IndyCar

2014 Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 48 total)
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  • #253748
    SP
    Participant

    http://www.gpstpete.com/

    For anyone attending there’s a big event card: Indycar, Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, USF2000, Stadium Super Trucks and the Pirelli World Challenge (GT\GTS classes). 3-day General Admission tickets cost just $55. Paddock access is free for the support series and $40 for Indycar (one-day pass, $65 for two-day).

    #254023
    sushant008
    Participant

    Season starts this weekend. Time to start new topic as well.

    On-board lap of the track:

    Drivers preview:

    Here is the official entry list.

    Follow the live timing here.

    And finally, my predictions-
    1.Scott Dixon
    2.Will Power
    3.JP Montoya
    4.Hinchcliffe
    5.Castroneves

    #254083
    SP
    Participant

    I made a thread already, you could have scrolled down a little and posted in there ;-) never mind.

    Power, Castroneves and by extension Penske are usually strong here, but that doesn’t guarantee a win. Ganassi could do a lot better with the switch to Chevrolet.

    #254104
    sushant008
    Participant

    @jb001 – Oh.I apologize mate. Sorry. I think we should ask moderators to merge them. And I agree with you. Either Penske or Ganassi driver will win this one. Andretti and Honda in general is not that quick yet. But I could be wrong. This is IndyCar we are talking about. Anything can happen.

    #254108
    SP
    Participant

    I’d be careful with saying that. It isn’t so random that every race is a lottery. ;-)

    I would say there’s a consistent pattern of top oval and road course drivers, in fact. In terms of ovals I’d say Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Tony Kanaan, and Ryan Hunter-Reay are up front more often than not. On road\street courses: Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Justin Wilson. Scott Dixon is generally strong on all types of track and amazingly consistent barring bad luck. Hunter-Reay is getting there but makes more mistakes. Castroneves is good on both but inconsistent.

    #254111
    sushant008
    Participant

    Castroneves is good on both but inconsistent.

    I have to disagree with you on that one. He won only one race last year but still finished second in the championship only because he was damn consistent, specially finishing in top 10 every time. It was Houston where he lost the battle completely.

    There is another thing I want to ask as well, I can’t see Panther Racing in the entry list. Are they out from the season? or is it just the opening race? and what’s the presenters line-up for ABC?

    #254112
    R.J. O’Connell
    Participant

    Panther Racing has totally imploded on itself in a manner that would make Lotus F1 Team look like McLaren International by comparison. They might get something together for the 500, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they folded.

    #254113
    SP
    Participant

    sushant – I’m talking about his Indycar career as a whole and challenging for wins. He looked relatively consistent in 2013 because everyone else had such huge changes in performance (upwards for Ganassi) and reliability (down for Andretti Autosport) over the season. The tyre compound changes at the start of last year also threw a spanner in the works for some teams.

    As for Panther, it’ll probably be an Indy only effort. John Barnes alienated any potential long-term sponsors with his lawsuit.

    #254115
    sushant008
    Participant

    @jb001 – OK I got it. So that’s why he hasn’t won a championship yet. But still he’s always been a strong contender. Dixon is my choice for this weekend btw. Go Scotty!!! :)


    @rjoconnell
    – So two teams are out from the series. That for me that is quite sad. Anyways, 22 cars are enough I think. May be more entries will be added later on in the season.

    #254132

    @sushant008 @jb001 Merged!

    We will of course have F1 Fanatic Live during the race, look forward to chatting with you all there. Hopefully we’ll get a good race, though it’s one of few IndyCar tracks I’m not that fond of.

    Interestingly I see rain is forecast for the next few days but should clear up by Sunday.

    #254140
    SP
    Participant

    Thanks for merging the posts Keith. St Petersburg isn’t the best circuit on the calendar no, but I’ll take it over some of F1’s street circuits and Tilkedromes.

    I take it your habit of calling it Miami is because IRL and CART used to open their seasons there? St Pete is on the other side of Florida :p

    The race has already got a confirmed date for 2015 as well (March 27-29 according to Indycar’s website).

    #254331
    SP
    Participant

    Some food for thought after first practice: Montoya placed 14th, and Aleshin 20th.

    #254342
    sushant008
    Participant

    Some food for thought after first practice: Montoya placed 14th, and Aleshin 20th.

    Surprisingly, Andretti and Honda look quick. But yeh, 14th, not good Mr.Montoya :(

    #254346
    SP
    Participant

    The practice sessions are only 45 minutes (in part due to the number of different series on track) so I expect the rookies will have a hard time here, especially Huertas who has the least testing mileage in the field.

    #254347
    R.J. O’Connell
    Participant

    Top 18 were all within a second though, so Montoya being down in 14th isn’t exactly a case of being slow.

    Meanwhile, Carlos Huertas looks to be putting in some Duno-esque times.

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