Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

[FormerFF]

I saw the last 15 laps while I was eating lunch at work. First and foremost, congrats to Will on two in a row. A big thumbs up to Justin, getting the D & R car up to second shows he is one of the best road course drivers in the series. Also, a nice job by Tags and Graham for getting two low budget/inexperienced teams up towards the front of the field. I was also impressed by Dario's finish, picking off so many cars at the end.

I'm also very impressed on how well the Andretti team handled Danica's race, and how Danica kept her wits about her to execute the plan. After qualifying, it was obvious she was way short on pace and could only hope to score some points on strategy. It looks like the team took a little downforce out of the car so that she'd be fast down the straight, and thus hard to pass. Of course, she wouldn't be able to pass anyone either, but that wasn't going to happen anyway.

And thank God Milka got off the track after only a few laps.

[TURN3]

I saw the last 15 laps while I was eating lunch at work. First and foremost, congrats to Will on two in a row. A big thumbs up to Justin, getting the D & R car up to second shows he is one of the best road course drivers in the series. Also, a nice job by Tags and Graham for getting two low budget/inexperienced teams up towards the front of the field. I was also impressed by Dario's finish, picking off so many cars at the end.

I'm also very impressed on how well the Andretti team handled Danica's race, and how Danica kept her wits about her to execute the plan. After qualifying, it was obvious she was way short on pace and could only hope to score some points on strategy. It looks like the team took a little downforce out of the car so that she'd be fast down the straight, and thus hard to pass. Of course, she wouldn't be able to pass anyone either, but that wasn't going to happen anyway.

And thank God Milka got off the track after only a few laps.

Don't know if anybody has any theories or if it was just coincidence but Danica aside, the other 3 AA cars looked so strong during qualifying. None of them really had much race pace. Again, not including Danica, enough has been suggested about her. I know Marco and TK had their circumstances through the race but so did Dario (twice in fact). Seems to me like AA is making a little comeback this year so far but seems sporadic.

BTW, Hoop, very good analysis on Danica and Simona comparison. I would agree with most of it. But, caution my friend, dare to compare and a handful here will get dizzy of actual sense!

[Mark in Oshawa]

At this stage Simona's strengths are her weakness and Danica's weaknesses are her strength.

Let me qualify this, we are not talking about RC/SC winners here, at this stage.

Danica was underagressive, lost lot's of time but this mitigated by cautions.
Simona charged, but burned off her reds, soon after her great lap time she was lapping at 1:07s.
Danica slowly advanced to 1;05s and was running 2 seconds a lap faster than Simona but way in the back till caution.

Danica's cautious, slow pace moved her up.
Simona's aggressive pass on Graham was nice, but she got grammed soon.

Danica's disciplined use of her red's let her finish in 7th.

Simona, IMO, has way more upside, but Danica get's good results out of her mediocre speed, which is a skill in itself, that Simona will likely learn.

Simona will not win yet , but I personally prefer her style and future.

Until she starts finishing in front of Danica for a season, her speed is cool, but results are what counts.

Oval will be a bit of a turn of the tables.

I predict Danica another 5th or 6th, turtlewise, and Simona , 13th or `14th, hare wise this year.

I prefer speed, but we count finishes,

rh

That is about my feeling too. Not so much based on what I saw today, because I didn't. I had things to do today, and knew I wouldn't have time to tape and watch it.

The Danica punching bag is getting old, but alas, DF fan does drive the Danica talk. Then again, he is a true fan, and I wont knock him for being a fan, even if he is unrealistic in his expectations. DF, you could be a Maple Leaf's fan for your devotion. There are people who seriously think every year is the year for them, even when they miss the playoffs 5 years running!

Danica's strength is she drives a safe race. She doesn't make real mistakes because she doesn't risk making banzai passes. She used to, but would rather points race than go for broke trying to get top 5's. The reality is, you look at Hoop's data, her fastest time for the race was about where she finished. Mid pack. Nothing wrong with being consistent and using your head to get good finishes BUT...and this is the BUT...you will only win when the rest of the field screws up or you catch them napping on a fuel run. Which is of course how she won her only race in Japan.

Danica will not race hard for the lead on any road/street course, because it isn't her thing. The problem is, those tracks are now half the schedule. By finishing 7th today, she is trying to mitigate her lack of overall speed. She is points racing on the road/street courses. On the ovals...well she runs really well at Indy (for reasons I have never understood); and she runs decent on the other ovals. IN short, she will likely finish in the top 10, most likely no better than 5th. IN points, that isn't shabby, but as Ken said, who cheers for people who play it safe all the time? You can be a "smart" driver all you want, but if you still don't have that blazing turn of speed and ability to make passes, you wont win races and you are NOT going to win my loyalty.

Simona tries to win. Will Power WINS. Graham tries to WIN. TK tries to WIN. Dario tries to WIN. Danica tries to survive....big difference...and it is the reason the fuss made about her is so contentious. I would have a lot more respect for her as a driver if she raced hard and failed then played it safe...

She plays a prevent defence....all it does is prevent you from winning...

[NickFalzone]

Justin Wilson is just a huge talent imo, right up there with Will Power as a road/street racer. To think that he has gone from one average team to another (I include 2008 NHL in that mix) and gotten these kinds of top finishes is amazing to me. A win at NHL, a win at Coyne, and 2nd race of the season, a 2nd place at D&R. Dale and D&R haven't gotten those kinds of results in years, and it's not like Justin's equipment is suddenly a step up from everyone else that has had it. You give him a very mid-pack level car and he'll get it right to the front on the roads/streets, not many drivers that you can say that about. Almost any other driver in that car and you're looking at 10th place or worse finishes.

[TURN3]

Justin Wilson is just a huge talent imo, right up there with Will Power as a road/street racer. To think that he has gone from one average team to another (I include 2008 NHL in that mix) and gotten these kinds of top finishes is amazing to me. A win at NHL, a win at Coyne, and 2nd race of the season, a 2nd place at D&R. Dale and D&R haven't gotten those kinds of results in years, and it's not like Justin's equipment is suddenly a step up from everyone else that has had it. You give him a very mid-pack level car and he'll get it right to the front on the roads/streets, not many drivers that you can say that about. Almost any other driver in that car and you're looking at 10th place or worse finishes.

YES!! Great point. I almost posted something about him earlier in one of my Danica sucks posts but I cut it out. Glad you pointed it out, Justin and Will are both lights out. Good Lord can you imagine Justin in a Penske or a Ganassi?

[NickFalzone]

YES!! Great point. I almost posted something about him earlier in one of my Danica sucks posts but I cut it out. Glad you pointed it out, Justin and Will are both lights out. Good Lord can you imagine Justin in a Penske or a Ganassi?

Was just thinking that. He's qualified 3rd at Brazil, 4th at St. Pete, and is currently tied for 2nd in the championship... all in a Dreyer and Reinbold car. If he was in Penske or Ganassi, forget about it.

[NickFalzone]

For those interested, I found a race recap on youtube:

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[DanicaFan]

bzcam, I dont even know who you are. I never heard of you, 50 some posts in 3 years... hmmm

Im no troll, just a die-hard Indycar fan with a strong passion for the sport and I have a strong support for Danica. This is something I wont deny. I dont see the reason to deny it or hide from it. She is a great person and I enjoy talking to her when I see her and her family several times during the year. Very pleasant times indeed.

Downtowndeco, chicagocrewirl,drkroghsoj, easy drifter, thanks for the kind words and support. If I left anyone out giving me kind words, sorry and thanks to you to.

And Ken, yes, Im a full-time, certified police officer in Indiana. I worked on a city department for 8 years and switched to University police now but still have all my arrest powers and have to keep up on all my yearly training hours to stay certified.

But back to the race, I enjoyed it. Im looking forward to Barber but Im worried that the track may be to narrow for a lot of passing. It may be the least exciting road course they have but that remains to be seen.

[ShiftingGears]

Well done to Power.

[mileman]

...find sand...insert head...funny

It's clear gang, DF says the things she says only to incite responses. She's very good at it. Don't blame me for pointing it out.

BZ

OK - you've incited my response. I've been around BB's since the early 80's - long before the first browser. You are a classic...

I enjoy DFan's enthusiastic devotion to no end. I've also said before that I find the overzealous attacks on Danica by others to border on the humorous at times. (A bit overdone guys...) But I must say that I have never thought of DFan as any more than a superfan of a particular driver. In addition the fact that you can't tell the difference between he and she is very disturbing.

DFan - I'm happy that you're back for the season!