Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

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Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg street & airport racing circuit.svg
IndyCar Series
Location St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
27°45′59″N 82°37′45″W / 27.76639°N 82.62917°W / 27.76639; -82.62917Coordinates: 27°45′59″N 82°37′45″W / 27.76639°N 82.62917°W / 27.76639; -82.62917
Corporate sponsor Honda
First race 1985
First IRL race 2005
Distance 180 mi (290 km)
Previous names St. Petersburg Grand Prix (1985-1990)
Kash n' Karry Florida Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (1996-1997)
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2003)
Most wins (driver) Hélio Castroneves (2)
Most wins (team) Team Penske (4)
Most wins (manufacturer) Dallara (6)
Circuit information
Surface Asphalt/Concrete
Length 1.8 mi (2.9 km)
Turns 14
Lap record Sébastien Bourdais (1:00.928, Lola B02/00-Ford Cosworth, 2003, Champ Car)

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Contents

[edit] History

Racing in the St. Petersburg area dates back to 1985. The SCCA Trans-Am Series held a race on a downtown waterfront circuit from 1985-1990. Local residents and businesses complained about noise, and the event was put on hiatus. Racing in the Tampa Bay Area also included an IMSA race at the Florida State Fairgrounds. But it only lasted two years (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 was well-received, but the course was considered unsatisfactory. The event went again on hiatus for several years.

In 2003, the event was revived once again. The race was first run as a Champ Car event in 2003. It utilitzed a modified version of the original 1985–90 waterfront circuit.

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

It was announced during 2008 race that Andretti Green Promotions, the organization that owns and operates the event, signed a contract extension with the city of St. Petersburg through 2013, and city officials hope to extend it through 2014.[1]

[edit] Past winners

Season Date Winning Driver Chassis Engine Team Report
CART World Series history
2003 February 23 Canada Paul Tracy Lola Ford-Cosworth Forsythe Racing Report
IRL IndyCar Series history
2005 April 3 United Kingdom Dan Wheldon Dallara Honda Andretti Green Racing Report
2006 April 2 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Dallara Honda Team Penske Report
2007 April 1 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Dallara Honda Team Penske Report
2008 April 6 United States Graham Rahal Dallara Honda Newman/Haas Racing Report
2009 April 5 Australia Ryan Briscoe Dallara Honda Team Penske Report
2010 March 29A Australia Will Power Dallara Honda Team Penske Report
2011 March 27 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Dallara Honda Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report

^A 2010 race postponed from March 28 due to inclement weather[2]

[edit] Firestone Indy Lights Series

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 (1st race) Brazil Raphael Matos Dallara Infiniti
April 2 (2nd race) Brazil Raphael Matos Dallara Infiniti
2007 March 31 (1st race) United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Dallara
April 1 (2nd race) United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Dallara
2008 April 5 (1st race) Brazil Raphael Matos Dallara
April 6 (2nd race) United States Richard Antinucci Dallara
2009 April 4 (1st race) Netherlands Junior Strous Dallara
April 5 (2nd race) Netherlands Junior Strous Dallara
2010 March 28 France Jean Karl Vernay Dallara
2011 March 27 United States Josef Newgarden Dallara

[edit] 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

[edit] SCCA Trans-Am

[edit] IMSA (fairgrounds)

[edit] Course

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 Progress Energy Park.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Second Bayfront course

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 paddock area was paved next to the runway. The Albert Whitted park was reconfigured/relocated, and the entire course layout was repaved.

[edit] Telecast History

Season Date US TV Channel Lay-by-lap Driver Analyst(s) Pit Reporters
2003 February 23 Speed Channel Bob Varsha Tommy Kendall Unknown
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 Marty Reid Scott Goodyear Jamie Little, Rick DeBruhl, & Vince Welch
March 29 ESPN2

[edit] References


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First race

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