Monday, March 29, 2010

Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete ... via Tweet

Cars on pitlane on gray morning Image Credit: luczodragon

Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete ... via Tweet

In a rare rain delayed Monday morning start, the second round of seventeen races, and the second of four street/road course races, will be run on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Owly Images
Some Andrettis [and a Kanaan] in discussion on the grid. Image Credit: IndyCarNation

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is set to start at 10:00 am ET (broadcast on ESPN2) and on a gray morning with the sun coming out, the Dallara cars are expected to be fielded with wets but the track should dry out quickly.

This post will be a compilation of selected "Tweets" from Twitter, Race Control announcements from IndyCar.com, Twitpics and direct dispatches as the race is run.

RogerYasukawa Sun coming out and they won't be on the wets for long I think. Also some variance on downforce level.

FuriousWedge
@MyNameIsIRL I won't be "live-blogging" but will be tweeting, somehow managed the luck to pick the perfect day to take a day off


MyNameIsIRL The last race I missed watching because I had to work was won by Arie Luyendyk. I'm telling you in case I'm ever a category on "Jeopardy".

RogerYasukawa
Jon Secada singing the National Anthem. Pretty Cool!!


FuriousWedge Anthem done, drivers called to the cars, looks like this is going to get underway immediately once the ESPN2 coverage starts

Broadcast starts and there expects to be a 10 minute delay which will allow the teams to decide to run on wets or drys (tires) which could mix things up pretty well.

RADIO IS LIVE!! RT @IndyCarNation: Today's Radio coverage of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete. Tune in here
http://ow.ly/1s6hA

kvracing Mario Moraes waiting for command to get in car.

If we stay dry start, the race will run the scheduled distance of 100 laps and teams will be required to use the alternates [REDS] for 2 green laps.

VisionRacing ARGH! #IZODIndyCar Race Control track feed is NOT making us online viewers happy! Any suggestions on a fix @IndyCarNation ?

TheEDJE
@VisionRacing - Have
IndyCarNation stream ESPN2 #indycar

Row "HOT" announcements - all cars fired up! Cars out on warm-up.

IndyCarPR #18 Duno spins in Turn 14 on the first pace lap. No contact.

luczodragon Rafa says front stretch still pretty damp

indy44 #facepalm RT @cdy_bradshaw: Milka already spins! Its the fxxxing warm up laps! @MilkaDuno23

GREEN! GREEN! GREEN!

Clear through the first corner - Power, Dixon, Andretti, Castroneves, and Kanaan round out the first five

Dario Franchitti and Mike Conway have power spins on wet spots.

kvracing Full course yellow for Franchitti and Conway, separate incidents. Viso 9th, Sato 10th & Moraes 17th

DRRIndyCar Mike has spun in T2 but the car looks ok. Full course yellow. We're pitting when we can.

RESTART - Green Flag

Andretti up to second place on a strong pass.

Half lap later, Marco passes Will Power for firts place - Lap 5

BeccyGordon holy marco! Great racing here in St. Pete. Ryan's right on @jwilson22

Dixon moves up past Power ... then passes Andretti for the lead on Lap 6 - Power has slipped to fourth.

Marco26Web Dixon goes by to take the lead off Marco. Marco keeps close.

FuriousWedge Also of note as I said earlier Vitor is picking off everyone, has moved up 7 spots so far, just said bye bye to Wheldon/Panther

TheEDJE Lap 10 - Dixon, Castroneves, Andretti, Power, Kanaan, Wilson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tagliani, Sato, and EJ Viso round out the top 10 #indycar

Briscoe in on Lap 13 to switch to Blacks

indy44 Milka parked with handling issues. Barnhart can't handle it anymore.

TheEDJE @indy44 - Milka thinks she is racing in CUP cars - Start and Park!

kvracing Sato 9th, Viso 10th & Moraes 18th. Lap 14. Dixon, Castroneves, Andretti

VisionRacing It should go w/o saying, @EdCarpenter20 would rather be behind the wheel + we'd rather be in the pits "race tweeting" for you guys....

TheEDJE @VisionRacing - We do too! #indycar

DRRIndyCar There's a banner flapping around in Turn 10, warning the drivers to be careful in that area.

Marco26Web Power takes MA turn one and quickly takes second too. Marco now P4. Gap to TK is just a second

FuriousWedge Will Power has had enough of sitting back now taking down both Marco and Helio in consecutive laps, Marco may have killed his tires early

FuriousWedge Alex Lloyd out the race due to suspension break from tapping the wall in Turn 10 #izodindycar , sounds like the car not handling before that

A great start and a competitive race with actual passing for the second race in a row!

Dixon leads as Power looks to catch up after slipping back in the pack at the start of the race. Image Credit: ScottDixon9

IndyCarPR Lap 20: @scottdixon9 leads #12 Power by 5.9 seconds.

Marco26Web Lead change behind Marco as Wilson gets by TK. Hes now racing for Marco's P4

TheEDJE Lap 26 - Takuma Sato crashes into the tires - so much for Formula 1 experience

Pits closed on first opportunity - Rahal, Tagliani, and a couple of others will not have to go in because they were in a couple of laps earlier.

luczodragon We are staying out

All top cars into the PITS!

IndyCarPR #14 Meira stayed out and is the new race leader. #10 Franchitti, #2 Matos and @ryanbriscoe6 stay on course.

Sweeper truck jams up the field just after the cars come out from pitstops.

TheEDJE Field Reset - Lap 30 - Meria, Matos, Franchitti, Briscoe, Tagliani, Mutoh, Moraes, Rahal, Dixon, and Castroneves are the top 10

FuriousWedge Vitor should have pit before the field caught back up to him, that would have been great to see them try and sort out, hah #izodindycar

Vitor has 34 laps on its fuel - suspect a 2 stop strategy --- Matos could be working the same strategy.

IndyCarPR Lap 31: We're back to Green racing at St. Pete.

Dixon tries a pass on Moraes - touches and bends wing ... cuts Moraes tire

Meria comes in for fuel and tires - Matos inherits the lead followed closly by Franchitti

luczodragon Dario in hot pursuit

indy44 With all the different pit strategies we might be seeing a long shot winning

FuriousWedge For those wondering why Vitor stayed out, he can easily make race on one stop now, a bit of chess being played by A.J. Foyt #izodindycar

MarcoZone MA flat was from Dixon debris...so has TK

PlanetIRLdotcom Nice of Marty to let us know that Mafa Ratos is coming in

HVMracing simona is now in stalking mode in 12th

IndyCarPR Lap 37: Leader #2 Matos pits for four red tires and fuel.

indy44 Martyisms LMAO RT @IndyRacingNut: @PlanetIRLdotcom Don't forget Mideki Hutoh and Arco Mandretti. LOL

TheEDJE Lap 40 - Franchitti, Briscoe, Mutoh, Castroneves, Tagliani, Power, Wilson, Hunter-Reay, Rahal, and Conway are the top 10 #indycar

Franchitti comes in - surrendering the lead to Briscoe - the sixth driver to do so today

Briscoe leads and has 33 laps on his car at lap 46

TheEDJE CRASH - Dan Weldon and Mario Moraes pull a full course caution - Weldon locked up tires coming in too hot! Lap 46 - #indycar

Weldon had a broken rear shaft and was unable to avoid the accident.

TheEDJE Lap 50 - Power, Wilson, Viso, Briscoe, De Silvestr, Castroneves, Patrick, Conway, Franchitti, and Meira are the Top 10 - top three - no pit.

A turning point for the fortunes of DRR driver, Justin Wilson - stays outon a call from his pitbox during the caution period and assumes P2. Image Credit: DRRIndyCar

DRRIndyCar We're P2 with @JustinWilson22. Halfway to the checkered.

FuriousWedge de Silvestro 4th, Danica 5th... insert comment here __________ #izodindycar

VisionRacing RT @indycarnation: Top 11 cars did not stop. New top five #12 Power, @justinwilson22, @ejviso @simdesilvestro and @danicapatrick

Restart - GREEN! GREEN! GREEN! Lap 53

IndyCarPR Lap 54: #10 Franchitti on pit lane with flat left rear tire,

curtcavin Dixon is flying! Up to P5 Great dice. Now P4, passes de Silvestro

OpenWheelWorld Simona is having a spectacular run & definitely holding her own. But we at OWW have always known the talent she posesses

luczodragon P7 giving Danica chase

TheEDJE Lap 60 - Power, Wilson, Viso, Dixon, Silvestro, Patrick, Matos, Kanaan, Briscoe, and Castroneves are your Top 10

VisionRacing Lap 60 #IZODIndyCar St.Pete update: Top 5 Power Wilson Viso Dixon De Silvestro. Interesting race!

curtcavin Dixon should win. He can make it on one more stop. Power cannot.

TheEDJE Viso in - can go 32 laps on a full tank with 35 left - needs help - Conway into the tires on a pass - Viso gets help! #indycar

FuriousWedge I know in the turn itself Matos had nowhere to go but Matos was blocking people for about 15 laps now, feel bad for Conway #izodindycar

luczodragon Conway tried to sneak in a pass and connected with rafa's front wing

luczodragon Were still 9th when we come in

kvracing Just after Viso pitted, yellow flag came out, and everyone in front of Viso still needs to pit!!

Everyone except Viso on pitstops for Yellow Flag Stop - to the end

TheEDJE Lap 67 - Meira stays out - WHY? - Viso, Power, Wilson, Briscoe, Dixon, Castroneves, Tagliani, Patrick, and Silvestro are the Top 10 #indycar

GREEN! GREEN! GREEN! at Lap 69 - Great, tight racing without an incident

indy44 This is good!

curtcavin How was there not a big crash on that restart lap?

EJ Viso takes over the lead as Meira steps out for a pitstop.

luczodragon
72 laps complete Rafa 9 and about to go to 8


Full course caution as Viso looses a gearbox, and several cars begin to mess up with the compression and sorting out of the field

VisionRacing Dixon in the wall?!

BeccyGordon caution. Rahal spun Simon. Ryan looked like he got into the back of Graham but he thinks the wing might be okay.

IndyCarNation Now we're full course yellow for @scottdixon9 who is in the Wall in Turn 9.

Marco26Web Small amount of mayhem in front but the #26 avoids trouble. After this latest caution Marco is now P12. RHR ahead

TheEDJE Restart Lap 78 - Power, Wilson, Briscoe, Castroneves, Tagliani, Patrick, Matos, Rahal, Kanaan, and Franchitti round out the Top 10 #indycar

FuriousWedge Hate how all the Penske drivers always jump the start and Barnhart never calls them on it; at least Wilson was ready for it #izodindycar

DRRIndyCar 20 laps left. @JustinWilson22 still P2, running behind Will Power. Lot of racing left!

IndyCarPR Lap 80: #12 Power leads @justinwilson22 by 1.0830 seconds.

IndyCarPR @BeccyGordon watched an in car replay...looked like RHR touched GR under braking

DRRIndyCar Car 22 timing stand http://twitpic.com/1brt2w

luczodragon The work force is a little lighter today in Tampa/st. Pete http://twitgoo.com/m56qp

BeccyGordon Ryan got the short end of the stick when the caution came out & knocked the fuel game out of the picture. He was P3 of that group.

luczodragon Team Penske occupying three of top four spots

indy44 RT @MikeM_PR: 15 to go @justinwilson22 just set fast time. Hunting down Will Power for P1

kvracing 14 laps remain. Power leads Wilson, Briscoe, Castroneves, Tagliani. Viso is 17th and just ran fastest lap of race 63.8605 secs

IndyCarPR 13 to go... #12 Power leads @justinwilson22 by 1.0144 of a second.

TheEDJE Two drivers who transitioned from the ChampCar World Series are leading the race! GO CCWS SPIRIT! #indycar

kvracing 10 laps remain, Viso running 17th. Moraes and Sato are out.

VisionRacing 10 laps to go at St.Pete #IZODIndyCar: Power Wilson Briscoe Helio Tag Danica Matos Rahal Kanaan Dario

luczodragon Can Power run table and win every race? He's started very strong

OpenWheelWorld Despite a rough weekend, Rahal is really hustling that Dollar General Car around today. Should be a nice result for SFRacing

Franchitti passes Rahal for P8 then Matos for P7 and sets up Patrick for P6

luczodragon Dario making hard charge moves ahead of Graham and rafa

kvracing @VisionRacing here is your current top10, power, wilson, briscoe, helio, tagliani, danica, matos, dario, rahal, kanaan (5 laps to go)

FuriousWedge Dario does what no ones else can, gets around Danica's blocking #izodindycar

indy44 After early problems Dario is wiping the field in his Cottenelle car. #lastTPreference

TheEDJE Dario Franchitti moves from 11th to 5th in 10 laps - passes Tagliani #indycar

WHITE FLAG LAP - Wilson tries to close

TheEDJE Team Penske holds three of the top four positions to finish the race & two drivers from the former CCWS are P1 & P2 - classy race! #indycar

indy44 Another great race. Looking good for #IZODIndyCar this season. Heading back to work, have a great day friends!

paultracy3 Dave Faustino - Powers engineer - is the man right now

Podium finishers P1 - Will Power, P2 - Justin Wilson, and P3 Ryan Briscoe. P1 and P2 were drivers who came into the IRL through the merger of the CCWS and IRL. Image Credit: DRRIndyCar

Final Order at 100 laps - Will Power/Penske, Justin Wilson/DRR, Ryan Briscoe/Penske, Helio Castroneves/Penske, Dario Franchitti/Target Chip Ganassi, Danica Patrick/Andretti, Raphael Matos/Luzco Dragon, Rahal/Dollar General Fischer Racing, and Tony Kanaan/Andretti for the Top 10!

... notes from The EDJE

UPDATE - Results:
Pos  Driver               Team                         Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske 2h07m05.7968s
2. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 0.8244s
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 4.7290s
4. Helio Castroneves Penske + 5.1699s
5. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 22.2172s
6. Alex Tagliani Fazzt + 29.3224s
7. Danica Patrick Andretti + 30.3360s
8. Raphael Matos de Ferran Luczo Dragon + 30.6695s
9. Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher + 30.8426s
10. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 31.3508s
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 31.6286s
12. Marco Andretti Andretti + 32.1703s
13. Mario Romancini Conquest + 39.8086s
14. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 39.9949s
15. Vitor Meira Foyt + 56.0593s
16. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 1 lap
17. EJ Viso KV + 3 laps

Retirements:

Scott Dixon Ganassi 73 laps
Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 64 laps
Dan Wheldon Panther 46 laps
Mario Moraes KV 45 laps
Takuma Sato KV 21 laps
Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 10 laps
Milka Duno Dale Coyne 7 laps
Descriptive race review HERE>>
(ht: autosport.com)

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