IndyCar Season Opener - Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

by flyingturns89 Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:27 pm

This weekend, the stars of IndyCar prepare for a season of changes. From a new car, to some new stars. Danica Patrick has left IndyCar to pursue her NASCAR career, and her exit has left a void in the series, a void that would be filled by James Hinchcliffe. Dario Franchitti and Will Power return to fight for the title, but this time with different engines. Franchitti, along with teammate Scott Dixon and many others have decided to stay with Honda, while Power, trying anything to finally win the championship, switches to Chevrolet With his Penske teammates along with Andretti Autosport's three cars, and KV Racing Technology's trio, which now includes Formula 1 star Rubens Barrichello. Meanwhile, a smaller group of drivers including 2011's fourth place points finisher Oriol Servia, along with Alex Tagliani and Simona de Silvestro will accept the challenge of bringing underdog manufacturer Lotus into victory lane. And let's not forget the cars. The new cars, the DW12 chassis built by Dallara, tested by all the drivers, and ready to get on track. But of course, we can't forget the man who helped us get to where we are with this chassis, his initials are on the car name, and this week, he's got best seat in the house for the race at the track he called home. This is The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg!

ENTRY LIST (26 Cars)
Car Driver Hometown Car Name Engine Entrant
2 Ryan Briscoe Sydney, Australia IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet Team Penske
3 Helio Castroneves Sao Paulo, Brazil Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet Team Penske
4 JR Hildebrand Sausalito, Calif. National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet Panther Racing
5 E.J. Viso Caracas, Venezuela Citgo – PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet KV Racing Technology
6 Katherine Legge (R) Guildford, England TrueCar Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus Lotus-Dragon Racing
7 Sebastien Bourdais Le Mans, France Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus Lotus-Dragon Racing
8 Rubens Barrichello Sao Paulo, Brazil BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet KV Racing Technology
9 Scott Dixon Auckland, New Zealand Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Dario Franchitti Edinburgh, Scotland Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing
11 Tony Kanaan Salvador, Brazil GEICO/Mouser Electronics KVRT Chevrolet KV Racing Technology
12 Will Power Toowoomba, Australia Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet Team Penske
14 Mike Conway Bromley, England ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 Takuma Sato Tokyo Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 Justin Wilson Sheffield, England Sonny's BBQ Honda Dale Coyne Racing
19 James Jakes Leeds, England Boy Scouts of America Honda Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Carpenter Indianapolis Fuzzy’s Vodka / Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet Ed Carpenter Racing
22 Oriol Servia Pals, Spain Lotus-DRR Lotus Lotus – DRR
26 Marco Andretti Nazareth, Pa. Team RC Cola Chevrolet Andretti Autosport
27 James Hinchcliffe Toronto Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Andretti Autosport
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet Andretti Autosport
38 Graham Rahal New Albany, Ohio Service Central Honda Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
67 Josef Newgarden (R) Hendersonville, Tenn. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
77 Simon Pagenaud (R) Poitiers, France Schmidt-Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports
78 Simona de Silvestro Thun, Switzerland Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus Lotus-HVM Racing
83 Charlie Kimball Camarillo, Calif. Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
98 Alex Tagliani Lachenaie, Canada Team Barracuda-BHA Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian

by BWard Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:29 pm

I have no choice but to support Rubens Barrichello this season, I mean a rookie at the age of 39? How extraordinary!

by PKligBKFan Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:41 pm

Cannot wait for the race. I've also got to cheer for Rubens Barrichello along with my usual Oriol Servia, Simona de Silvestro and of course, James Hinchcliffe!

by navycook75 Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:51 pm

I love St Pete, not only as this, but the city as well.

I can't wait.

by PYLrulz Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:56 pm

Will be quite odd when they go to Indy, and Barrichello has to do the rookie stuff Laughing

by f1fan12 Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:30 pm

Rubens Is gonna win, ok maybe not

by Alta Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:58 pm

My body is ready.

by Tanrar Tue Mar 20, 2012 11:31 pm

Sucks I won't be able to watch this if it's this weekend. Sad

by pepsibottle1 Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:11 pm

New chassis, the return of the engine wars and ability to innovate in the aero department? This is shaping up to be a hell of a season. Personally, I'm rooting for Rubens and I hope he can show his stuff once again in the states Very Happy

by flyingturns89 Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:01 pm

Interesting interview with Oriol Servia in USA Today. They were talking about Wheldon, and Servia said that Wheldon keeps showing up in his dreams. He says that in his dreams, Dan doesn't know that he died, and in the latest one, he tells Oriol that he keeps sending text messages to everyone, but no one is responding.

by Mystrsyko Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:24 pm

That is hilarious and creepy all at the same time

by flyingturns89 Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:32 pm

It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

by **Cynon** Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:28 pm

flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

Please tell me you're trolling.

by navycook75 Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:31 pm

Cynon wrote:
flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

Please tell me you're trolling.

he's not http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-sports/2012/03/22/indycar-returns-with-wheldon-in-mind/ first two paragraphs in

by BWard Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:34 pm

I've had a similar dream about that crash. What happened in it was the actual crash happening in it, and I was standing on the edge of turn 1 on the outside and when the cars came crashing into each other, I jumped out of the way and behind the fence. I still got the fears from that dream ever since.

by RealRacer4 Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:47 pm

by BWard Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:49 pm

RealRacer4 wrote:

very funny.

by flyingturns89 Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:07 pm

Cynon wrote:
flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

Please tell me you're trolling.

A little bit, right at the end, basically from about the bolded area on, but I actually did do my own investigation of the crash.

by **Cynon** Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:34 pm

navycook75 wrote:he's not http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-sports/2012/03/22/indycar-returns-with-wheldon-in-mind/ first two paragraphs in

Oh, I believe that the interview happened and that Servia was still affected by the crash. That's not what I'm getting at.

flyingturns89 wrote:
Cynon wrote:
flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

Please tell me you're trolling.

A little bit, right at the end, basically from about the bolded area on, but I actually did do my own investigation of the crash.

...

Please tell me that's a joke...

...

Meanwhile, back on the planet Earth...

Indy Lights Combined Times (PDF). Warning: Features Armaan Ebrahim and the ungodly slow Rodin Younessi.

Spotter Guide (PDF). Shows every car's livery (side view) and drivers' Twitter accounts if they have one. Still handy. Very Happy

by RealRacer4 Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:36 pm

http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2012/PETE-IICS_practice2.pdf

After the 2nd practice session, the top 20 lap times are separated by less than a second off of each other. Top 6 are Penske and Ganassi drivers ( Fail

). The fastest driver in that session (Briscoe) is already less than a tenth off the pole from last year, which is a 1:01.9625. For those of you wondering what the fastest pole time was when Champ Car went to St. Petersburg in '03, the time's 1:00.928. I have a gut feeling the new DW-12 chassis might get close to that time.

by Michael29Shell Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:13 pm

The font for the #8 looks weird..

I really like the 2,4,11,77, and 98 cars.

by flyingturns89 Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:23 pm

Cynon wrote:
navycook75 wrote:he's not http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-sports/2012/03/22/indycar-returns-with-wheldon-in-mind/ first two paragraphs in

Oh, I believe that the interview happened and that Servia was still affected by the crash. That's not what I'm getting at.

flyingturns89 wrote:
Cynon wrote:
flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

Please tell me you're trolling.

A little bit, right at the end, basically from about the bolded area on, but I actually did do my own investigation of the crash.

...

Please tell me that's a joke...

Basically when the wreck happened I started doing my own study on it, at least until IndyCar released it's results. However, when they released their findings, it seemed to me that certain things didn't add up, so I continued on with my research until recently, to where I think I've pieced together everything that happened.

by Alpineopossum Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:07 pm

flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

That last part was rather offensive. This isn't a personal attack or anything, but I think that analysing if Wheldon knew he was dead is sick, to be perfectly honest.

by flyingturns89 Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:16 pm

Alpineopossum wrote:
flyingturns89 wrote:It actually doesn't surprise me to hear that in Servia's dreams Dan doesn't know that he's dead. Since the wreck, I've been doing my own investigation of the accident to see what happened, and based off what I've found, Dan probably couldn't have comprehended what was going on until it was much too late, and therefore, he thinks he's still alive.

That last part was rather offensive. This isn't a personal attack or anything, but I think that analysing if Wheldon knew he was dead is sick, to be perfectly honest.

Well, Servia actually says in the article that Dan doesn't know he's dead in his dreams. Here's the link:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/indycar/story/2012-03-20/IndyCar-returns-with-Dan-Wheldon-in-mind/53711020/1

I understand what you're saying, but I'm just voicing my opinion. Not trying to make it so that people agree with it, just putting my thoughts out there.

by Cardinals5 Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:23 pm

by flyingturns89 Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:28 pm

Wow, I just massively spammed my own thread. Woah.

Anyways, this whole 8-10 cars with a decent shot of winning the championship thing, that was just Dario joking around, right?

by Kornography Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:14 am

flyingturns89 wrote:Basically when the wreck happened I started doing my own study on it, at least until IndyCar released it's results. However, when they released their findings, it seemed to me that certain things didn't add up, so I continued on with my research until recently, to where I think I've pieced together everything that happened.

...?????

I'm gonna go grab my mannequins and smoke machines.

by flyingturns89 Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:38 am

While watching practice it occurred to me that I cannot say half these drivers names right for some reason. It also occurs to me that qualifying will be unpredictable.

by Alpineopossum Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:46 am

It looks like Ganassi and Penske are on top with KV and Andretti nipping at their heels in the top ten.

by flyingturns89 Sat Mar 24, 2012 11:20 am

Simon Pagenaud was fastest in practice this. He, Power, and Briscoe were the only ones all this weekend to hit a lap in less than one minute and two seconds. However, Pagenaud cannot start in the Top 10. His team made an unapproved engine change and will drop 10 spots on the grid. Qualifying starts just before 2:00, and as far as I know, they are using the same road coarse qualifying as last year, where cars are split into two groups, and they run laps, then the fastest six from each group re-run laps and the fastest six go again to decide the grid.

by f1fan12 Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:59 pm

Listen to those cars!

by Mother of Invention Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:38 pm

You know what those new cars remind me of?

Spoiler:

by flyingturns89 Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:27 pm

UNOFFICIAL STARTING GRID

Row 1
#12-Will Power
#2-Ryan Briscoe

Row 2
#28-Ryan Hunter-Reay
#27 James Hinchcliffe

Row 3
#3-Helio Castroneves
#9-Scott Dixon

Row 4
#26-Marco Andretti
#11-Tony Kanaan

Row 5
#10-Dario Franchitti
#38-Graham Rahal

Row 6
#14-Mike Conway
#5-EJ Viso

Row 7
#8-Rubens Barrichello
#15-Takuma Sato

Row 8
#18-Justin Wilson
#77-Simon Pagnaud

Row 9
#98-Alex Tagliani
#4-JR Hildebrand

Row 10
#67-Josef Newgarden
#19-James Jakes

Row 11
#78-Simona de Silvestro
#7-Sebastien Bourdais

Row 12
#22-Oriol Servia
#83-Charlie Kimball

Row 13
#6-Katherine Legge
#20-Ed Carpenter

Notes:
#77-Simon Pagenaud originally qualified sixth, but was assessed to a 10 position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change during practice. As a result, Pagenaud has been dropped to 16th.

by RealRacer4 Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:36 pm

Mother of Invention wrote:You know what those new cars remind me of?

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

by bartman97 Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:28 pm

Oh well, Toowoomba boy Power is on the pole, as usual when it's a road course. I live about an hour from his hometown if you's didn't know.

by RealRacer4 Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:18 am

inb4 ABC shows Danica twitter posts during the race.

by Alta Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:01 am

RealRacer4 wrote:inb4 ABC shows Danica twitter posts during the race.

You realize that not only she's not there anymore but Indycar coverage of Danica was quite minimum in every race she ran.

by BWard Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:04 am

does anyone know if there will be a live feed of this race later today?

by RealRacer4 Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:11 pm

I see Newgarden and Tagliani has putten the new bumpers to the test. Laughing

by Cardinals5 Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:13 pm

Looks like Chevy is preparing to roflstomp the field like in WTCC

by PKligBKFan Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:23 pm

Legge with problems. She was really off the pace anyway.

by Mystrsyko Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:34 pm

This is probably the first time I have ever said that I want to see lots of crashes. I want to see how well those anti-climb devices work

by RealRacer4 Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:15 pm

Good to see Helio get his first win in over a year. Quite a touching tribute for Wheldon. Race was kind of meh. I think ABC could've done a better job to show more passing just to make the race look more exciting. Some good runs by a couple of underdogs. Next weekend's race: Barber!

by BBoy Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:18 pm

Mad respect for Helio. He did an excellent job today.

by PKligBKFan Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:21 pm

The coverage was absolutely terrible for this race. The race that they showed us was crappy. The race that Pippa Mann was tweeting about from the paddock seemed pretty awesome. Nice to see Hinch, Pagenaud and Kimball with good finishes. Hopefully the amount of mechanical failures isn't something we should expect all season long. Good win, Helio.

by Cardinals5 Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:39 pm

RealRacer4 wrote:Good to see Helio get his first win in over a year. Quite a touching tribute for Wheldon. Race was kind of meh. I think ABC could've done a better job to show more passing just to make the race look more exciting. Some good runs by a couple of underdogs. Next weekend's race: Barber!

Agreed.

by **Cynon** Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:48 pm

Brilliant win by Helio, and a brilliant run by Bourdais and Sato.

Again, ABC's coverage was a huge letdown. Proof that the coverage can make a good race appear bad.

by RealRacer4 Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:50 pm

Cynon wrote:Brilliant win by Helio, and a brilliant run by Bourdais and Sato.

Again, ABC's coverage was a huge letdown. Proof that the coverage can make a good race appear bad.

Whatever happened to Bourdais? No mention of that from the crappy coverage either. Rolling Eyes

by Sparkz47 Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:55 pm

Good drive by Castroneves, seemed like he played the race to his liking; didn't see too much of him until the end. And let's hear it for Takuma Sato, what a run!

by **crl** Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:00 pm

Great win for Helio. Thank God it wasn't Scott or Dario or Wilford Brimley or Brisuck.

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