Subscription

Car Racing

Motorcycle Racing

Racing in Oz

Shop

2006 INDYCAR IRL 

CASTRONEVES WINS

RACE RESULT

RACE REPORT

• Helio Castroneves captured his first non-oval win in the IndyCar® Series holding off Scott Dixon to win the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
• Castroneves took the lead on Lap 95 after leader Scott Dixon pitted for fuel. Castroneves beat Dixon into Turn 1 of the 1.8-mile temporary street course.
• Dixon, who exited the pits just ahead of Tony Kanaan, never had a chance to chase down Castroneves after Tomas Scheckter and Buddy Rice made contact while battling for fourth.
• Castroneves, who won his eighth career win and marked the win with his signature fence climb victory celebration, took the IndyCar Series point lead with the win and leads Kanaan by 23 heading into the Indy Japan 300 on April 22 at Twin Ring Motegi.
• HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG POST-RACE QUOTES:
• HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/ Firestone, winner, Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg): "I was really pushing out there. I was trying to go as fast as I could. Even when I was in the lead, I was getting too close to the wall, trying to make up time. (Were you happy to see the caution come out?): "Everyone was telling me 'Go for it. Go for it.' I drove it like I stole it. The team worked so hard. Sam (Hornish) and everyone else." (About Paul Dana): "Paul Dana, you're in our hearts. You and your whole family."
• SCOTT DIXON
  
• Target Chip Ganassi Racing followed up last week's season opening win in Homestead with a second place finish as driver of the no.9 Target Honda Panoz Scott Dixon battled to the end with damaged front wing in another exciting street fight on the 1.8-mile temporary track at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
• From his second place starting position beside pole sitter Dario Franchitti, Dixon battled smartly to take the lead on three occasions (36 laps total) but was hampered with a damaged front wing for the last half of the 100 lap race.
• After relinquishing the lead to Helio Castroneves to pit for a splash of fuel on lap 95, Dixon exited the pits just ahead of Tony Kanaan, but never had a chance to chase down Castroneves after Tomas Scheckter and Buddy Rice made contact while battling for fourth place. The race ended under caution giving Dixon second spot on the podium and in the driver championship points just behind race winner Castroneves.
• "It started out pretty good for us with a clean start heading into Turn 1 so I couldn't ask for much more than that," said Dixon who posted his fourth consecutive top-10 finish and his third top five in four starts dating back to last season. "Dario (Franchitti) was quick from the start but he had his issues there after a while and we were able to come through. We were able to maintain a good pace and continued on the fuel strategy that was working for us. Ultimately the front wing cost us a bunch of time, and we were a bit handcuffed by the situation. After a while I just plain couldn't turn the car to the right. When Helio eventually got around us I just made sure he had enough room to get through, playing it as safe as I could. The car continued to stay on a good pace despite the vibration the wing created. In the end we had a reasonable result which moved us up in the pints and that's not much to complain about."
• Defending race winner and local resident, Dan Wheldon had an even tougher battle on his hands starting from the 13th spot on the grid. After being forced to pit for tires after contact with rookie Marco Andretti (Lap 27), the driver of the no.10 Target Honda steadily fought his way back. However, on lap 57, after initially beating the no. 6 car out of the pits under caution, Wheldon was directed to take his place ahead of Sam Hornish. The two cars made contact and the Wheldon's Target car sustained enough damage to the rear suspension that it eventually ended his race in the pits.
• "The Target team got word from Race Control that we were indeed in front of the no.6 car coming out of the pits and that we were going to be waved ahead of (Sam) Hornish," said Wheldon who was being credited with a 16th place finish and is now third in the driver championship standings. "All I saw was Sam's (Hornish Jr.) hand come off the wheel like he was signaling to let me by. I waved a "thank you" back, made the pass and then suddenly I was up in the air and out of the race. I made it back to the pits but there was too much damage to repair. I'm disappointed for the Target Team because we overcame a lot to try and get back into the fray at the front. The no.10 Target Honda was as quick as the leaders but it just didn't happen for us today."
• TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished third): "When you have a very good car, you can do a lot of pushups after the race. I'm not blaming it on the car. I think we definitely had a competitive car, but trying to keep up with those guys made it a very hard day. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough. I'm very tired for sure."
  
• Starting from third place, Kanaan kept the #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/ Honda/Firestone among the leaders throughout the race. Despite not having the fastest car on the track, he continually badgered his two top competitors before a yellow flag came out on lap 97, forcing the event to end under caution. Helio Castroneves earned the victory with Scott Dixon second, XM Satellite Radio driver Bryan Herta fourth, and Vitor Meira fifth.
• Through two events, Kanaan stands tied for fifth in the driver point standings with 54 points. Kanaan and the IndyCar Series return to action in three weeks when they visit Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan, for the Indy Japan 300 on April 22. The event will be televised by ESPN, beginning at 12 p.m. (EDT).
• Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "The Team 7-Eleven car was very competitive today, but to try and keep up with Helio and Scott made for a very hard day. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have enough speed to be able to pass on the long straight. It's probably fair to say that today we had a third-place car, and that's just where we finished."
• Kim Green, President, Andretti Green Racing: "I'm not sure our car was a winning race car today, but Tony drove one hell of a race. We were a tweak away from having a car that could have won here today but I think I made one small judgment error by not pitting a lap earlier and we could have had a second-place finish. I think we got into just a bit of traffic before that last pit stop that held us up a bit. I'm really proud of the Team 7-Eleven guys, they had great stops. It's been a fun weekend because I think everyone enjoys getting back to some street racing and it was another successful event where Team 7-Eleven got some really good championship points."

QUALIFYING (TOP OF PAGE)

FRANCHITTI QUALIFYING REPORT

• Franchitti Qualifies on the Pole for Honda Grand Prix in Klein Tools/Jim Beam Car
• ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 1, 2006) - Klein Tools/Jim Beam driver Dario Franchitti set a track record and collected his 14th career major open- wheel pole position for Sunday's running of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
• Franchitti, who has been one of the quickest three drivers throughout practice, maintained his speed during the single-car qualifying session and scored the quickest lap time. In the 10-minute "Firestone Fast Six Shootout," Franchitti bettered the other five drivers with a best-lap speed of 104.054 miles per hour (1:02.2753 seconds).
• The second of 14 races on the Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series schedule goes green at 3:45 p.m. (EDT) with ESPN providing live coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. (EDT). It can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers on XM channel 145.
• Dario Franchitti, #27 Klein Tools/Jim Beam Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
  "The Klein Tools/Jim Beam car has been good all weekend. We had a good balance in qualifying. Allen McDonald and the Klein Tools/Jim Beam boys had it absolutely right today. The Firestone tires have held on well so we can do qualifying runs that are five or six laps here, so hopefully that bodes well for tomorrow. This is a typical street-course race, so you've got to get through that first turn. Once you're through the first turn you can get on with the rest of the race.

RACE PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING

• RICE AND PATRICK READY FOR A RETURN TO THE TRACK AT ST. PETERSBURG
• HILLIARD, Ohio: After an emotional and difficult week, Rahal Letterman Racing's driver duo of Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick will return to the track this weekend for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
• The race will essentially serve as the 2006 season opener for RLR. The team withdrew the cars of Patrick and Rice from the season opening race after the tragedy involving Paul Dana last Sunday at Homestead- Miami Speedway.
• Buddy Rice collected two of his four top-ten results on road/street courses last season. Rice finished seventh at St. Pete and second at Infineon. The 2004 Indy 500 champion is ready to kick start his season this weekend in the No. 15 Argent Mortgage Honda/Panoz/Firestone.
• "Racing is what we do, so despite the unfortunate circumstances, we have to be ready to race this weekend," said Buddy Rice. "From the standpoint of the season, we have lost an event and those points are crucial in the championship. With fewer races this season there is less opportunities to make up a loss of points or to overcome a costly DNF. I feel pretty good about where we are at with our road course program for the Argent Mortgage/Honda. We had some success last year and we made significant progress in the off season."
• For 2005 IRL IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick the frustration of Friday practice at Homestead turned to optimism after a stellar qualifying run on Saturday. Patrick claimed the third spot on the grid with a fast lap of 216.798 mph.
• "It will be a relief to get back on track and to get our season started," said Patrick. "We have spent a lot of time in testing and preparation for the season and unfortunately the start of our season was delayed. The choice not to run last week was Bobby's [Rahal] decision and I think it was the right one. We have to view Homestead as a race where we basically had an early DNF. In the grand scheme of the championship and the season standings Homestead could be a factor."
• Patrick will be making her fourth IndyCar Series start on a road course. She finished 12th at St. Petersburg a year ago after fighting gearbox troubles during the race.
• "Through a pit strategy, we had a decent run going at St. Pete," said Patrick. "When we lost the gearbox we had to pit and change the gears which cost us a couple of laps. There was a lot of impatience on display in the race here last year. I don't know if that will be the case again this year or not, but you have to be ready to take advantage of your competition's mistakes."
• RLR will be a two-car team this weekend at St. Petersburg. The team will not race the No. 17 Team Ethanol Honda/Panoz. Team owner Bobby Rahal announced last Sunday that the car would be withdrawn from this race following the fatal accident that claimed the life of driver Paul Dana

TONY KANAAN

• "Last year we had our greatest success at St. Petersburg as a race team, as promoters, everything. Everyone was talking about that success and it will be hard to match it. That success was hard enough to do once and sometimes something like that only happens once. I'm excited to be back on a street course. The atmosphere at St. Petersburg is very exciting and I'm looking forward to getting there and competing."
• Eric Cowdin, Race Engineer: #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, on the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: "When undertaking a street circuit you have to give the driver a car that he can take by the throat and jockey around the course. It's like going from the splitting-the-diamond mentality that you take when preparing for a speedway to the swinging-the-big-hammer approach to dealing with the bumps and curbs that you encounter at a street circuit."