St. Petersburg Gran Prix [SPOILERS]

[DooberRoni]

Honda Gran Prix of St. Petursburg
Sunday, April 6 2:30pm EST on ESPN

Details to follow:

Comments included:
I hope the Champ Car guys do good on the streets! :D

[LittleAlguy]

So far, so good for the former CC drivers.

Combined practice times: http://www1.indycar.com/scoring/2008/reports/indycarseries/stpete/indycar-results-pcomb.pdf

Qualifying is going to be very fun. :D

[ÜberDoober]

Qualifying is going to be very fun. :D

Yes indeed. Thanks for the link. I checked the Indycar site and saw this:

Qualifying
Sat, April 5
10:55 am - 12:25 pm ET

Will they be showing a live feed? The new knockout qually procedure is going to be very cool.

[LittleAlguy]

Yes, they will. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch all of it but I hope you enjoy the whole session. :)

[ÜberDoober]

[SPOILER TAG ADDED]


Just finished up watching the qualifying streamed live on the indycar.com website. Not too shabby but they could watch an F1 broadcast to pick up a few pointers. A clock with time remaining in the session and a list of the guys in the knockout zone would be beneficial and add to the excitement.

It is nice the feed was free but there was only one camera and the sound was all over the place. I was used to Race Director and being able to pick my views.

GREAT JOB BY THE CHAMP CAR DRIVERS! Almost 5 out of the last 6 with Orial Servia getting bumped at the last minute by Helio. This combined series just might take off as long as they don't overdo the oval tracks

I snapped a few screen grabs:

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/aussie.jpghttp://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/helio.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/justin.jpghttp://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/penske2.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/order.jpg

[LittleAlguy]

What happened to Junqueira? I had to do something earlier in the day so I missed all of qualifying.

Did you have T&S up?

[ÜberDoober]

Just tuning in to the broadcast. It's been raining! They say it looks to be done, but I just saw wet pavement. Will these guys race in the rain? I don't remember but I know that if they do, look for the Champie boys to reign (no pun intended)(well maybe a little) :o

I think the cars are pretty ugly but I will say those big fat slicks are pretty slick (again with the pun?). F1 is supposed to be going back to slicks and even though I've gotten used to the grooved tires, slicks just seem more proper.

So, when is Indycar going to implememt the red sidewalled option Firestones? :) (and push-to-pass) :D

Should be going green in a few minutes. THEY ARE STARTING ON RAIN TIRES!!!

[ÜberDoober]

Oh man! It's wet!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/rain.jpg

[ÜberDoober]

Oh get on with it already. Throw the damn green flag!

[ÜberDoober]

At this rate, they're going to need a fuel stop before the flag. They're going to get the track so dry, the drivers will be looking for puddles. It's looking good to me. Let's race!

[ÜberDoober]

I've got to say there has been a whole lot less carnage than I expected. Ryan Briscoe just stuffed it.

Viso, somebody I never heard of before last week is leading.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/briscoe.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/cleanup.jpg

[ÜberDoober]

So much for the lack of carnage!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/crash1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/crash2.jpg

[ÜberDoober]

CHAMP CAR DRIVER WINS FIRST INDYCAR RACE!

Kudos to Graham Rahal for winning his first Indycar race! Newman/Haas/Lannigan Rocks! Youngest winner ever!

Top 10
Rahal
Castroneves
Kanaan
Viso
Bernoldi
Mutoh
Servia
Power
Weldon

Good Show!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/graham.jpg

Dad Bobby congratulating Graham - most cool!
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Bobby.jpg

[LittleAlguy]

Observations:

That was by far the best road/street course race that the IndyCar Series has had. I'm so happy for Graham.

Major kudos for Viso and Bernoldi on their top-5 finishes.

I'm disappointed Meira and Perera came out badly in that accident as both were running quite well.

Who was in trouble more: DP or Carpenter? That Danica managed to finish 10th is quite unbelievable given how many times she either stalled or spun the car around.

Marty Roth, I'm glad you are living the dream, but I really hope you find someone else for your car soon to team with Howard.

I'm surprised that Marco and Dixon did not fare better in the race before their respective retirements.

I know Cotman is VP of competition but I honestly think he needs more responsibility. I'm really tired of Barnhart talking a big game and not following through. Either let them race or come down hard. Also, why was there a FCY on that piece of debris in T3?

Explaining how paddle shifting works in some detail, aside from the obvious, "You can keep your hands on the steering wheel," would have been nice. Maybe something that's somewhat in depth, perhaps.

A new car can't come soon enough. It was well down the list of priorities during race day but it wouldn't hurt.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the race. :)