Conway / 01:03.6660 / 101.781 / 0.2901
4. #6 Ryan Briscoe / 01:03.7214 / 101.693 / 0.3455
5. #9 Scott Dixon / 01:03.8734 / 101.451 / 0.4975
6. #3 Helio Castroneves / 01:03.9049 / 101.401 / 0.5290
7. #26 Marco Andretti / 01:04.0400 / 101.187 / 0.6641
8. #19 Sebastien Bourdais / 01:04.0672 / 101.144 / 0.6913
9. #82 Tony Kanaan / 01:04.0698 / 101.140 / 0.6939
10. #7 Danica Patrick / 01:04.1039 / 101.086 / 0.7280
11. #22 Justin Wilson / 01:04.1353 / 101.036 / 0.7594
12. #02 Oriol Servia / 01:04.1476 / 101.017 / 0.7717
13. #77 Alex Tagliani / 01:04.2355 / 100.879 / 0.8596
14. #34 Sebastian Saavedra / 01:04.2414 / 100.870 / 0.8655
15. #5 Takuma Sato / 01:04.2429 / 100.867 / 0.8670
16. #38 Graham Rahal / 01:04.3127 / 100.758 / 0.9368
17. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 01:04.3313 / 100.729 / 0.9554
18. #17 Raphael Matos / 01:04.3873 / 100.641 / 1.0114
19. #83 Charlie Kimball / 01:04.4961 / 100.471 / 1.1202
20. #14 Vitor Meira / 01:04.9544 / 99.762 / 1.5785
21. #4 JR Hildebrand / 01:05.0510 / 99.614 / 1.6751
22. #59 EJ Viso / 01:05.0727 / 99.581 / 1.6968
23. #78 Simona De Silvestro / 01:05.1105 / 99.523 / 1.7346
24. #18 James Jakes / 01:05.6427 / 98.716 / 2.2668
25. #24 Ana Beatriz / 01:05.7036 / 98.625 / 2.3277
 
blue92 said:
I was thinking the same thing. :)
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I don't see her on the ARCA entry list... as well as she performed (before getting caught up in someone else's mess) at Daytona, I thought she's go for broke in ARCA.

Pretty bad when her absence brings a big smile to everyone. :)
 
The 6 moving on from Group 1 are..

Dario Franchitti
Helio Castroneves
Justin Wilson
Marco Andretti
Takuma Sato
Graham Rahal
 
The 6 moving from Group 2 are..

Will Power
Ryan Briscoe
Scott Dixon
Mike Conway
Tony Kanaan
Alex Tagliani
 
The Firestone Fast 6 are..

#6 Ryan Briscoe
#12 Will Power
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Dario Franchitti
#22 Justin Wilson
#27 Mike Conway
 
Here is the starting grid...

Starting Position / Car# & Driver / Lap Time / Speed

Row 1

#12 Will Power / 01:01.9625 / 104.579
#10 Dario Franchitti / 01:02.2953 / 104.021

Row 2

#9 Scott Dixon / 01:02.3975 / 103.850
#27 Mike Conway / 01:02.5306 / 103.629

Row 3

#6 Ryan Briscoe / 01:02.5744 / 103.557
#22 Justin Wilson / 01:02.7729 / 103.229

Row 4

#26 Marco Andretti / 01:02.6312 / 103.463
#82 Tony Kanaan / 01:02.7818 / 103.215

Row 5

#3 Helio Castroneves / 01:02.8204 / 103.151
#77 Alex Tagliani / 01:02.8225 / 103.148

Row 6

#5 Takuma Sato / 01:02.9312 / 102.970
#38 Graham Rahal / 01:03.0640 / 102.753

Row 7

#14 Vitor Meira / 01:03.1315 / 102.643
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay / 01:03.1778 / 102.568

Row 8

#02 Oriol Servia / 01:03.2434 / 102.461
#17 Raphael Matos / 01:03.2594 / 102.435

Row 9

#78 Simona De Silvestro / 01:03.2724 / 102.414
#19 Sebastien Bourdais / 01:03.3188 / 102.339

Row 10

#7 Danica Patrick / 01:03.3764 / 102.246
#24 Ana Beatriz / 01:03.8036 / 101.562

Row 11

#59 EJ Viso / 01:03.4065 / 102.198
#18 James Jakes / 01:03.8854 / 101.432

Row 12

#83 Charlie Kimball / 01:03.5162 / 102.021
#34 Sebastian Saavedra / 01:03.9696 / 101.298

Row 13

#4 JR Hildebrand / 01:03.8256 / 101.527
 
Chances they ever run more then 5 laps under green?
 
Ryan Hunter Reay - the first driver to officially bash double file restarts.

Probably not the last - today.
 
I always find it laughable when the announcers use "rookie mistake" as if those who are not rookies have never stalled a race car.

Or got caught speeding on pit road or slid through their pit box or missed the pit completely or...well, you get the idea :D
 
Initially, it was only the ovals where they wanted to have double file restarts. I don't know who told Randy Bernard to do it on street/road courses as well, but they need to rethink that in a hurry. We've seen how bad the running starts go, why would you want to do it on every restart? I like pretty much everything Bernard has done since taking over, but there will be a lot of wrecked race cars and a lot of angry drivers this season if he doesn't reconsider this.
 
Here are the final results..

1. #10 Dario Franchitti
2. #12 Will Power
3. #82 Tony Kanaan
4. #78 Simona De Silvestro
5. #5 Takuma Sato
6. #77 Alex Tagliani
7. #17 Raphael Matos
8. #14 Vitor Meira
9. #02 Oriol Servia
10. #22 Justin Wilson
11. #7 Danica Patrick
12. #4 JR Hildebrand
13. #34 Sebastian Saavedra
14. #24 Ana Beatriz
15. #18 James Jakes
16. #9 Scott Dixon
17. #38 Graham Rahal
18. #6 Ryan Briscoe
19. #59 EJ Viso
20. #3 Helio Castroneves
21. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
22. #83 Charlie Kimball
23. #27 Mike Conway
24. #26 Marco Andretti
 
I just know these double file restarts dont belong on these road/street courses. I hope Randy realizes these cars dont have fenders...
 
Here are the final results after the Danica and Hildebrand contact..

1. #10 Dario Franchitti
2. #12 Will Power
3. #82 Tony Kanaan
4. #78 Simona De Silvestro
5. #5 Takuma Sato
6. #77 Alex Tagliani
7. #17 Raphael Matos
8. #14 Vitor Meira
9. #02 Oriol Servia
10. #22 Justin Wilson
11. #4 JR Hildebrand
12. #7 Danica Patrick
13. #34 Sebastian Saavedra
14. #24 Ana Beatriz
15. #18 James Jakes
16. #9 Scott Dixon
17. #38 Graham Rahal
18. #6 Ryan Briscoe
19. #59 EJ Viso
20. #3 Helio Castroneves
21. #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
22. #83 Charlie Kimball
23. #27 Mike Conway
24. #26 Marco Andretti
 
DanicaFan said:
I just know these double file restarts dont belong on these road/street courses. I hope Randy realizes these cars dont have fenders...
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I got a kick at what Ryan Hunter-Reay had to say after getting rear ended on a restart:

ABC pit reporter Rick Debruhl - "What happened, Ryan?"

Ryan Hunter-Reay - "Well, racing with Dario, Will, and Tony was fine. It was all the other guys behind us that just came down, not using their head. Just cleared us from behind... bent the suspension ....so ... these restarts, they're all great on ovals when they have, like, NASCAR, running really slow cars and slow to move. Slow to accelerate.
They're trying to get all these cars that can go from 100 mph down to 30 like that (snaps fingers). You're gonna have big problems.
It's ridiculous.
I mean, you run a good race, you're running third, fourth, and you gotta go put yourself on the outside with a bunch of ............

RD - "Other drivers?"

RHR - "Yeah, bleep, bleep "

Funny. Ryan bleeped himself.
 
nascage said:
Funny. Ryan bleeped himself.
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Speaking of bleeps, am I the only one who could have sworn Danica dropped an F-bomb over the radio that the broadcasters totally ignored?
 
kkfan91 said:
Speaking of bleeps, am I the only one who could have sworn Danica dropped an F-bomb over the radio that the broadcasters totally ignored?
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Really? We'll hear about it if she did. She had contact with 3 other cars on 3 separate occasions during the race. And those were just the ones caught on camera.

I could see her being upset today.
 
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