2008 IRL Rd. 2--Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg..........

[mlittle]

With all the hubbub and excitement from Homestead still in the Florida air, its' time to pack up the fun and head up the road to the Florida Gulf Coast and the sunny climes of Tampa/St. Pete for the second race of the 2008 IndyCar campaign, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete. Set amongst the concrete canyons around Alfred Whitted Field and along the St. Pete waterfront, this track hosted the IRL's first non-oval event in 2005 and has become an early staple on the calendar. With the addition of the transitioning ChampCar teams to the series, expect some fireworks during the event weekend.............

Speaking of the event weekend.....................
Practice Session #1, 10:45am to 12:45pm(all cars), 4 April 2008
Practice Session #2(group 1*), 3:25-3:55pm, 4 April 2008
Practice Session #2(group 2*), 3:55-4:25pm, 4 April 2008
Practice Session #3(group 1*), 8:05-8:35am, 5 April 2008
Practice Session #3(group 2*), 8:35-9:05am, 5 April 2008
Knockout Qualifying, 10:55am to 12:25pm, 5 April 2008
Firestone Pole Shootout w/in 10 minutes of knockout qualifying
Warm-Up Session, 8:30-9am, 6 April 2008
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 2:30pm(live-ABC Sports)
*--following the end of practice session 1, drivers will be divided into two groups for the remaining 2 practice sessions

~~domestic AM radio courtesy of the IMS Radio Network
~~satellite radio available on XM Satellite Radio Chs. 143 and 144
~~international TV; check local area listings
~~international simulcast(shortwave/TV) available through the United States Armed Forces Network

[Southernman]

As always I voted Dixon. I can only see four drivers winning without mishaps to others. Those drivers being: Wheldon, Kanaan and Castroneves.

[mlittle]

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Entry List...................

A.J. Foyt, IV, #2 Joost/Indy Vision
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi
Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola
(R)Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dan Wheldon, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Buddy Rice, #15 Racing for Kids/Bitburger
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol
Bruno Junquiera, #18 Z-Line Designs
(R)Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ
Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards/DirecTV
Townsend Bell, #23 WilliamRast
(R)Jay Howard, #24 Cirrus Aircraft
Marty Roth, #25 Cirrus Aircraft
Marco Andretti, #26 Gillette Fusion
(R)Hideki Mutoh, #27 Panasonic/Formula Dream
(R)Ernesto Viso, #33 PDVSA
(R)Franck Perera, #34 Opes Prime/ARES
(R)Enrique Bernoldi, #36 Sangari/Opes Prime
(R)Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's
(R)Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps

[mlittle]

Event: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
When: 6 April 2008, 2:30pm

Past Winners.......
--Paul Tracy, 2003
--Dan Wheldon, 2005
--Helio Castroneves, 2006-2007

Firestone Tire Compounds................
--same compound to be used as in 2006-2007; each team will receive 10 dry-weather sets and 4 wet-weather sets

New Road/Street Qualifying Format to Debut....................
Instead of single-car qualifying prior to the Firestone Pole Shootout, the qualifying format has been changed to resemble the current F1-style knockout qualifying format
~~drivers will be divided into 2 groups w/each group receiving 20 minutes to set their fastest time; at the end of each 20 min. segment in Round 1, the fastest 6 drivers in each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining drivers are placed on the grid in positions 13-26
~~in Round 2, the remaining 12 drivers get 15 minutes to set their fastest time w/the 6 fastest advancing to the Firestone Shootout; the remaining 6 are placed on the grid in postions 7-12
~~the remaining 6 drivers participate in the 10-minute Firestone Shootout with the fastest driver on pole for the race

[mlittle]

St. Pete Practice Session #1 top-5..........................
1}(R)Justin Wilson, Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing..................1:03.521 sec/102.104 mph
2} Vitor Meira, Panther Racing..............................................1:03.759 sec/101.633 mph
3} Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing.................................1:03.775 sec/101.607 mph
4} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske......................................1:03.941 sec/101.344 mph
5}(R)Graham Rahal, Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing................1:04.119 sec/101.062 mph

[mlittle]

St. Pete Practice Session #2 top-5................................
1} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske.................................102.359 mph
2} Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing............................102.260 mph
3}(R)Hideki Mutoh, Andretti-Green Racing.........................102.129 mph
4}(R)Will Power, KV Racing Tech......................................101.890 mph
5}(R)Franck Perera, Conquest Racing...............................101.831 mph

note.....times were not available at time of posting.............

[mlittle]

St. Pete Practice Session #3 top-5.......................
1} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske........................................1:02.975 sec/102.899 mph
2} Marco Andretti, Andretti-Green Racing..........................1:03.162 sec/102.635 mph
3} Oriol Servia, KV Racing Tech.......................................1:03.167 sec/102.589 mph
4}(R)Justin Wilson, Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing.............1:03.186 sec/102.554 mph
5} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing.............................1:03.197 sec/102.536 mph

[mlittle]

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Starting Grid..............
note.......positions 1-6 set in the Firestone Shootout; positions 7-12 set in round 2 and positions 13-26 were set in the first round of knockout qualifying


1st} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11.................................1:02.532 sec
2nd}(R)Will Power, #8 Aussie Vienyards.........................1:02.610 sec

3rd}(R)Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's.............................1:02.643 sec
4th} Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske........................1:02.646 sec

5th} Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske...............................1:02.707 sec
6th} Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol...............................1:03.008 sec

7th} Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics.....................................1:02.743 sec
8th} Dan Wheldon, #10 Target.......................................1:02.796 sec

9th}(R)Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps...........1:02.811 sec
10th}(R)Franck Perera, #34 Opes Prime/ARES.................1:02.875 sec

11th} Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co.....................1:03.014 sec
12th} Marco Andretti, #26 Gillette Fusion.........................1:03.244 sec

13th} Scott Dixon, #9 Target..........................................1:03.237 sec
14th}(R)Hideki Mutoh, #27 Panasonic/Formula Dream.......1:03.276 sec

15th}(R)Ernesto Viso, #33 PDVSA...................................1:03.307 sec
16th} Buddy Rice, #15 Racing for Kids/Bitburger..............1:03.359 sec

17th} Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi.....................1:03.448 sec
18th}(R)Enrique Bernoldi, #36 Sangari/Opes Prime...........1:03.457 sec

19th} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola...................................1:03.577 sec
20th}(R)Jay Howard, #24 Cirrus Aircraft..........................1:03.745 sec

21st} Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards/DirecTV.......................1:03.801 sec
22nd}(R)Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ.............1:04.159 sec

23rd} Townsend Bell, #23 WilliamRast.............................1:04.388 sec
24th} A.J. Foyt, IV, #2 Joost/Indy Vision...........................1:04.500 sec

25th} Marty Roth, #25 Cirrus Aircraft...............................1:07.704 sec
26th} Bruno Junquiera, #18 Z-Line Designs......................1:09.385 sec

[mlittle]

2 years ago, then-rookie Marco Andretti became the youngest driver to win in American Open-Wheel Racing when he won on the road course at Infineon.......that record went out the window on the damp streets of St. Pete as NHL's Graham Rahal held off a late charge from Team Penske's Helio Castroneves to win a time-shortened Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg......


Top-10 from a damp, soggy St. Pete........................
1st}(R)#06 Graham Rahal.............................83 laps
2nd} #3 Helio Castroneves............................-3.519 sec
3rd] #11 Tony Kanaan..................................-5.513 sec
4th}(R)#33 Ernesto Viso...............................-8.858 sec
5th}(R)#36 Enrique Bernoldi.........................-9.636 sec
6th}(R)#27 Hideki Mutoh..............................-10.071 sec
7th} #5 Oriol Servia....................................-11.287 sec
8th}(R)#8 Will Power...................................-12.849 sec
9th}(R)#02 Justin Wilson..............................-14.359 sec
10th} #7 Danica Patrick...............................-16.730 sec

[mlittle]