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22 Apr 2021, 15:04 (Ref:4047312) | #1 | ||
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Round 2: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 23-25 April.
Round 2: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 23-25 April.
Like last year, the start of this season has been effected by the Covid-19 pandemic and for a second year in a row, it was decided that the season opener, scheduled for March 7 and which has traditionally been held at St. Petersburg since 2005, would not go ahead. However, instead of the race initially being cancelled like last year, it was put back swapping with Barber Motorsports Park, which held the 2021 season opener last weekend. This year's race will be the 17th running on the current course and the 16th as an IndyCar event. The race 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. Some trivia: The driver with most wins: Hélio Castroneves, 2006, 2007, 2012. The team with most wins: Team Penske, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020. Track layout: Length: 1.8 Miles (2.9 Km) Turns: 14 Lap record: Jordan King 1:00.0476, 107.914 Mph (173.670 km/h). Ed Carpenter Racing, Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6. Verizon IndyCar Series. Last year's race: https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...paign=widget-6 Pole: Will Power, 1:01.0369, 106.165 mph, (170.856 Km/h) Team Penske, Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6. Winner: Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6. Laps 100 Distance 180 Miles (289.681 Km) Race Time 2:06:12.5948 Average Speed 85.872 Mph, (138.197 Km/h) Fastest lap: Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Lap 52. 61.7350 sec, 104.965 mph (168.924 km/h) Caution periods: 6 Laps 26: 36-39, 41-45, 47-51, 70-73, 75-78, 80-83. Race Broadcast: Sunday, April 25. NBC, 12:00pm ET, 4:00pm UTC. Sky Sports F1, 5:00pm BST. |
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23 Apr 2021, 06:09 (Ref:4047436) | #2 | |
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There's a chance of rain this year. The traditional slot in March is dry season in FL but late April brings more humidity and precipitation.
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23 Apr 2021, 13:47 (Ref:4047525) | #3 | ||
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Rain on a street course could be quite difficult. I imagine that normal street drainage has been somewhat interrupted by the temporary barriers.
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24 Apr 2021, 19:59 (Ref:4047713) | #4 | ||
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Qualifying result:
Colton Herta pips Jack Harvey for Pole. Last year's winner Josef Newgarden is third and Alex Palou, winner of Last weekend's season opener is 10th. |
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25 Apr 2021, 16:41 (Ref:4047799) | #5 | ||
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Looks like no rain today. But we are green!
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25 Apr 2021, 16:43 (Ref:4047800) | #6 | ||
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That was a clean start, with Herta in the lead.
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25 Apr 2021, 16:52 (Ref:4047801) | #7 | ||
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25 Apr 2021, 17:01 (Ref:4047802) | #8 | ||
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25 Apr 2021, 17:04 (Ref:4047803) | #9 | ||
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Johnson locks up and we go yellow. Surprisingly there are only a few people to dive into the pits before they close, it seems like the right strategy.
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25 Apr 2021, 17:09 (Ref:4047804) | #10 | ||
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Bad luck for Hinchcliffe getting that puncture.
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25 Apr 2021, 17:17 (Ref:4047807) | #11 | ||
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Thank god for the SC, as it looked like we were heading for a fuel saving parade and since it's gone in we've got a proper RACE on our hands!
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25 Apr 2021, 17:27 (Ref:4047808) | #12 | ||
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Fortunately no FCY, just a local yellow.
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25 Apr 2021, 17:40 (Ref:4047809) | #13 | ||
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Colton Herta has a 14 second lead!
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25 Apr 2021, 18:13 (Ref:4047815) | #14 | ||
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Another caution, as Ed Jones spins it, after contact with Hinchcliffe and stops in the middle of the track.
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25 Apr 2021, 18:36 (Ref:4047821) | #15 | ||
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Congrats to Colton Herta on a well deserved win but it looked like Newgarden might have gained an advantage with those two FCYs.
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25 Apr 2021, 19:59 (Ref:4047830) | #16 | ||
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The restarts after the two yellows were about the only 2 points of interest in the race
Processional aside from that |
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25 Apr 2021, 21:25 (Ref:4047834) | #17 | ||
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Race result:
A rather lacklustre affair. I'm surprised as St. Pete usually puts on a good race. Maybe it's missing being the season opener? |
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26 Apr 2021, 02:24 (Ref:4047847) | #18 | ||
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I had to pause it after the first 30 laps to go to kids soccer game. I just finished watching on replay, and I enjoyed it. Sure it was a bit of a processional but you have to expect somewhat of a lack of passing at a street race. It was interesting to see how dominant Herta was this week. I think he is probably the most likely person to win the championship, although if Dixon can be in the top five every single week he is probably within a shout as well.
I know there was a restricted fan base at the race, but it was still nice to see how close fans can be to the track at St Pete. |
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26 Apr 2021, 13:03 (Ref:4047905) | #19 | ||
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It was slightly boring but the midfield battles were exciting and i still enjoyed it.
For anyone thats interested in this kind of thing Firestone have a live timing page where they show pit stops, tyre strategies & tyres used (stickers, used, reds, blacks), its pretty good. http://www.livetiming.net/firestone |
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26 Apr 2021, 14:33 (Ref:4047921) | #20 | |||
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Quote:
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28 Apr 2021, 22:07 (Ref:4048369) | #21 | |
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I finally started watching the race after getting back to the house and entering my inspections from today. Realized after the first few laps I was paying more attention to work than the race. Choice between last 5 laps and start of Sox game meant I cut it off for baseball, and one of the best pitchers in the game. St Pete usually has more NASCAR stupidity moments than it should and insanity at T1, saw none of it today and weirdly feel the race was poorer for it. Not even quality efforts at T1 where guys would have to fade going back to the left after the corner but they were trying. I'll admit I missed the majority of the middle but didn't hear the commentary crew have those calls to make me look up.
And now we have the insanity that is Indy cars on TMS. MUCH rather have an Iowa doubleheader than Texas. I think I would actually enjoy only Indy being the high speed bowl and road/street course and small oval the rest of the season. Makes it even more elevated of a race. Had been avoiding Racer to not catch who won so just checked it out and saw the overnight numbers. Indy claims Total Audience Delivery (broadcast and various digital streams by providers and Peacock) was best ever for afternoon and second best ever, 1.22mil. Texas 2020 was 1.25mil TAD. By comparison Talladega crushed it with 4.7mil for Cup and 1.6 for Xfinity, both up year over year as well. Sports death on TV might be overstated. MLB reports record viewership as well if you don't use just Nielsen numbers, digital offering is the key and sadly NBC seems to have screwed that a bit. But less than Nascar who doesn't offer but has been making noise about expanding OTT offerings. Last edited by broadrun96; 28 Apr 2021 at 22:32. |
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