Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Venue | Streets of St. Petersburg |
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| Corporate sponsor | Honda |
| First race | 1985 |
| First IndyCar race | 2005 |
| Distance | 1.80 miles |
| Number of laps | 100 |
| Lap Record | 1:00.928 (Sébastien Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing, 2003, Champ Car, 106.710 MPH , 171.733 km/h) |
| 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) |
The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race is telecast on ESPN or ABC.
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.
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[edit] Past winners
| Season | Date | Winning Driver | Chassis | Engine | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CART World Series history | |||||
| 2003 | February 23 |  Paul Tracy |
Lola | Ford-Cosworth | Forsythe Racing |
| IRL IndyCar Series history | |||||
| 2005 | April 3 |  Dan Wheldon |
Dallara | Honda | Andretti Green Racing |
| 2006 | April 2 |  Hélio Castroneves |
Dallara | Honda | Team Penske |
| 2007 | April 1 | Hélio Castroneves |
Dallara | Honda | Team Penske |
| 2008 | April 6 |  Graham Rahal |
Dallara | Honda | Newman/Haas Racing |
[edit] Firestone Indy Lights Series
| Season | Date | Winning Driver | Chassis | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | April 3 | Marco Andretti |
Dallara | Infiniti |
| 2006 | April 1 (1st race) | Raphael Matos |
Dallara | |
| April 2 (2nd race) | Raphael Matos |
Dallara | ||
| 2007 | March 31 (1st race) | Alex Lloyd |
Dallara | |
| April 1 (2nd race) | Alex Lloyd |
Dallara | ||
| 2008 | April 5 (1st race) | Raphael Matos |
Dallara | |
| April 6 (2nd race) | Richard Antinucci |
Dallara |
[edit] American Le Mans Series
Overall winner in bold.
| Season | LMP1 Winning Team | LMP2 Winning Team | GT1 Winning Team | GT2 Winning Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMP1 Winning Drivers | LMP2 Winning Drivers | GT1 Winning Drivers | GT2 Winning Drivers | |
| 2007 | #1 Audi Sport North America |
#6 Penske Racing |
#4 Corvette Racing |
#62 Risi Competizione |
 Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish |
 Sascha Maassen Ryan Briscoe |
Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta |
 Mika Salo Jaime Melo |
|
| 2008 | #2 Audi Sport North America |
#7 Penske Racing |
#4 Corvette Racing |
#71 Tafel Racing |
| Marco Werner Lucas Luhr |
Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas |
Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin |
Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller |
[edit] SCCA Trans-Am
- 1985 Willy T. Ribbs
- 1986 Pete Halsmer
- 1987 Scott Pruett
- 1988 Walter Röhrl
- 1989 Irv Hoerr
- 1990 Chris Kneifel
- 1996 Ron Fellows
- 1997 Tommy Kendall
- 2003 Scott Pruett
[edit] IMSA (fairgrounds)
- 1989 Price Cobb
- 1990 James Weaver
[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.
The original 1985 Trans-Am course utilized a similar layout. At the end of Bayshore Drive, rather than diverting off to the airport runways, the course circled around 5th Avenue Southeast and the start/finish line was located just south of the paddock. In addition, the old course traveled further up Beach Drive Northeast, all the way to 5th Avenue Northeast. When the course was reconfigured, it turned at Central Avenue instead.
The second course at Tropicana Field was located about a mile west of the waterfront location.
The proposed Rays Ballpark is situated inside the confines of the course layout and may disrupt or require changes to the track in the future.
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[edit] References
- IRL's website
- ChampCarStats.com
- Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg's website
- American Le Mans Series website
- City has had false starts with racing
- Grand Prix circuit track maps of all three layouts
| Previous race: | Current Indycar Series Races |
Next race: |
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