Round 1 - St Petersburg
"Indycar is Go! Go! Go!" - Matthew Spencer
2012 had the interest of how the Dallara DW12 would do, 2013 brought much concern over the off season about whether we would actually be able to watch Indycar in the UK with Sky Sports trying to offload numerous sports. A new, possibly short lived, era of Indycar on ESPN started this weekend and what a race Leigh Diffey had to commentate on.
Qualifying
Will Power continued his excellent form on street courses and was again on pole. The three stars of qualifying however were surely Takuma Sato, Simona de Silvestro and Tristan Vautier. Sato lined up 2nd, the first time AJ Foyt's car had been on the front row in 13 years, and set up the prospect of a charge into turn one for the lead. Simona, returning to an engine with power, lined up 3rd and fulfilled the promise of earlier practice form. Vautier, the only rookie in the field, had shown respectable speed in practice and lined up 5th ahead of many more experienced Indycar drivers.
Honda
The Ganassi cars lined up 10th and 20th which Chip Ganassi chose to blame on Honda and their lack of power. This created many headlines but it did seem to represent poor timing. Honda heavily sponsor the St Pete race so Chip's comments would be rather embarrassing to them and their guests. Sato had also managed to qualify second with a Honda engine so the Honda engine isn't exactly the next Lotus. Many pointed to Ganassi running Chevrolet's in NASCAR and him manoeuvring to get their engines in the future. I expect that is more down to people's imagination running wild but time will tell.
The Start
There were many questions about the new Firestone tyres and how long they would last. The race was also an extra 10 laps longer this year in an attempt to avoid fuel saving. This seemed a nice idea but it was always dependent on the cautions as to whether fuel saving was going to be a factor. As the field took the green flag, waved by Susie Wheldon, Power got a jump on the field and was easily into turn one before the rest of the field. The rest of the field was well behaved for once and Helio Castroneves was the main gainer following a dive down the inside of Simona.
Dario v Dixon
Dario has been the most successful driver over the last few years but you wouldn't have thought that if you were new to Indycar on Sunday. He started off well with an excellent move down the inside of Ryan Hunter-Reay. This still only put him 9th but well up on his team mate, Dixon, in 17th. Hunter-Reay however got back past Dario at the start of lap 4 with the traditional move down the inside of turn 1. Dario's day went downhill from there with the unusual sight of Saavedra passing him. Dario struggled on until binning it when pushing a little too much out of the pits and slamming into the turn 3 wall. Dixon by contrast took a steady approach going largely unnoticed until the latter part of the race after being dogged largely by under steer (not engine) issues. Dixon was involved in a great battle with Viso, Andretti and Simona at the end of the race eventually netting 5th.
Simona
Simona ran strongly throughout the race and was holding her own for the majority. A podium was possible and she was holding off Andretti and Kanaan, who had superior tyres, in the latter stages. As I said in my earlier blog, I rate Simona over Danica, and I can't see Danica being able to hold off those drivers for so long never mind the fact Danica would probably have not been that high up in the first place! Her final finishing position of 6th could have been better but she showed her potential for the season and, when comparing to last year, it's great to see her true form again. A pass on Sato was a particular highlight.
The Looney Move
After already being in the turn 10 barrier and passing under caution, JR Hildebrand managed to crash under yellow and ruined Will Power's race as a result. Hildebrand was following Power under yellow and was not paying attention to the road in front, instead focus on adjustments in the cockpit. As Hildebrand accelerated the leading cars were in a group in front and Hildebrand flew over the right rear of Power, damaging his right rear tyre and bending his mirror. I've seen this sort of lack of attention/observation under caution from youngsters at Formula Renault level before but this shouldn't happen at this level.
The A Team
As a team, the combination of Helio, Power and Penske were the best overall of the weekend. They ran in the top 3 until Hildebrand intervened and Power showed his pace in the opening laps by opening up a near 5 second lead after 10 laps. It went downhill for Power after the Hildebrand incident but, with the impact of Hildebrand, something was probably a bit amiss with the right rear - he had a spin later. Power's 16th place was not representative of his pace but Helio, along with Hinchcliffe, were the class of the field at the end. Penske look strong for the season.
The Mayor
James Hinchcliffe is the personality of the series and over the off season he has looked good in testing. He qualified 4th in St Pete and was in the hunt throughout. He showed great maturity during the race and made a couple of good passes. His race winning pass over Helio may have been a result of an error by Helio but you have to be there to take advantage. The fact Hinch and Helio were over 16 seconds ahead of 3rd place at the end of the race, it shows he had the pace. His classy reaction in Victory Lane just added to the love for Hinch by Indycar fans round the world.
Troubles
Despite this being the second year of the Dallara DW12, there were a number of drivers that suffered mechanical issues - exhaust seemingly the main issue. Simon Pagenaud had issues all weekend and retired early. Hunter-Reay and Tristan Vautier were the other two main casualties with Vautier in particularly looking very impressive prior to his exit.
CAUTION, CAUTION
In street racing there is a fair chance of a caution coming out. However, Indycar seems to make these ridiculously long - Dario crashed on lap 20 and the restart was on lap 27, a debris caution on lap 46 took until lap 55 to be cleared and Saavedra crashed on lap 74 and the restart was on lap 84 (extended due to Hildebrand brain fade). The extensive use of sweepers extended these but surely Indycar should look at Macau, Pau and Monaco for lessons on how to clear wreckage quickly. These circuits can clear wreckage before cars come back round which is greatly helped by the use of cranes which are strangely absent from Indycar street tracks.
ESPN UK Debut
We missed the Robin Miller grid section of the broadcast at the beginning (always a highlight) but the main noticeable difference to Sky Sports was the numerous ad breaks with ESPN going to ads rather than continuing with pictures with no commentary as we get in the UK for NASCAR. The commentary team were good though the sound could be better (Jan Beekhuis being particularly difficult to hear) but the coverage was not stopped when the race over ran and we got the driver reaction which Sky Sports didn't always provide. ESPN UK should be applauded for the latter and it was generally a good start to (potentially) build from.
The Result
1 - James Hinchcliffe - Impressive and class on and off track all weekend
2 - Helio Castroneves - Looked strong. Error let Hinch past but had great speed
3 - Marco Andretti - One of his better results
4 - Tony Kanaan - Typical TK performance
5 - Scott Dixon - Got the best possible
6 - Simona de Silvestro - Great drive. Could have been better but for poor tyres at the end. 2013 looks good for her
7 - EJ Viso - Steady and pretty anonymous
8 - Takuma Sato - Contact with Simona meant he dropped back but impressive overtakes as always
9 - Justin Wilson - Brilliant race action with Dixon but P9 not a great result
10 - Alex Tagliani - Anonymous
11 - Sebastien Bourdais - Had set up issues so one to forget
12 - Charlie Kimball - Anonymous
13 - Graham Rahal - A couple of good overtakes but electrical issues held him back
14 - Ed Carpenter - Relative decent pace to others for oval racer
15 - James Jakes - Back marker crown remains
16 - Will Power - Unfortunate with pace deserving so much more
17 - Oriol Servia - Steady run ruined by mechanical issues
DNF
Ryan Hunter-Reay - Ok race until throttle issues
JR Hildebrand - Embarrassing crash and he knew it
Sebastian Saavedra - Decent overtake on Dario but was error prone
Tristan Vautier - Impressive speed and overtakes. Huge potential and shame about exhaust issue
Ana Beatriz - On the back foot from the start
Josef Newgarden - Anonymous
Simon Pagenaud - Never really happened all weekend
Dario Franchitti - Trying too hard
A fair percentage of my predictions were on the money. Up next is Barber and Power will want to dominate that one. I wouldn't bet against it and I look forward to watching.
Matthew Spencer
@Hudders_Matt
Qualifying
Will Power continued his excellent form on street courses and was again on pole. The three stars of qualifying however were surely Takuma Sato, Simona de Silvestro and Tristan Vautier. Sato lined up 2nd, the first time AJ Foyt's car had been on the front row in 13 years, and set up the prospect of a charge into turn one for the lead. Simona, returning to an engine with power, lined up 3rd and fulfilled the promise of earlier practice form. Vautier, the only rookie in the field, had shown respectable speed in practice and lined up 5th ahead of many more experienced Indycar drivers.
Honda
The Ganassi cars lined up 10th and 20th which Chip Ganassi chose to blame on Honda and their lack of power. This created many headlines but it did seem to represent poor timing. Honda heavily sponsor the St Pete race so Chip's comments would be rather embarrassing to them and their guests. Sato had also managed to qualify second with a Honda engine so the Honda engine isn't exactly the next Lotus. Many pointed to Ganassi running Chevrolet's in NASCAR and him manoeuvring to get their engines in the future. I expect that is more down to people's imagination running wild but time will tell.
The Start
There were many questions about the new Firestone tyres and how long they would last. The race was also an extra 10 laps longer this year in an attempt to avoid fuel saving. This seemed a nice idea but it was always dependent on the cautions as to whether fuel saving was going to be a factor. As the field took the green flag, waved by Susie Wheldon, Power got a jump on the field and was easily into turn one before the rest of the field. The rest of the field was well behaved for once and Helio Castroneves was the main gainer following a dive down the inside of Simona.
Dario v Dixon
Dario has been the most successful driver over the last few years but you wouldn't have thought that if you were new to Indycar on Sunday. He started off well with an excellent move down the inside of Ryan Hunter-Reay. This still only put him 9th but well up on his team mate, Dixon, in 17th. Hunter-Reay however got back past Dario at the start of lap 4 with the traditional move down the inside of turn 1. Dario's day went downhill from there with the unusual sight of Saavedra passing him. Dario struggled on until binning it when pushing a little too much out of the pits and slamming into the turn 3 wall. Dixon by contrast took a steady approach going largely unnoticed until the latter part of the race after being dogged largely by under steer (not engine) issues. Dixon was involved in a great battle with Viso, Andretti and Simona at the end of the race eventually netting 5th.
Simona
Simona ran strongly throughout the race and was holding her own for the majority. A podium was possible and she was holding off Andretti and Kanaan, who had superior tyres, in the latter stages. As I said in my earlier blog, I rate Simona over Danica, and I can't see Danica being able to hold off those drivers for so long never mind the fact Danica would probably have not been that high up in the first place! Her final finishing position of 6th could have been better but she showed her potential for the season and, when comparing to last year, it's great to see her true form again. A pass on Sato was a particular highlight.
The Looney Move
After already being in the turn 10 barrier and passing under caution, JR Hildebrand managed to crash under yellow and ruined Will Power's race as a result. Hildebrand was following Power under yellow and was not paying attention to the road in front, instead focus on adjustments in the cockpit. As Hildebrand accelerated the leading cars were in a group in front and Hildebrand flew over the right rear of Power, damaging his right rear tyre and bending his mirror. I've seen this sort of lack of attention/observation under caution from youngsters at Formula Renault level before but this shouldn't happen at this level.
The A Team
As a team, the combination of Helio, Power and Penske were the best overall of the weekend. They ran in the top 3 until Hildebrand intervened and Power showed his pace in the opening laps by opening up a near 5 second lead after 10 laps. It went downhill for Power after the Hildebrand incident but, with the impact of Hildebrand, something was probably a bit amiss with the right rear - he had a spin later. Power's 16th place was not representative of his pace but Helio, along with Hinchcliffe, were the class of the field at the end. Penske look strong for the season.
The Mayor
James Hinchcliffe is the personality of the series and over the off season he has looked good in testing. He qualified 4th in St Pete and was in the hunt throughout. He showed great maturity during the race and made a couple of good passes. His race winning pass over Helio may have been a result of an error by Helio but you have to be there to take advantage. The fact Hinch and Helio were over 16 seconds ahead of 3rd place at the end of the race, it shows he had the pace. His classy reaction in Victory Lane just added to the love for Hinch by Indycar fans round the world.
Troubles
Despite this being the second year of the Dallara DW12, there were a number of drivers that suffered mechanical issues - exhaust seemingly the main issue. Simon Pagenaud had issues all weekend and retired early. Hunter-Reay and Tristan Vautier were the other two main casualties with Vautier in particularly looking very impressive prior to his exit.
CAUTION, CAUTION
In street racing there is a fair chance of a caution coming out. However, Indycar seems to make these ridiculously long - Dario crashed on lap 20 and the restart was on lap 27, a debris caution on lap 46 took until lap 55 to be cleared and Saavedra crashed on lap 74 and the restart was on lap 84 (extended due to Hildebrand brain fade). The extensive use of sweepers extended these but surely Indycar should look at Macau, Pau and Monaco for lessons on how to clear wreckage quickly. These circuits can clear wreckage before cars come back round which is greatly helped by the use of cranes which are strangely absent from Indycar street tracks.
ESPN UK Debut
We missed the Robin Miller grid section of the broadcast at the beginning (always a highlight) but the main noticeable difference to Sky Sports was the numerous ad breaks with ESPN going to ads rather than continuing with pictures with no commentary as we get in the UK for NASCAR. The commentary team were good though the sound could be better (Jan Beekhuis being particularly difficult to hear) but the coverage was not stopped when the race over ran and we got the driver reaction which Sky Sports didn't always provide. ESPN UK should be applauded for the latter and it was generally a good start to (potentially) build from.
The Result
1 - James Hinchcliffe - Impressive and class on and off track all weekend
2 - Helio Castroneves - Looked strong. Error let Hinch past but had great speed
3 - Marco Andretti - One of his better results
4 - Tony Kanaan - Typical TK performance
5 - Scott Dixon - Got the best possible
6 - Simona de Silvestro - Great drive. Could have been better but for poor tyres at the end. 2013 looks good for her
7 - EJ Viso - Steady and pretty anonymous
8 - Takuma Sato - Contact with Simona meant he dropped back but impressive overtakes as always
9 - Justin Wilson - Brilliant race action with Dixon but P9 not a great result
10 - Alex Tagliani - Anonymous
11 - Sebastien Bourdais - Had set up issues so one to forget
12 - Charlie Kimball - Anonymous
13 - Graham Rahal - A couple of good overtakes but electrical issues held him back
14 - Ed Carpenter - Relative decent pace to others for oval racer
15 - James Jakes - Back marker crown remains
16 - Will Power - Unfortunate with pace deserving so much more
17 - Oriol Servia - Steady run ruined by mechanical issues
DNF
Ryan Hunter-Reay - Ok race until throttle issues
JR Hildebrand - Embarrassing crash and he knew it
Sebastian Saavedra - Decent overtake on Dario but was error prone
Tristan Vautier - Impressive speed and overtakes. Huge potential and shame about exhaust issue
Ana Beatriz - On the back foot from the start
Josef Newgarden - Anonymous
Simon Pagenaud - Never really happened all weekend
Dario Franchitti - Trying too hard
A fair percentage of my predictions were on the money. Up next is Barber and Power will want to dominate that one. I wouldn't bet against it and I look forward to watching.
Matthew Spencer
@Hudders_Matt