Friday at St. Petersburg

  • Published on 08 Mar 2019 21:42
  • comments 2
  • By: Fergal Walsh

The 2019 IndyCar season got underway on Friday, with St. Petersburg, Flordia hosting the opening day of running.

Robert Wickens was back in the paddock for the event, following his crash at Pocono last year that left him with severe injuries. The Canadian continues to recover while Schmidt Peterson Motorsport leaves his #6 car empty, ready to go for when he returns. 

Free practice one

The first practice sessions kicked off the year, with no major dramas coming in the opening 30 minutes. Rookie Ben Hanley's session came to a premature end when his DragonSpeed car ground to a halt at Turn 4.

However, other first-timers found some joy, as Chip Ganassi's Felix Rosenqvist topped the timesheets after the first practice session. Fellow compatriot at former Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson was third, while Ryan Hunter-Reay was second. 

The two title favourites Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi were fourth and fifth. Takuma Sato was sixth, ahead of Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal with the latter driver grinding the wall during the session. 

Zach Veach was ninth while the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Will Power rounded out the top ten. 
 

  Driver Team Time Gap
 
1
Driver
Felix Rosenqvist
Team
Chip Ganassi Racing
Time
1:01.8215
Gap
     -
 
2
Driver
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Team
Andretti Autosport
Time
1:02.0636
Gap
0.2421
 
3
Driver
Marcus Ericsson
Team
Schmidt Peterson Racing
Time
1:02.0811
Gap
0.2596
 
4
Driver
Scott Dixon
Team
Chip Ganassi Racing
Time
1:02.1309
Gap
0.3094
 
5
Driver
Alexander Rossi
Team
Andretti Autosport
Time
1:02.1470
Gap
0.3255
 
6
Driver
Takuma Sato
Team
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Time
1:02.1571
Gap
0.3356
 
7
Driver
Josef Newgarden
Team
Team Penske
Time
1:02.1740
Gap
0.3525
 
8
Driver
Graham Rahal
Team
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Time
1:02.1852
Gap
0.3637
 
9
Driver
Zach Veach
Team
Andretti Autosport
Time
1:02.1925
Gap
0.3710
 
10
Driver
Will Power
Team
Team Penske
Time
1:02.2758
Gap
0.4543

 

Free practice two

The second free practice session saw the drivers get a taste for the red-walled Firestone tyres, the softer of the compounds available to the teams.

Hunter-Reay topped the session ahead of a Spencer Pigot, a surprise finishing position for the 25-year-old American. The top two were the only drivers to set 60 second lap times during the day.

Marco Andretti was third, ahead of Colton Herta who was the only rookie to end the session inside the top ten. Carlin showed impressive pace, with Max Chilton and Charlie ending up fifth and eighth respectively.

Lodged between the two Carlins was Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe. Hinchliffe's teammate Marcus Ericsson didn't replicate the pace from his opening IndyCar outing, and brushed the wall on his fast lap.

Team Penske rounded out the top ten with Josef Newgarden leading Will Power.
 

  Driver Team Time Gap
 
1
Driver
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Team
Andretti Autosport
Time
1:00.8969
Gap
     -
 
2
Driver
Spencer Pigot
Team
Ed Carpenter Racing
Time
1:00.9812
Gap
0.0843
 
3
Driver
Marco Andretti
Team
Andretti Autosport
Time
1:01.0351
Gap
0.1382
 
4
Driver
Colton Herta
Team
Harding Steinbrenner Racing
Time
1:01.0776
Gap
0.1807
 
5
Driver
Max Chilton
Team
Carlin Racing
Time
1:01.1171
Gap
0.2202
 
6
Driver
Alexander Rossi
Team
Andretti Autosport
Time
1:01.1388
Gap
0.2419
 
7
Driver
James Hinchcliffe
Team
Schmidt Peterson Motorsport
Time
1:01.1453
Gap
0.2484
 
8
Driver
Charlie Kimball 
Team
Carlon Racing
Time
1:01.1681
Gap
0.2712
 
9
Driver
Josef Newgarden
Team
Team Penske
Time
1:01.1811
Gap
0.2842
 
10
Driver
Will Power
Team
Team Penske
Time
1:01.1896
Gap
0.2927


Action from St. Petersburg resumes tomorrow morning at 10:25 ET with the final practice session, before qualifying for Sunday's race kicks off in the afternoon.  

Photos IndyCar St. Petersburg 2019

Replies (2)

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  • Sparky1

    Posts: 15

    Glad to see “Mario” in the top three during free practice two. He’s still pretty quick at 79 years old.

    • + 0
    • Mar 8 2019 - 23:52

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