Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2012
| Racing data | ||
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| 1st of 15 races of the IndyCar Series 2012 | ||
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| Surname: | Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | |
| Date: | March 25, 2012 | |
| Place: |
 Saint Petersburg , Florida , United States
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| Course: | Streets of St. Petersburg | |
| Length: | 289.682 km in 100 laps of 2.897 km
|
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| Weather: | slightly cloudy | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver: |
 Will power
|
 Team Penske
|
| Time: | 1: 01.3721 min | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver: |
Will power
|
Team Penske
|
| Time: | 1: 02.7575 min (lap 5) | |
| Podium | ||
| First: |
 Helio Castroneves
|
Team Penske
|
| Second: |
 Scott Dixon
|
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
|
| Third: |
Ryan Hunter-Reay
|
Andretti Autosport
|
The 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg took place on March 25 at the Streets of St. Petersburg in Saint Petersburg , Florida , United States and was the first race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season .
Reports
background
The 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first IndyCar race with the new chassis, the Dallara DW12 . For the first time since the 2005 season (with the exception of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2008 ), Honda was no longer the exclusive engine supplier. Chevrolet and Lotus (in cooperation with Engine Developments ) entered the IndyCar Series as engine suppliers. The old naturally aspirated V8 engines were replaced by 2.2-liter V6 turbo engines.
Ed Carpenter Racing entered a race for the first time. At Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Sarah Fisher Racing there were changes in the share structure between the seasons, which is why the teams started as Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing . Dragon Racing and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing returned to the IndyCar Series.
Rubens Barrichello , who was the driver with the most Formula 1 starts at the time, made his debut in this race for KV Racing Technology in the IndyCar Series. In addition, Katherine Legge (Lotus-Dragon Racing), who had already driven in the Champ Car series, and Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing) took part in an IndyCar Series race for the first time. Sébastien Bourdais (Lotus-Dragon Racing), Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports) and Justin Wilson ( Dale Coyne Racing ) returned to the IndyCar Series. Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), Mike Conway ( AJ Foyt Enterprises ), James Hinchcliffe ( Andretti Autosport ), Takuma Satō (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) and Oriol Servià ( Lotus - DRR ) started for their new teams for the first time.
With Hélio Castroneves (twice), Graham Rahal , Ryan Briscoe , Will Power and Dario Franchitti (once each), five former winners competed in this Grand Prix.
training
In the first practice session, Scott Dixon set the fastest time ahead of Penske drivers Briscoe and Power the fastest lap. He was almost half a second ahead of his first pursuer. While the Chevrolet and Honda drivers set similarly fast lap times, Servià, as the best Lotus driver, was more than a second behind the first and was in 19th place. In the second practice session, Power set the fastest time ahead of Briscoe and Franchitti. Simona de Silvestro, the best driver with a Lotus engine, was almost a second behind. In the third practice session, Pagenaud was the fastest pilot ahead of Power and Briscoe. Bourdais had reduced the gap between the Lotus drivers to less than six tenths of a second. However, Pagenaud did not have a chance of a front starting position, as his engine was changed before the final practice session, which resulted in a penalty transfer of ten positions.
Qualifying
The first part of the time training was held in two groups. 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 this section both drivers from Lotus-Dragon Racing noticed with mistakes. Bourdais spun and interrupted qualifying for the second group. His team mate Legge drove into a pile of tires in the first group shortly before the end. In the first group Castroneves drove the fastest lap, in the second group Ryan Hunter-Reay was the fastest driver. All Lotus pilots were eliminated in this section. The best of them was Alex Tagliani in 17th position.
In the second segment of the qualification, the six fastest drivers qualified for the final section. Hinchcliffe posted the fastest lap time. In addition to him, Power, Briscoe, Hunter-Reay and Castroneves made it into the third part of qualifying, five Chevrolet drivers and all Penske drivers. The so-called Firestone Fast Six was completed by Pagenaud, who was the only one of these six drivers to drive with a Honda engine.
Power ultimately set the fastest time, taking pole position ahead of teammates Briscoe and Hunter-Reay. It was the first pole position for Chevrolet and the third pole position in a row for Power in Saint Petersburg. Power's pole time was 0.6 seconds faster than last season's pole time with the old chassis.
Final training
In the final training session the morning before the race, Conway drove the fastest lap ahead of Satō and Wilson. The track was still slightly damp after a rain shower during the night.
run
At the start, Power kept the lead and positions two and three remained unchanged. Behind them, Dixon took fourth place with a good start. Power initially performed safely.
In the 12th round there were several postponements. Legge had stopped on the start-finish straight with an electrical fault. Among other things, Power decided to make a pit stop, which gave Briscoe the lead. Legge continued after a repair stop, but retired as the race progressed.
Shortly after the restart there was the next caution phase after James Jakes stopped in the lane at Turn 10. During this caution period Tony Kanaan and de Silvestro dropped out with technical problems. Power had dropped back into midfield in the meantime. The now leading drivers only made their first pit stop at the beginning of the second third of the race.
Among other things, Castroneves fell behind Carpenter because of this stop. After he hadn't gotten past him for a long time, the two vehicles touched in the last corner. Castroneves turned his opponent, who as a result remained on the start-finish straight and a further caution phase was necessary. In this yellow phase, most of the drivers who were not on a two-stop strategy completed their second stop.
Afterwards there were no more yellow phases. Dixon initially led the race until his second and final stop in front of Castroneves. After both pilots were in the pits, Castroneves passed Dixon and pulled away from him. After the rest of the pilots were in the pits, Castroneves was safely in the lead. At the Grand Prix, several drivers with technical problems dropped out, especially in the final phase.
Eventually, Castroneves won the race by about five seconds. It was Castroneve's third win at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. At that time he was the only multiple winner of this Grand Prix. It was his first win since the Motegi IndyCar race in 2010. Behind Castroneves, Dixon, Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe and Briscoe completed the top five. Except for Briscoe, all of the first five pilots stopped twice. Briscoe pitted three times.
Pagenaud achieved his best result to date in the IndyCar Series with sixth place in this race. Power finished seventh ahead of EJ Viso , who had to pit shortly before the end of the race for a so-called splash-and-dash stop , during which fuel is only refilled for a few laps. Charlie Kimball and Wilson occupied positions nine and ten.
After the race, the winner Castroneves did not stop his car on the start-finish straight as usual, but in turn 10. The street there had been renamed Dan Wheldon Way in the run-up to the Grand Prix . Dan Wheldon had a fatal accident at the last race of the IndyCar Series 2011 in Las Vegas . Castroneves climbed the safety fence at the point where the street name sign was attached and pointed to it. Castroneves usually climbs the safety fence after victories, which earned him the name "Spiderman". Castroneves justified his behavior after the race with the following words: “There is no question. This victory belongs to our friend up in heaven, Dan Wheldon. "
Registration list
All teams and drivers used the chassis Dallara DW12 with an aero kit from Dallara and tires from Firestone .
Source:
Classifications
Qualifying
- Remarks
- ↑ Simon Pagenaud was moved 10 positions back due to an engine change.
Swell:
run
Swell:
Guide sections
| section | Round | driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-11 |
Will power
|
| 2 | 12-20 |
Ryan Briscoe
|
| 3 | 21-36 |
Scott Dixon
|
| 4th | 37-46 |
 Takuma Satō
|
| 5 | 47 |
 Dario Franchitti
|
| 6th | 48-68 |
Scott Dixon
|
| 7th | 69-70 |
Helio Castroneves
|
| 8th | 71 |
Takuma Satō
|
| 9 | 72-74 |
JR Hildebrand
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| 10 | 75-100 |
Helio Castroneves
|
Swell:
Yellow phases
| No. | Duration | Round | Reason for yellow phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13-16 | 4th | Standstill: Katherine Legge (# 6) on the start-finish straight |
| 2 | 20-27 | 8th | Contact: James Jakes (# 19) on turn 10 |
| 3 | 46-48 | 3 | Contact: Hélio Castroneves (# 3) and Ed Carpenter (# 20) in turn 14 |
Swell:
Score after the race
Driver ranking
The allocation of points is explained here .
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Manufacturer rating
| Item | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Chevrolet
|
9 |
| 2. |
Honda
|
6th |
| 3. |
lotus
|
4th |
Individual evidence
- ↑ "St. Petersburg - Race " (Motorsport-Total.com on March 25, 2012)
- ↑ a b "Engine change at Pagenaud" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 23, 2012)
- ^ "St-Pete start: Ganassi and Penske dominate" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 23, 2012)
- ↑ "St. Pete: Power at the front - Barrichello at the back " (Motorsport-Total.com on March 23, 2012)
- ^ "Third training in St. Pete: Pagenaud before Power" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 24, 2012)
- ↑ a b "Power brings the pole to the season opener" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 24, 2012)
- ↑ a b “Qualifying 1 results - IndyCar Series: St. Petersburg 2012” (gpupdate.net on March 24, 2012)
- ↑ a b “Qualifying 2 results - IndyCar Series: St. Petersburg 2012” (gpupdate.net on March 24, 2012)
- ↑ a b “Qualifying 3 results - IndyCar Series: St. Petersburg 2012” (gpupdate.net on March 24, 2012)
- ^ "Warmup in St. Pete: Conway ahead on a damp track" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 25, 2012)
- ↑ a b "Castroneves and his gesture" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 25, 2012)
- ↑ "The 'Spiderman' is dancing again: Castroneves wins in St. Pete" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 25, 2012)
- ^ "Entry List - Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg" (indycar.com on March 19, 2012; PDF; 39 kB)
- ↑ “Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Saturday Qualifications Groups” (indycar.com on March 24, 2012; PDF; 21 kB)
- ↑ “Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - STARTING LINEUP” (indycar.com on March 24, 2012; PDF; 70 kB)
- ↑ "St. Petersburg - Starting grid " (Motorsport-Total.com on March 24, 2012)
- ↑ a b c “OFFICIAL BOX SCORE - Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg” (indycar.com on March 25, 2012; PDF; 37 kB)
- ^ "Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg" (champcarstats.com; accessed March 28, 2012)
Web links
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