Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2015

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2015

Racing data
1st of 16 races of the IndyCar Series 2015
Surname:	Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Date:	March 29, 2015
Place:	Saint Petersburg , Florida , United States
Course:	Streets of St. Petersburg
Length:	318.65 km in 110 laps of 2.897 km
Pole position
Driver:	Will power	Verizon Team Penske
Time:	1: 00.6931 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske
Time:	1: 01.8607 min (lap 90)
Podium
First:	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske
Second:	Will power	Verizon Team Penske
Third:	Tony Kanaan	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams

The 2015 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg took place on March 29th in the Streets of St. Petersburg in Saint Petersburg , Florida , United States and was the first race of the 2015 IndyCar Series .

Reports

background

After the cancellation of the Itaipava Brasília Indy 300 in Brasília on March 8th, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the season opener of the IndyCar Series 2015, as in the previous year.

It was the first IndyCar race in which the Dallara DW12 IndyCar chassis was equipped with aero kits from the engine manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda .

In this race two drivers made their debut in the IndyCar Series. Stefano Coletti moved as sixth in the 2014 GP2 Series season at KV Racing Technology . Gabby Chaves , the 2014 Indy Lights season champion , joined BHA with Curb Agajanian .

James Jakes returned to the IndyCar Series after a year without racing as a full-time driver at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports . Sage Karam , who had already participated in the Indianapolis 500 in 2014 , switched to Chip Ganassi Racing , where he initially only received a cockpit for the season opener. In the end, Karam stayed with the racing team and was given a part-time cockpit. It was used in 12 of the 16 races of the season. Francesco Dracone returned to the IndyCar Series five years after his IndyCar debut in 2010 and received a vehicle from Dale Coyne Racing for the first five races. After sporadic missions in the 2014 season, Luca Filippi switched to CFH Racing , which gave him a vehicle for all street circuit races . Simona de Silvestro returned to the IndyCar Series after a year break and received a contract with Andretti Autosport for the season opener. In the further course of the season she received the cockpit in two other races.

Three drivers have changed their teams. Simon Pagenaud moved from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to Team Penske , which thus became a four-vehicle team. James Hinchcliffe replaced Pagenaud at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and left Andretti Autosport . Andretti thus reduced its full-time line-up from four to three vehicles. Jack Hawksworth joined AJ Foyt Enterprises from BHA / BBM with Curb Agajanian . In 2015, AJ Foyt Enterprises used two vehicles throughout.

Ed Carpenter Racing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing merged to become CFH Racing this season. As a former Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing driver, Josef Newgarden stayed with the new racing team, which had chosen Chevrolet as its engine partner.

With Hélio Castroneves (three times), Will Power (twice), Graham Rahal and Hinchcliffe (once each), four former winners competed at this Grand Prix.

training

The first training session took place on Friday and lasted 75 minutes. Power set the fastest time in front of his teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Castroneves. The fastest 19 drivers were within a second and only Dracone was the last, more than three seconds behind, more than 1.5 seconds away from the best time. The first five positions were occupied by Chevrolet drivers. Hawksworth was the best Honda driver in sixth. The drivers said that the vehicles produced more downforce thanks to the aero kits. The training was interrupted twice. The first time was Coletti, who was the best debutant in 16th place, with a spin. During the second interruption, debris was lying on the route.

The second training session on Friday was canceled due to bad weather. After a rain shower, there was water on the track.

In the third practice session on the Saturday before qualifying, three Penske drivers were again ahead, with all Penske drivers in the top 5. Power led before Pagenaud and Castroneves. Takuma Satō was fourth best Honda rider and the first Honda rider that year to move into the top five in a training session. In this practice session, the first 20 drivers were within one second and Dracone was again the only driver, more than three seconds behind, who was more than 1.5 seconds short of the best time. The training was interrupted twice. Initially, Sébastien Bourdais was born from the emergency exit of the fourth corner. The second interruption triggered a slip by Tony Kanaan .

Qualifying

The first part of the qualifying was held in two groups according to the usual qualifying system for street courses. The six fastest drivers in each group came into the second segment. The remaining starting positions were determined from the result of the first qualifying segment, with the drivers in the first group being assigned the odd positions from 13 and the drivers in the second group the even positions from 14. In the first group Satō drove the fastest lap, in the second group Power was the fastest driver. Eight Chevrolet and four Honda drivers made it into the second part. Coletti was the best debutant in 17th place.

In the second segment of the qualification, the six fastest drivers qualified for the final section. Power achieved the fastest lap time, which was also the fastest time at an IndyCar event on this track. In addition to him, Pagenaud, Bourdais, Satō, Montoya and Castroneves made it into the third part of qualifying, the so-called Firestone Fast Six.

In the third part, Power finally set the fastest time and achieved pole position in front of his team-mates Pagenaud, Castroneves and Montoya. So all Penske pilots were in the first four positions. Satō was the fifth best Honda driver.

Final training

In the final training session before the race, Rahal was the fastest Honda driver for the first time. Bourdais was second ahead of Newgarden.

run

Power kept the lead at the start. Ryan Hunter-Reay started poorly in eighth and fell back to 17th place. On the first lap there was contact that led to parts on the track. Mainly the attachments of the front wing were affected. Power kept the lead at the restart. After Carlos Huertas gave up after 19 laps with a damaged steering, the first pit stop phase began. Power pitted on lap 22 and handed the lead over to Pagenaud for two laps. Power then took the lead again. Between him and Pagenaud, Hawksworth was in second place. Hawksworth had damaged the front wing in the initial phase and was therefore on a different strategy after a repair stop. As a result of touches - including a collision between de Silvestro and Carlos Muñoz on lap 22, in which Muñoz had lost parts of his front wing - debris lay on the track, there was a yellow phase on lap 26.

The race was reopened on lap 32. At the restart, Montoya managed to overtake Pagenaud and Hawksworth before the first corner and take second place. On lap 34, Marco Andretti and Chaves touched before the tenth corner. Andretti damaged the front wing. Part of the front wing was thrown over the stands and hit a spectator in the head who was seriously injured. She suffered a skull fracture. Shortly afterwards, Chaves also touched Hinchcliffe. Chaves damaged the front wing and Hinchcliffe's right tire was damaged. Another yellow phase was triggered because of the debris. Power stayed in the lead at the restart.

On the 46th lap, de Silvestro slipped into Jakes before the 13th corner. Jakes pitted for a repair stop and eventually crossed the finish line ten laps behind. De Silvestro was given a drive-through penalty by the race stewards. There was another yellow phase. In this a few drivers pitted and Hawksworth took the lead. It was the only lead laps by a non-Penske pilot. When restarting, Pagenaud slipped into Charlie Kimball's rear in the braking zone in front of Turn 4 . Rahal then collides with Kimball in the tenth corner. This triggered the fifth and final yellow phase. Rahal was given a drive-through penalty and Hawksworth previously gave the lead to Power.

Power kept the lead at the restart. Dracone gave up the race after 70 laps with technical problems. In the final pit stop phase, Power pitted first. Castroneves took the lead for one lap during this phase. Montoya also stayed longer on the track and passed Power after his stop and took the lead. His lead after the pit stop was three seconds.

In the closing stages, Power caught up with Montoya and attempted an overtaking maneuver on lap 101. He chose the inside lane before the tenth corner. The two drivers touched and Power damaged the front wing. Montoya stayed in the lead. With six laps to go, Power lost touch again when Montoya was better able to get past Karam when lapping Karam.

Montoya eventually won the race before Power. It was Montoya's first IndyCar win on a street circuit since the Molson Indy Vancouver in 1999 and the 175th IndyCar win for Team Penske. Kanaan finished third, preventing Penske from taking the top four positions. The other Penske drivers Castroneves and Pagenaud finished fourth and fifth. With Bourdais in sixth, it was a sixfold win for Chevrolet. Hunter-Reay was the best Honda rider in seventh place. The top 10 were completed by Hawksworth, Filippi and Andretti.

Registration list

All teams and drivers used the Dallara DW12 chassis and Firestone tires .

team	No.	driver	Aero kit / engine
Verizon Team Penske	01	Will power	Chevrolet
Team Penske	02	Juan Pablo Montoya
	03	Helio Castroneves
	22nd	Simon Pagenaud
KV Racing Technology	04th	Stefano Coletti	Chevrolet
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	05	James Hinchcliffe	Honda
	07th	James Jakes
Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	08th	Say Karam	Chevrolet
	09	Scott Dixon
	10	Tony Kanaan
	83	Charlie Kimball
KVSH Racing	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Chevrolet
AJ Foyt Enterprises	14th	Takuma Satō	Honda
	41	Jack Hawksworth
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15th	Graham Rahal	Honda
Dale Coyne Racing	18th	Carlos Huertas	Honda
	19th	Francesco Dracone
CFH Racing	20th	Luca Filippi	Chevrolet
	67	Josef Newgarden
Andretti Autosport	25th	Simona de Silvestro	Honda
	26th	Carlos Muñoz
	27	Marco Andretti
	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay
BHA with Curb Agajanian	98	Gabby Chaves	Honda

Source:

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	team	vehicle	Group 1	Group 2	Top 12	FF6	begin
01	Will power	Verizon Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	-	1: 00.8344	1: 00.6509	1: 00.6931	01
02	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	1: 01.4300	-	1: 00.8645	1: 00.7252	02
03	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	-	1: 01.0488	1: 01.0425	1: 00.8356	03
04th	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	-	1: 01.1878	1: 00.9720	1: 00.8532	04th
05	Takuma Satō	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	1: 01.3370	-	1: 00.9704	1: 01.1496	05
06th	Sébastien Bourdais	KVSH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	-	1: 01.4272	1: 00.9378	1: 01.1545	06th
07th	Tony Kanaan	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	1: 01.4209	-	1: 01.1182	-	07th
08th	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	1: 01.4907	-	1: 01.1670	-	08th
09	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	-	1: 01, 1961	1: 01.2285	-	09
10	Josef Newgarden	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	1: 01.4945	-	1: 01.2478	-	10
11	Simona de Silvestro	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	1: 01.5475	-	1: 01.3657	-	11
12	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	-	1: 01.3776	1: 01.4765	-	12
13	Charlie Kimball	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	1: 01.5727	-	-	-	13
14th	Carlos Muñoz	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	-	1: 01.4890	-	-	14th
15th	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Dallara - Honda	1: 01.5742	-	-	-	15th
16	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	-	1: 01.5780	-	-	16
17th	Stefano Coletti	KV Racing Technology	Dallara - Chevrolet	1: 01.6727	-	-	-	17th
18th	Say Karam	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	-	1: 01,8011	-	-	18th
19th	Luca Filippi	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	1: 01.6736	-	-	-	19th
20th	James Jakes	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	-	1: 01.8323	-	-	20th
21st	Jack Hawksworth	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	1: 02.0095	-	-	-	21st
22nd	Gabby Chaves	BHA with Curb Agajanian	Dallara - Honda	-	1: 01.9705	-	-	22nd
23	Francesco Dracone	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	1: 04.2654	-	-	-	23
24	Carlos Huertas	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	-	1: 01.9716	-	-	24

Swell:

run

Item	driver	team	vehicle	Round	time	begin	Leadership laps
01	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	2: 16: 58.1079	04th	27
02	Will power	Verizon Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 0.9930	01	75
03	Tony Kanaan	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 11.1685	07th	00
04th	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 11.4376	03	01
05	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 12.3909	02	02
06th	Sébastien Bourdais	KVSH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 16.4923	06th	00
07th	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	110	+ 27.7102	08th	00
08th	Jack Hawksworth	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	110	+ 34.9206	21st	05
09	Luca Filippi	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 38.1564	19th	00
10	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	110	+ 38.6910	12	00
11	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Dallara - Honda	110	+ 40.3895	15th	00
12	Josef Newgarden	CFH Racing	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 51.7710	10	00
13	Takuma Satō	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Dallara - Honda	110	+ 52.2688	05	00
14th	Carlos Muñoz	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	110	+ 56.7210	14th	00
15th	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	110	+ 59.6613	09	00
16	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	110	+1: 02.4581	16	00
17th	Gabby Chaves	BHA with Curb Agajanian	Dallara - Honda	110	+1: 03.0667	22nd	00
18th	Simona de Silvestro	Andretti Autosport	Dallara - Honda	110	+1: 03.1422	11	00
19th	Say Karam	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	109	+ 1 lap	18th	00
20th	Stefano Coletti	KV Racing Technology	Dallara - Chevrolet	109	+ 1 lap	17th	00
21st	Charlie Kimball	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	Dallara - Chevrolet	109	+ 1 lap	13	00
22nd	James Jakes	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Dallara - Honda	100	+ 10 rounds	20th	00
23	Francesco Dracone	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	070	DNF	23	00
24	Carlos Huertas	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara - Honda	019th	DNF	24	00

Swell:

Guide sections

section	Round	driver
1	1-21	Will power
2	22-23	Simon Pagenaud
3	24-48	Will power
4th	49-53	Jack Hawksworth
5	54-82	Will power
6th	83	Helio Castroneves
7th	84-110	Juan Pablo Montoya

Swell:

Yellow phases

No.	Duration	Round	Reason for yellow phase
1	2-4	3	Debris in curve 9
2	26-31	6th	Debris in curves 9 and 12
3	34-36	3	Debris in curve 10
4th	47-52	6th	Contact: James Jakes (# 7) and Simona de Silvestro (# 25) in turn 14
5	54-57	4th	Contact: Graham Rahal (# 15) and Charlie Kimball (# 83) in turn 10

Swell:

Score after the race

Driver ranking

The allocation of points is explained here .

Item driver Points 01.  Juan Pablo Montoya 51 02.  Will power 44 03.  Tony Kanaan 35 04th  Helio Castroneves 33 05.  Simon Pagenaud 31 06th  Sébastien Bourdais 28 07th  Ryan Hunter-Reay 26th 08th.  Jack Hawksworth 25th

Item driver Points 09.  Luca Filippi 22nd 10.  Marco Andretti 20th 11.  Graham Rahal 19th 12.  Josef Newgarden 18th 13.  Takuma Satō 17th 14th  Carlos Muñoz 16 15th  Scott Dixon 15th 16.  James Hinchcliffe 14th

Item driver Points 17th  Gabby Chaves 13 18th  Simona de Silvestro 12 19th  Say Karam 11 20th  Stefano Coletti 10 21st  Charlie Kimball 9 22nd  James Jakes 8th 23.  Francesco Dracone 7th 24.  Carlos Huertas 6th

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: IndyCar season opener in Brasilia canceled! Motorsport-Total.com, January 30, 2015, accessed March 6, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: St. Petersburg 2015: Departure into the new IndyCar era. Motorsport-Total.com, March 25, 2015, accessed on August 29, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Practice 1. imscdn.com, March 27, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Mario Fritzsche: IndyCar kick-off: Will Power is great on the first day of training. Motorsport-Total.com, March 27, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
5. ^ Dave Lewandowski: Strong start for power; five below '14 pole lap. indycar.com, March 27, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
6. ^ Mark Glendenning: St Petersburg IndyCar: Will Power tops Penske top three in practice. autosport.com, March 27, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Practice 3. imscdn.com, March 28, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
8. ^ Dave Lewandowski: Lap times drop as drivers target track record. indycar.com, March 28, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
9. ^ Mark Glendenning: St Petersburg IndyCar: Will Power and Penske top practice again. autosport.com, March 28, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Pete Fink: St-Pete-Quali: Team Penske four times ... Motorsport-Total.com, March 28, 2015, accessed on August 30, 2015 . 
11. ^ Dave Lewandowski: Team Penske sweeps top 4; Power sets track record. indycar.com, March 28, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
12. ^ Mark Glendenning: St Petersburg IndyCar: Will Power on pole in all-Penske top four. autosport.com, March 28, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
13. ↑ Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Practice Final. imscdn.com, March 29, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Mario Fritzsche: Juan Pablo Montoya wins IndyCar season opener in St. Pete. Motorsport-Total.com, March 30, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b c d} Mark Glendenning: St Petersburg IndyCar: Juan Pablo Montoya beats Will Power to win. autosport.com, March 29, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} Mario Fritzsche: IndyCar start: viewer seriously injured by wreckage. Motorsport-Total.com, March 31, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
17. ^ Curt Cavin: IndyCar: Investigation of flying debris continues. indystar.com, March 31, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 . 
18. ↑ Dave Lewandowski: Montoya overpowering in season-opening win. indycar.com, March 29, 2015, accessed August 31, 2015 . 
19. ↑ “Entry List - Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg”. (PDF) indycar.com, March 24, 2015, accessed on May 21, 2015 . 
20. ↑ Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - QUALIFYING RESULTS. (PDF) imscdn.com, March 28, 2015, accessed on May 22, 2015 . 
21. ↑ Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Official Starting Line Up. (PDF) indycar.com, March 29, 2015, accessed May 22, 2015 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b c} “OFFICIAL BOX SCORE - Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg”. (PDF) indycar.com, March 29, 2015, accessed on May 28, 2015 (English). 
23. ^ “Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Unofficial Lap Report”. (PDF) indycar.com, March 29, 2015, accessed on August 28, 2015 .