2010 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2010 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The race took place on March 29, on the 1.800-mile (2.897 km) temporary street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was telecast by ESPN2 in the United States. The event was due to take place on March 28 and telecast on ABC, but was postponed by series officials due to safety concerns after torrential rain fell on the circuit.[1]

United States 2010 St. Petersburg
Race details
2nd round of the 2010 IndyCar Series season
DateMarch 29, 2010
Official nameHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
LocationStreets of St. Petersburg
CourseTemporary street circuit
1.800 mi / 2.897 km
Distance100 laps
180.000 mi / 289.682 km
Weather62 °F (17 °C), scattered clouds
Pole position
DriverWill Power (Team Penske)
Time1:01.6026
Fastest lap
DriverE. J. Viso (KV Racing Technology)
Time1:03.8605 (on lap 80 of 100)
Podium
FirstWill Power (Team Penske)
SecondJustin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing)
ThirdRyan Briscoe (Team Penske)

Report

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Background

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Practice and qualifying

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Race

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On the day of the race, torrential rain fell on the circuit, and the series officials decided to postpone the race to the next day as they deemed the track to be too wet.

The race started as scheduled on Monday, however due to earlier rain, there were damp patches in certain areas of the track. Will Power, the polesitter and the winner of the opening race in São Paulo led the field ahead of Marco Andretti. Further down the field, both Mike Conway and Dario Franchitti ran on to the damp patches and spun in different areas of the race track, bringing out the caution. Franchitti suffered light contact with the wall and had to be refired, but was able to stay on the lead lap with no major damage to his car.

The race went green on the fourth lap, and Andretti did not take too long to take the lead from Power, who struggled for tyre temperature and quickly dropped to fourth place. Andretti only led for one lap before surrendering the lead to Scott Dixon, who passed him into turn 1. As the stint progressed, Will Power began to find pace and was back into second by lap 19, whereas Andretti had dropped to fourth behind Power's Penske teammate, Hélio Castroneves. The second caution of the race came out at one-quarter distance when Takuma Sato, running in ninth place, outbraked himself into turn 3 and buried himself in the tyres, and negated the 7 second lead which Scott Dixon had built over his pursuers.

During this caution, the race leaders made their first pitstops of the day whereas some drivers further down the field stayed out. Vítor Meira took the lead ahead of Raphael Matos and Dario Franchitti, with Dixon in ninth place. When the track went green, Meira comfortably held on to the lead, with most of the action occurring mid-pack as the drivers who had pitted under the caution sought to make their way up the field on new tyres. Mario Moraes and Dixon came together in turn 1 while battling for 7th, which left Dixon with a damaged front wing and Moraes with a flat tire. Both drivers had to pit at the end of the lap for repairs and rejoined at the tail of the field, along with Marco Andretti who had to pit for a flat tire after collecting debris.

Meira, Matos and Franchitti all pitted within ten laps after the green flag was waved, and Ryan Briscoe took the lead on lap 41. He was followed by Hideki Mutoh, but the Japanese driver soon came under attack from Hélio Castroneves, the first of the drivers who had pitted under the second caution. On lap 47, Dan Wheldon, who was running just outside the top ten suffered a suspension failure at turn 1 which sent his car straight into that of Mario Moraesin front of him. Both drivers were unhurt but this resulted in the third caution of the race coming out. The lead trio of Briscoe, Mutoh and Castroneves were among the drivers who decided to pit, and Will Power who was running fourth stayed out and took the lead. Power comfortably led at the restart, and set about building a gap to the cars of Justin Wilson and E. J. Viso who were running second and third. The man on the move was Scott Dixon, who in two green laps had moved from eighth to fourth and was soon pressuring third-placed Viso. Dixon's Ganassi teammate Franchitti however found himself at the tail of the field again after having to pit for a flat tire.

On lap 65, Castroneves made a move on countryman Raphael Matos at turn 3. The move pushed Matos wide, and Mike Conway attempted to follow Castroneves through, however his car was not fully ahead of Matos's and they touched at turn 4, with Conway ending up in the wall and a full course caution being called. With 34 laps left, the entire field took the opportunity to come in under yellow and fill their cars with fuel to the end. The only exception was Vitor Meira, as he had yet to use the red-walled soft compound tires, and the A. J. Foyt team believed that the tyres would not last for a long stint. Meira thus led ahead of Viso (who had pitted just before the caution), Power, Wilson and Briscoe who had moved up 4 spots on pit lane.

Meira led for four laps after the green came out before being forced to make his final stop. Viso took the lead but immediately slowed with the gearbox problem and dropped way back, eventually having to pit for repairs and rejoining three laps down. Will Power thus found himself back in the lead ahead of Wilson, Briscoe and Dixon. Dixon did not last much longer, as he crashed into the outside wall after clipping the inside wall with his right rear tire at turn 5 and the caution came out again.

A five-lap period under caution eased any fuel worries anyone had, and once the track went green, Power led the field again. Unlike the previous occasion, he was unable to build a large gap to the second-placed car of Wilson. Briscoe and Castroneves kept a watching brief on the two leaders, and behind them Dario Franchitti was on the charge, passing cars one after the other. At the front, Justin Wilson was able to keep Power honest but never got close enough to make an overtaking move, and the Australian crossed the line to make it two wins out of two. Wilson was second ahead of Power's two teammates, Briscoe and Castroneves. Franchitti's late race charge took him to fifth place having passed Tagliani with three laps left. Danica Patrick, despite being on the red tires in the last stint finished seventh ahead of Matos, Graham Rahal and Tony Kanaan.

Classification

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Qualifying

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  • All cars were split into two groups of twelve, with the fastest six from each group going through to the "top 12" session. In this session, the fastest six cars progressed to the "Firestone Fast Six". The fastest driver in the final session claimed pole, with the rest of the cars lining up in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (fast six from 1–6, top 12 from 7–12 and round 1 from 13–24, with group 1 drivers occupying the odd–numbered grid positions, and group 2 drivers occupying the even–numbered grid positions.
Pos No. Driver Team Group 1[2] Group 2[3] Top 12[4] Fast 6[5]
1 12   Will Power Team Penske 1:02.0440 1:01.4816 1:01.6026
2 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 1:01.9094 1:01.8103 1:01.8797
3 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1:01.7912 1:01.6617 1:02.0820
4 22   Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:02.0694 1:01.8727 1:02.1992
5 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 1:01.8881 1:01.8966 1:02.2118
6 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:02.1774 1:01.8771 1:02.3461
7 37   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 1:02.1101 1:01.8979
8 77   Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 1:02.0521 1:01.9692
9 8   E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology 1:02.1254 1:01.9807
10 24   Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:02.1081 1:02.0434
11 5   Takuma Sato (R) KV Racing Technology 1:02.2969 1:02.4205
12 06   Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 1:02.4473 1:02.5113
13 10   Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 1:02.1944
14 78   Simona de Silvestro (R) HVM Racing 1:02.4493
15 4   Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:02.2557
16 67   Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher Racing 1:02.5044
17 14   Vítor Meira A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1:02.2688
18 34   Mario Romancini (R) Conquest Racing 1:02.7366
19 6   Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:02.3205
20 32   Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 1:02.8294
21 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:02.4904
22 19   Alex Lloyd (R) Dale Coyne Racing 1:03.4793
23 2   Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon Racing de Ferran Motorsports 1:03.0144
24 18   Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 1:08.5058

Race

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Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Status Grid Laps
Led
Points
1 12   Will Power Team Penske 100 2:07:05.7968 1 50 53
2 22   Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 100 + 0.8244 4 0 40
3 6   Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 100 + 4.7290 19 9 35
4 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 100 + 5.1699 5 0 32
5 10   Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 100 + 22.2172 13 3 30
6 77   Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 100 + 29.3224 8 0 28
7 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 100 + 30.3360 21 0 26
8 2   Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon Racing de Ferran Motorsports 100 + 30.6695 23 3 24
9 67   Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher Racing 100 + 30.8426 16 0 22
10 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 100 + 31.3508 2 0 20
11 37   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 100 + 31.6286 7 0 19
12 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 100 + 32.1703 6 1 18
13 34   Mario Romancini (R) Conquest Racing 100 + 39.8086 18 0 17
14 06   Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 100 + 39.9949 12 0 16
15 14   Vítor Meira A. J. Foyt Enterprises 100 + 56.0593 17 12 15
16 78   Simona de Silvestro (R) HVM Racing 99 + 1 Lap 14 0 14
17 8   E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology 97 + 3 Laps 9 1 13
18 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 73 Contact 3 21 12
19 24   Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 64 Contact 10 0 12
20 4   Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 46 Contact 15 0 12
21 32   Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 45 Contact 20 0 12
22 5   Takuma Sato (R) KV Racing Technology 24 Contact 11 0 12
23 19   Alex Lloyd (R) Dale Coyne Racing 14 Contact 22 0 12
24 18   Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 7 Handling 24 0 12
OFFICIAL RACE REPORT

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1   Will Power 103
2   Ryan Hunter-Reay 59
  Justin Wilson 59
  Dario Franchitti 59
5   Raphael Matos 56
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

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  1. ^ Lewandowski, Dave (2010-03-28). "Race postponed to 10 a.m. March 29". IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. Archived from the original on 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  2. ^ "Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: Qualifying, Round 1 – Group 1" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  3. ^ "Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: Qualifying, Round 1 – Group 2" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  4. ^ "Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: Qualifying – Top 12" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  5. ^ "Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: Qualifying – Fast 6" (PDF). IndyCar Series. Indy Racing League. 2010-03-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
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Previous race:
2010 São Paulo Indy 300
IndyCar Series
2010 season
Next race:
2010 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Previous race:
2009 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Next race:
2011 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg