2016 Season. Round 1: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 11-13.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Well, the waiting and the long off season are almost over as this Sunday's 2016 season opener at St. Pete's is nearly upon us.

This will be the 13th running of the race, on the current course and the 12th as an IndyCar race. The event was first held as part of the SCCA Trans-Am Series, on the downtown waterfront circuit, from 1985-1990 but when local residents and businesses complained about the noise it was cancelled. It returned briefly from 1996-1997 on a new course around Tropicana Field. After a second hiatus, the event returned in 2003 but as a Champ Car race, using a modified layout of the original 1985–90 waterfront circuit. In 2004, the event was cancelled due to a dispute between the promoters but returned in 2005, this time as part of the IRL IndyCar Series, making this the first non-oval event for the Indy Racing League.

Last year's race saw the introduction of aero-kits from the two engine manufacturers, Chevrolet and Honda, with Chevrolet producing the dominant package last season. They will both be bringing updates for their road-street/short oval aero-kits to St. Pete's. So, have Honda managed to play catch up with Chevrolet during the off season? Hopefully there won't be a repeat of last year's race, with bits of aero-kit coming off, producing a rash of FCYs and unfortunately injuring a spectator.

During qualifying last year, Sébastien Bourdais' long standing 2003 lap record was finally broken by Will Power.

Some trivia:
The driver with most wins: 3, Hélio Castroneves, 2006, 2007, 2012.
The team with most wins: 7, Team Penske, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015.

Track layout:


Length: 1.8 Miles (2.9 Km)
Turns: 14

Lap record: Will Power, March 28, 2015. 1:00.6509, 106.841 Mph (171.94 Km/h). Dallara DW12 - Chevrolet, Verizon IndyCar Series.

Last year's winner:
Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske, Dallara-Chevrolet
Laps 110
Distance 198 Miles (318.65 Km)
Race Time 2:16:58
Average Speed 86.735 Mph (139.58 Km/h)

Race Broadcast:
ABC Sunday, March 13. 12:52 EST.