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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Castroneves, Chevy Capture St. Pete Victory
The opening race of the 2012 IndyCar season goes to Helio Castroneves who marched into the distance with his Chevrolet-powered Team Penske car.
After almost six months of waiting to see what would happen with IndyCar’s new-era chassis and engines at the first race of the season, something old—at least in terms of tenure—proved to have the winning formula during the 100-lap Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg.
Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, who was locked out of victory lane for the first time in his IndyCar career last season, took a convincing win for Chevrolet—his third at the track—and scored his 26th career win.
With a drought extending to Motegi in 2010, the popular driver got out of the car at Turn 10 on the cool down lap to climb the fence in front of the grandstands, and then ran across the track to scale the fence and pat the street sign bearing Dan Wheldon’s name.
The emotional Brazilian’s emotional gesture seemed fitting on a day where the fallen driver was honored by fans, drivers and the city, and he also dedicated his win to Wheldon before mentioning the pressure he felt to prove he still had the pace to win.
“It’s been a little while, but it never gets old," he said. "Certainly coming back from last year was a big struggle. Being in victory circle is a dream come true.”
His team owner also credited the job done by his veteran driver and the engine manufacturer he steered back into open-wheel racing.
“I think getting him back on top after last season, you couldn’t beat it,” said Roger Penske. “Winning the first trace out [for Chevrolet], what else can I say?”
Scott Dixon took second for Target Chip Ganassi Racing--his third time finishing second to Castroneves at St. Pete--but could not hold onto the Penske driver, who sprinted into the distance in the final 25 laps.
“I’m happy to finish,” said Dixon, who has been taken out at St. Pete by contact or crashes the last few years. “I haven’t finished here in a while. The race cruised [from] there. We couldn’t seem to keep the tires under us. They were good for five or six laps then fell off. Great job by Helio today, but straight up we weren’t as fast as others. We have a little bit of work all around.”
Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay took third after going into fuel conservation mode to make it to the finish.
“We had a good showing,” he said. “We were hoping to put on a better show for the fans in the end, but it was a fuel race. That’s just part of the game. It’s good to get a podium under our belt. Today is about honoring Dan [Wheldon]; that wound is still fresh.”
For the first time in years, the start of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg went off without a hitch, as did every restart that followed. No motor failures were reported, minimal contact was made and as a whole, the Dallara DW12 chassis and the engines from Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus performed as expected. High marks to all of the vendors, manufacturers and the series itself for turning out a product that looked far more polished than was expected.
In the engine wars, Chevrolet put its stamp on qualifying and maintained it throughout the race. Four of the top 5 cars used its powerplant, while Honda took second, sixth, ninth and 10th.
As he did in qualifying, Alex Tagliani was the best of the Lotus teams, placing 15th.
Simon Pagenaud finished sixth, the best of the rookies, while Josef Newgarden, who has no previous Indy car experience (unlike Pagenaud), finished an impressive 11th for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.
When it came time to race, sanity prevailed in Turn 1, the frequent source of multi-car crashes, with pole-sitter Will Power leading teammate Ryan Briscoe by one second after three laps of running around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street circuit. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay held third.
The biggest early mover was Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon who moved from sixth to fourth and chased Hunter-Reay as Power continued to stretch his lead every lap.
By Lap 8, Power had motored to a 1.96-second lead over Briscoe and clearly had plans to demoralize the entire field. Lap 10 saw the Aussie’s lead move out to 2.83 seconds as he locked into his familiar groove.
Other than Dixon’s progression, very little movement happened throughout the field through the first 10 laps, but Katherine Legge’s stalled Lotus-powered car on the front straight on Lap 11 saw Power, Dario Franchitti, Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan, Takuma Sato and others dive for pit lane as they anticipated a yellow flag would be thrown, taking full fuel and Firestone Blacks.
With the yellow out on Lap 12, a little more than half the field made pit stops before the race was paused, while the other half stayed out, promoting Ryan Briscoe to the lead, followed by Hunter-Reay, Dixon, James Hinchcliffe and Helio Castroneves to complete the top 5.
Teams predicted the race would require between two and three stops for fuel, with short-fills taken whenever the opportunity was presented, and exactly how the early stoppers would fare as the race played out was unclear.
Green flag racing resumed cleanly on Lap 17 as cars went three-wide through Turn 1. Power dropped a handful of spots trying to make a brave outside pass on James Jakes in the tight Turn 5 complex, ending up 17th. Jakes would bring out the next yellow on Lap 19 when he clouted the Turn 10 tire barrier with the front of his Dale Coyne Racing Dallara DW12-Honda, citing glazed brake discs as the reason for his inability to stop at the end of the long back straight.
By Lap 20, the engine manufacturer battle saw Chevrolet holding P1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10, with Scott Dixon (P2) and Graham Rahal (P6) the only Honda runners in the top 10.
Briscoe, Rahal and Rubens Barrichello pitted at the end of Lap 20, promoting Dixon to the lead, followed by Hunter-Reay, Castroneves and Hinchcliffe.
Tony Kanaan’s Chevrolet-powered KV Racing car then came to a stop in Turn 3 under yellow on Lap 21 with no gears. Legge’s earlier stall was also attributed to a gearbox issue, but she was able to resume after losing six laps in the process. Simona de Silvestro also slowed during the caution with a suspected fuel system problem.
“From Lap 1 I started to get low voltage alarms,” said Kanaan. “With the electronics today, you can’t pull out of gear. It’s unfortunate, but those problems are expected.”
De Silvestro, like Kanaan, was out of the race before the one-quarter mark.
“I think we lost fuel pressure all of a sudden,” she said. “It’s a shame.”
Dixon led the field away when the green flag waved on Lap 28, with Hunter-Reay pursuing the Kiwi until the American pitted on Lap 33, promoting Castroneves to second. Hinchcliffe pitted for the first time on Lap 35 from fifth, resuming in 20th.
Dixon and Castroneves, who had yet to stop during the first two yellows, pitted nose to tail at the end of Lap 36, with the Ganassi crew leading the Brazilian out by multiple car lengths.
Sato took his turn at the point, with Mike Conway, Franchitti, Briscoe and Justin Wilson filling the top 5.
The Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver held a 2.4-second lead over fellow Honda runners Conway and Franchitti through Lap 40. Just outside the top 5, rookies Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud held sixth and seventh, followed by Power in eighth, Lotus-powered Alex Tagliani in ninth and Chevrolet’s JR Hildebrand in 10th.
Oriol Servia’s stop went wrong, with the Spaniard losing a lap before returning to the action.
Ed Carpenter was then turned by Helio Castroneves in Turn 14 at the end of Lap 45 after the driver/owner seemed to anger the Brazilian as the Penske driver tried to get past numerous times throughout the lap.
With Carpenter stalled on entry of pit lane, the third yellow flag was issued, with Sato, Franchitti, Briscoe, Pagenaud and Power amongst the drivers to stop for fuel and tires, splitting the safety truck and Carpenter as they motored into pit lane. Sato’s pit stop took quite some time, allowing Franchitti to leap ahead of that group in the pits.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: St.Pete Saturday 2012
Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, who was locked out of victory lane for the first time in his IndyCar career last season, took a convincing win for Chevrolet—his third at the track—and scored his 26th career win.
With a drought extending to Motegi in 2010, the popular driver got out of the car at Turn 10 on the cool down lap to climb the fence in front of the grandstands, and then ran across the track to scale the fence and pat the street sign bearing Dan Wheldon’s name.
The emotional Brazilian’s emotional gesture seemed fitting on a day where the fallen driver was honored by fans, drivers and the city, and he also dedicated his win to Wheldon before mentioning the pressure he felt to prove he still had the pace to win.
“It’s been a little while, but it never gets old," he said. "Certainly coming back from last year was a big struggle. Being in victory circle is a dream come true.”
His team owner also credited the job done by his veteran driver and the engine manufacturer he steered back into open-wheel racing.
“I think getting him back on top after last season, you couldn’t beat it,” said Roger Penske. “Winning the first trace out [for Chevrolet], what else can I say?”
Scott Dixon took second for Target Chip Ganassi Racing--his third time finishing second to Castroneves at St. Pete--but could not hold onto the Penske driver, who sprinted into the distance in the final 25 laps.
“I’m happy to finish,” said Dixon, who has been taken out at St. Pete by contact or crashes the last few years. “I haven’t finished here in a while. The race cruised [from] there. We couldn’t seem to keep the tires under us. They were good for five or six laps then fell off. Great job by Helio today, but straight up we weren’t as fast as others. We have a little bit of work all around.”
Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay took third after going into fuel conservation mode to make it to the finish.
“We had a good showing,” he said. “We were hoping to put on a better show for the fans in the end, but it was a fuel race. That’s just part of the game. It’s good to get a podium under our belt. Today is about honoring Dan [Wheldon]; that wound is still fresh.”
For the first time in years, the start of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg went off without a hitch, as did every restart that followed. No motor failures were reported, minimal contact was made and as a whole, the Dallara DW12 chassis and the engines from Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus performed as expected. High marks to all of the vendors, manufacturers and the series itself for turning out a product that looked far more polished than was expected.
In the engine wars, Chevrolet put its stamp on qualifying and maintained it throughout the race. Four of the top 5 cars used its powerplant, while Honda took second, sixth, ninth and 10th.
As he did in qualifying, Alex Tagliani was the best of the Lotus teams, placing 15th.
Simon Pagenaud finished sixth, the best of the rookies, while Josef Newgarden, who has no previous Indy car experience (unlike Pagenaud), finished an impressive 11th for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.
When it came time to race, sanity prevailed in Turn 1, the frequent source of multi-car crashes, with pole-sitter Will Power leading teammate Ryan Briscoe by one second after three laps of running around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street circuit. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay held third.
The biggest early mover was Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon who moved from sixth to fourth and chased Hunter-Reay as Power continued to stretch his lead every lap.
By Lap 8, Power had motored to a 1.96-second lead over Briscoe and clearly had plans to demoralize the entire field. Lap 10 saw the Aussie’s lead move out to 2.83 seconds as he locked into his familiar groove.
Other than Dixon’s progression, very little movement happened throughout the field through the first 10 laps, but Katherine Legge’s stalled Lotus-powered car on the front straight on Lap 11 saw Power, Dario Franchitti, Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan, Takuma Sato and others dive for pit lane as they anticipated a yellow flag would be thrown, taking full fuel and Firestone Blacks.
With the yellow out on Lap 12, a little more than half the field made pit stops before the race was paused, while the other half stayed out, promoting Ryan Briscoe to the lead, followed by Hunter-Reay, Dixon, James Hinchcliffe and Helio Castroneves to complete the top 5.
Teams predicted the race would require between two and three stops for fuel, with short-fills taken whenever the opportunity was presented, and exactly how the early stoppers would fare as the race played out was unclear.
Green flag racing resumed cleanly on Lap 17 as cars went three-wide through Turn 1. Power dropped a handful of spots trying to make a brave outside pass on James Jakes in the tight Turn 5 complex, ending up 17th. Jakes would bring out the next yellow on Lap 19 when he clouted the Turn 10 tire barrier with the front of his Dale Coyne Racing Dallara DW12-Honda, citing glazed brake discs as the reason for his inability to stop at the end of the long back straight.
By Lap 20, the engine manufacturer battle saw Chevrolet holding P1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10, with Scott Dixon (P2) and Graham Rahal (P6) the only Honda runners in the top 10.
Briscoe, Rahal and Rubens Barrichello pitted at the end of Lap 20, promoting Dixon to the lead, followed by Hunter-Reay, Castroneves and Hinchcliffe.
Tony Kanaan’s Chevrolet-powered KV Racing car then came to a stop in Turn 3 under yellow on Lap 21 with no gears. Legge’s earlier stall was also attributed to a gearbox issue, but she was able to resume after losing six laps in the process. Simona de Silvestro also slowed during the caution with a suspected fuel system problem.
“From Lap 1 I started to get low voltage alarms,” said Kanaan. “With the electronics today, you can’t pull out of gear. It’s unfortunate, but those problems are expected.”
De Silvestro, like Kanaan, was out of the race before the one-quarter mark.
“I think we lost fuel pressure all of a sudden,” she said. “It’s a shame.”
Dixon led the field away when the green flag waved on Lap 28, with Hunter-Reay pursuing the Kiwi until the American pitted on Lap 33, promoting Castroneves to second. Hinchcliffe pitted for the first time on Lap 35 from fifth, resuming in 20th.
Dixon and Castroneves, who had yet to stop during the first two yellows, pitted nose to tail at the end of Lap 36, with the Ganassi crew leading the Brazilian out by multiple car lengths.
Sato took his turn at the point, with Mike Conway, Franchitti, Briscoe and Justin Wilson filling the top 5.
The Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver held a 2.4-second lead over fellow Honda runners Conway and Franchitti through Lap 40. Just outside the top 5, rookies Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud held sixth and seventh, followed by Power in eighth, Lotus-powered Alex Tagliani in ninth and Chevrolet’s JR Hildebrand in 10th.
Oriol Servia’s stop went wrong, with the Spaniard losing a lap before returning to the action.
Ed Carpenter was then turned by Helio Castroneves in Turn 14 at the end of Lap 45 after the driver/owner seemed to anger the Brazilian as the Penske driver tried to get past numerous times throughout the lap.
With Carpenter stalled on entry of pit lane, the third yellow flag was issued, with Sato, Franchitti, Briscoe, Pagenaud and Power amongst the drivers to stop for fuel and tires, splitting the safety truck and Carpenter as they motored into pit lane. Sato’s pit stop took quite some time, allowing Franchitti to leap ahead of that group in the pits.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: St.Pete Saturday 2012
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