After a winless 2011 season, Helio Castroneves kicked off 2012 standing atop the emotional podium in St. Petersburg.
Marking not only the inaugural event of the season and first competition with the new Lotus/Chevrolet/Honda Dallara DW12 formula, Sunday's 100-lap race was also the first since the loss Dan Wheldon.
"Looking around, it is a beautiful day with everyone remembering Dan (Wheldon). It reminds you that there are a lot more important things in life than dropping out of a race,” said driver and close friend of Wheldon, Tony Kanaan.
Kanaan wasn't the only driver with mechanical problems. 19th place finisher JR Hildebrand dropped out on lap 96 with fuel pressure problems, while Honda drivers Mike Conway and Takuma Sato's days ended early with transmission issues on lap 75 and 73 respectively. 3 of the 5 Lotus powered entries - Bourdais, Legge and de Silvestro - also dropped out early with mechanical failures.
1-Castroneves
2-Dixon
3-Hunter-REay
4-Hinchcliffe
5-Briscoe
6-Pagenaud
7-Power
8-Viso
9-Kimball
10-Wilson
Race Time: 1:59:50.9863
Avg Speed: 90.113
Margin of Victory: 5.5292
Lead Changes: 9
Leaders: 7 (SD 37, HC 28, TS 11, WP 11, RB 9, JH 3, DF 1)
Cautions: 3 for 15 laps
Sunoco ROY Standings
Pagenaud - 28
Newgarden - 19
Legge - 12
Manufacturers Championship
Chevrolet - 9
Honda - 6
Lotus - 4
0 comments:
Post a Comment