Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

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Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg street & airport racing circuit.svg
Verizon IndyCar Series
Location St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
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Corporate sponsor Firestone
First race 1985
First IndyCar race 2005
Distance 198 mi (319 km)
Laps 110
Previous names St. Petersburg Grand Prix (1985-1990)
Kash n' Karry Florida Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (1996-1997)
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2005–2013)
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2014-present)
Most wins (driver) Hélio Castroneves (3)
Most wins (team) Team Penske (8)
Most wins (manufacturer) Dallara (12) Honda (7)
Circuit information
Surface Asphalt/Concrete
Length 1.8 mi (2.9 km)
Turns 14
Lap record Will Power (1:00.2450, Dallara DW12, 2016, Verizon Indycar Series)

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is a Verizon IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. Since 2009, the race has served as the season opener, with the exception of 2010, when it was the second race of the season (but the first on U.S. soil). The race is held annually in the spring, currently in March.

History

The SCCA Trans-Am Series held a race on a St. Petersburg downtown waterfront circuit from 1985 to 1990. Local residents and businesses complained about noise, and the event was put on hiatus.[1] Driver Jim Fitzgerald was killed in a crash during the 1987 race.[2][3] Racing in the Tampa Bay Area also included an IMSA race at the Florida State Fairgrounds from 1989–1990.

In 1996-1997, the St. Petersburg race was revived on a course around Tropicana Field. Along with the Trans-Am Series, support races included U.S. FF2000, World Challenge, Pro SRF, and Barber Dodge. The event subsequently went again on hiatus for several years.[1]

In 2003, the event was revived again for the Champ Car series. A new, modified version of the original 1985–90 waterfront circuit was created.

For 2004, the event was cancelled due to a dispute between the promoters. When the race returned in 2005, it switched to the IndyCar Series, marking the first non-oval event for the Indy Racing League. In 2007, the race weekend was expanded to include an ALMS event.

Andretti Green Promotions took over promotion of the event.[4] Starting in 2014, Firestone took over as title sponsor.[5]

Past winners

Season Date Driver Team Chassis Engine Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)
Report
Laps Miles (km)
CART World Series history
2003 Feb 23 Canada Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing Lola Ford-Cosworth 105 189.63 (305.179) 2:04:28 91.401 Report
2004 Not held
Verizon IndyCar Series history
2005 April 3 United Kingdom Dan Wheldon Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda 100 180 (289.681) 2:09:54 83.14 Report
2006 April 2 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Honda 100 180 (289.681) 1:56:58 92.34 Report
2007 April 1 Brazil Hélio Castroneves (2) Team Penske (2) Dallara Honda 100 180 (289.681) 2:01:07 89.166 Report
2008 April 6 United States Graham Rahal Newman/Haas Racing Dallara Honda 83* 149.4 (240.435) 2:00:44 74.251 Report
2009 April 5 Australia Ryan Briscoe Team Penske (3) Dallara Honda 100 180 (289.681) 2:12:27 81.542 Report
2010 March 29* Australia Will Power Team Penske (4) Dallara Honda 100 180 (289.681) 2:07:06 84.975 Report
2011 March 27 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda 100 180 (289.681) 2:01:00 89.26 Report
2012 March 25 Brazil Hélio Castroneves (3) Team Penske (5) Dallara Chevrolet 100 180 (289.681) 1:59:51 90.113 Report
2013 March 24 Canada James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Dallara Chevrolet 110 198 (318.65) 2:22:13 83.539 Report
2014 March 30 Australia Will Power (2) Team Penske (6) Dallara Chevrolet 110 198 (318.65) 2:06:58 93.572 Report
2015 March 29 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske (7) Dallara Chevrolet 110 198 (318.65) 2:16:58 86.735 Report
2016 March 13 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya (2) Team Penske (8) Dallara Chevrolet 110 198 (318.65) 2:13:28 89.006 Report
  • 2008: Race shortened as a result of inclement weather at the start forcing the race to start on Lap 10 after nine Safety Car laps. Shortened by ESPN under time limit.
  • 2010: Race postponed from March 28 due to inclement weather.[6]

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire

Stefan Wilson driving along the Bay Shore Drive SE section during the qualifying race of the Indy Lights 2011.
Season Date Winning Driver Chassis Engine
2005 April 3 United States Marco Andretti Dallara Infiniti
2006 April 1 Brazil Raphael Matos Dallara Infiniti
April 2 Brazil Raphael Matos Dallara Infiniti
2007 March 31 United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Dallara Infiniti
April 1 United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Dallara Infiniti
2008 April 5 Brazil Raphael Matos Dallara Infiniti
April 6 United States Richard Antinucci Dallara Infiniti
2009 April 4 Netherlands Junior Strous Dallara Infiniti
April 5 Netherlands Junior Strous Dallara Infiniti
2010 March 28 France Jean Karl Vernay Dallara Infiniti
2011 March 27 United States Josef Newgarden Dallara Honda
2012 March 24 France Tristan Vautier Dallara Honda
2013 March 23 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth Dallara Honda
2014 March 30 United States Zach Veach Dallara Honda
2015 March 28 United Arab Emirates Ed Jones Dallara Mazda
March 29 United Arab Emirates Ed Jones Dallara Mazda
2016 March 12 Puerto Rico Felix Serralles Dallara Mazda
March 13 Sweden Felix Rosenqvist Dallara Mazda

American Le Mans Series

Overall winner in bold.

Season LMP1 Winning Team LMP2 Winning Team GT1 Winning Team GT2 Winning Team Report
LMP1 Winning Drivers LMP2 Winning Drivers GT1 Winning Drivers GT2 Winning Drivers
2007 United States #1 Audi Sport North America United States #6 Penske Racing United States #4 Corvette Racing United States #62 Risi Competizione report
Italy Rinaldo Capello
United Kingdom Allan McNish
Germany Sascha Maassen
Australia Ryan Briscoe
United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
Monaco Olivier Beretta
Finland Mika Salo
Brazil Jaime Melo
2008 United States #2 Audi Sport North America United States #7 Penske Racing United States #4 Corvette Racing United States #71 Tafel Racing report
Germany Marco Werner
Germany Lucas Luhr
Germany Timo Bernhard
France Romain Dumas
Monaco Olivier Beretta
United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
Germany Dominik Farnbacher
Germany Dirk Müller
2009 United States #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Mexico #15 Lowe's Fernández Racing No entry United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports report
Australia David Brabham
United States Scott Sharp
Mexico Adrian Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
No entry United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister

SCCA Trans-Am

SCCA Super Vee

IMSA (fairgrounds)

Course

The section of the 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg that curves through the Al Lang Stadium parking lot

The Streets of St. Petersburg course is a street circuit connecting existing roads with one of the two landing strips of Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, Florida. It also dips into the parking lot at Al Lang Stadium.

First bayfront course

The original 1985 Trans-Am course utilized a similar layout to the course used today. For the first year the track actually ran out to the pier, made a 180 degree turn and returned. At the end of Bayshore Drive, rather than diverting off to the airport runways, the course circled around 5th Avenue Southeast around Bayfront Arena, and the start/finish line was located just south of the paddock (the parking lot of Bayfront Arena). In addition, the old course traveled further up Beach Drive Northeast, all the way to 5th Avenue Northeast. 5th Ave. NE was a very narrow segment. The course came south down Bayshore Drive Northeast, and passed by The Pier.

Tropicana Field course

The second course at Tropicana Field was located about a mile west of the waterfront location. The circuit used the roads around the perimeter of the parking lot of the stadium.

Second Bayfront course

Helio Castroneves approaches Dan Wheldon Way (Turn 10) on the final lap of the 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

When the course was reconfigured, the northbound segment turned at Central Avenue instead, and did not go as far as The Pier. The pits and main straight were moved to the airport, and a purpose-built paddock area was paved next to the runway. The Albert Whitted Park was reconfigured/relocated, and the entire course layout was repaved.

The pits and paddock areas, as well as link from Dan Wheldon Way to the airport runway (turns 11, 12, and 13) were constructed specifically for the circuit in 2003, and are considered permanent features of the otherwise temporary circuit.

After the 2011 IndyCar Las Vegas crash that killed Snell Isle resident Dan Wheldon, who won the 2005 race and two Indianapolis 500 titles, the straight following Turn 10 (the turn from Bayshore Drive to Albert Whitted Park) was renamed "Dan Wheldon Way" in his memory. The sign and commemorative plaque was unveiled by St. Pete mayor Bill Foster on March 6, 2012. A permanent Dan Wheldon Memorial is located next to the Dali Museum on the opposite side of Turn 10, where race winners have their names placed on the memorial.[7]

Broadcasting history

Season Date US TV Channel Lay-by-lap Driver Analyst(s) Pit Reporters
2003 February 23 SPEED Bob Varsha Tommy Kendall Calvin Fish
Scott Pruett
Derek Daly
2005 April 3 ESPN Todd Harris Scott Goodyear Jack Arute
Dr. Jerry Punch
Jamie Little
2006 April 2 ESPN Marty Reid Scott Goodyear
Rusty Wallace
Jack Arute
Dr. Jerry Punch
Jamie Little
2007 April 1 ESPN Marty Reid Scott Goodyear Jack Arute
Vince Welch
Brienne Pedigo
2008 April 6 ESPN Marty Reid Scott Goodyear Jack Arute
Vince Welch
Brienne Pedigo
2009 April 5 Versus Bob Jenkins Jon Beekhuis
Robbie Buhl
Jack Arute
Robbie Floyd
Lindy Thackston
2010 March 28 ABC (Sun.) Marty Reid Scott Goodyear Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Rick DeBruhl
March 29 ESPN2 (Mon.)
2011 March 28 ABC Marty Reid Scott Goodyear Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Rick DeBruhl
2012 March 25 ABC Marty Reid Scott Goodyear Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Rick DeBruhl
2013 March 24 NBCSN Leigh Diffey Wally Dallenbach
Townsend Bell
Kevin Lee
Robbie Floyd
Jon Beekhuis
Robin Miller
2014 March 30 ABC Allen Bestwick Scott Goodyear
Eddie Cheever
Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Rick DeBruhl
2015 March 29 ABC Allen Bestwick Scott Goodyear
Eddie Cheever
Jerry Punch
Jon Beekhuis
Rick DeBruhl
2016 March 13 ABC Allen Bestwick Scott Goodyear
Eddie Cheever
Jerry Punch
Jon Beekhuis
Rick DeBruhl

Notes

Works cited

Related links

References

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  5. http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/11/11-20-Firestone-to-sponsor-St-Petersburg-season-opener
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Preceded by
-
Current
IndyCar Series races
Succeeded by
Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix