Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Well everyone, it's that time of year again. The start of a new IndyCar Series season is just a couple of days away. So, let's get this started... :)

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Race 1 of 19

Race - Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Location - Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida

Date - Sunday, March 24th

Time & TV Schedule - Green Flag - 11:40 AM - NBC Sports Network

Course Type - 1.8 Mile Street Course

Distance - 110 Laps

Practice Sessions:

Friday, March 22nd - 10:10 AM
Friday, March 22nd - 1:40 PM
Saturday, March 23rd - 9:25 AM

Qualifications - Saturday, March 23rd - 1:05 PM

2012 Pole Sitter -#12 Will Power - 1:01.372

2012 Winner - #3 Hélio Castroneves

Track layout

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/at...-trackmap2.jpg

Entry list

#1 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Andretti Autosport
#3 - Helio Castroneves - Penske Racing
#4 - J.R. Hildebrand - Panther Racing
#5 - E.J. Viso - Andretti Autosport & HVM Racing
#6 - Sebastian Saavedra - Dragon Racing
#7 - Sebastien Bourdais - Dragon Racing
#9 - Scott Dixon - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 - Dario Franchitti - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#11 - Tony Kanaan - KV Racing Technology
#12 - Will Power - Penske Racing
#14 - Takuma Sato - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
#15 - Graham Rahal - Rahal Letterman Lanigan
#16 - James Jakes - Rahal Letterman Lanigan
#18 - Justin Wilson - Dale Coyne Racing
#19 - Ana Beatriz - Dale Coyne Racing
#20 - Ed Carpenter - Ed Carpenter Racing
#22 - Oriol Servia - Panther DRR
#25 - Marco Andretti - Andretti Autosport
#27 - James Hinchcliffe - Andretti Autosport
#55 - Tristan Vautier (R) - Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
#67 - Josef Newgarden - Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
#77 - Simon Pagenaud - Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
#78 - Simona de Silvestro - Lotus-HVM Racing
#83 - Charlie Kimball - Chip Ganassi Racing
#98 - Alex Tagliani - Barracuda Racing

Yeah! We have a DanicaFan replacement!!! Thanks, heliocastroneves!

Thanks, garyshell! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by heliocastroneves#3

Thanks, garyshell! :)

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Maybe it's DanicaFan in disguise!!!

thanks!

Thanks Helio!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by garyshell

Yeah! We have a DanicaFan replacement!!! Thanks, heliocastroneves!

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Nah, it's lacking the "Helio always goes well here", "this is Helio's sort of circuit", "I expect Helio to run a great race!" fanatical optimism of old :)

Anyway, nice to actually have a race to talk about, so may I just add "Go Taku!"

Well guys, I'm able to do every race thread for the rest of the season. I was away for quite a while because I went to a community which is almost 100% IndyCar but I left since it became the Everything Whats Wrong With IndyCar And Complain A Lot About It forums and I wasn't liked very much because I gave my opinion which should be accepted in a forum. On this forum, there's luckily a completely different "culture" and I'm glad to be back.

Practice Results
Qualifying Groups

Sato appears a bit of a road block.

James Hinchcliffe, the least-hyped of the Go Daddy drivers, became 'Big Daddy' in St. Pete with a win. :D

Well-deserved maiden win for the Hinch. A bit too many yellows for my liking, though. Shame that Vautier dropped out with a technical problem, otherwise he would have been on for a top-five-finish in his debut race.

Good race. Glad to see a charismatic North American winner, if he continues to do well, that will be good for the circuut. Also good to see Simona do so well, that should stir up some interest as well.

Toro series back in action. Good job Simona! Loved Will Power car with improved looks after elimination of that ugly bumper!!!

.3 , things are looking up.

what was the rating last year? is this better or worse?

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Originally Posted by Chris R

what was the rating last year? is this better or worse?

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NBCSN says TV ratings strong for IndyCar opener - Kingsport Times-News Better. I would guess

Quote:

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The NBC Sports Network said Tuesday it had strong ratings for its season-opening IndyCar race, with 388,000 viewers who amounted to a 78 percent increase over last year's debut race on the cable channel.The race Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla., earned a .26 rating, up 53 percent from last year, when NBCSN's first telecast of the IndyCar season was the second event of the year. Last year, 218,000 people watched the event at Barber Motorsports Park.

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Its 53% over last years SEASON opener AND 78%, over last years NBCSN's opener (which was race #2), but either is a nice improvement.

Gary

Have you notice Yahoo news has been focusing on Formula 1 in their daily story headlines? Great to see other forms of racing (rather than just Nascar) included, but I wonder why they selected F-1 vs Indycar?

Well-deserved first win for the Hinch. A bit too many yellow for my preference, though. Pity that Vautier decreased out with a specialized issue, otherwise he would have been on for a top-five-finish in his first appearance competition . . . . . . . .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Schmit612

Well-deserved first win for the Hinch. A bit too many yellow for my preference, though. Pity that Vautier decreased out with a specialized issue, otherwise he would have been on for a top-five-finish in his first appearance competition . . . . . . . .

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