Thirteen minutes of IndyCar audio and video from last Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg race, captured by microphones and cameras atop the cars – We already know what happened during the race, so ‘enjoy the ride’ without chattering from Cheever and Goodyear.
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IndyCar – Sato Wins Pole Position
(Saint Petersburg, Florida) At the end of this afternoon’s multi-stage Verizon IndyCar race-qualifying session, Takuma Sato of A. J. Foyt Racing had posted the fastest time and earned the Verizon P1 Award. In his #14 ABC Supply car with Honda power, Sato’s fastest lap was 1 minute, 1.8686 seconds on the damp 1.8-mile city street course. The Japanese racer, who was second-fastest here last year, bested the rest of the ‘final six’ qualifiers: Will Power in the #12 Verizon car, Ryan Hunter-Reay in the #28 DHL car, his teammate Marco…
Read MoreIndyCar – Previewing the Saint Petersburg Grand Prix
(Saint Petersburg, Florida) The bay-front streets of downtown Saint Petersburg, in West Central Florida, between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, are the setting for an eleventh Verizon IndyCar Series race — Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg. This city has hosted numerous races in various series, from SCCA Pro Racing’s Trans-Am Series, to American Le Mans Series, Champ Car, Formula Vee to Indy Lights. The course configurations have varied since racing began in the 1980s, but the course is east downtown, on the waterfront, between the Pier…
Read MoreIndyCar – Back On Track
(Saint Petersburg, Florida) We have windy, cloudy weather over Tampa Bay, where sailboats and powerboats abound, even on a Friday. This is a day of race car and truck practices for six race series, on a 1.8-mile track that winds through downtown and uses an airport runway. Canadian James Hinchcliffe was fastest in this morning’s Verizon IndyCar Series practice for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix race. He said that his team had done its homework in the off-season and is “starting off on the right foot.” He said that this is…
Read MoreSports Car Wars return to Florida
(Saint Petersburg, Florida) This is the 25th anniversary season of SCCA Pro Racing’s Pirelli World Challenge Championships. And it begins this weekend in the Cadillac Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg Presented by StopTech. The Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) is the playground of many auto makers as Acura, Aston-Martin, Audi, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Lamborghini, Nissan, McLaren, and Porsche use the 22-race series as a technology proving ground — and a marketing tool. Blackdog Speed Shop returns to the sports car wars to defend its…
Read MoreSCCA Pirelli World Challenge Guest Ride-Along
SCCA Pro Racing’s Pirelli World Challenge treated some writers and photographers to rides on Saint Petersburg’s temporary race track in two K-Pax Racing Volvo S-60s, driven by Randy Pobst and Alex Figge (above), Cadillac CTS-V.R race cars, and a few street-legal CTS-Vs. I was chauffeured by a SCCA World Challenge series racer for two laps on Saint Petersburg’s downtown streets and a runway of Albert Whitted Airport in a Cadillac CTS-V street car. Its acceleration was impressive (pressed me into the seat), but the braking for Turn 4 really wowed…
Read MoreSports Car Wars Resume
. SCCA Pro Racing’s Pirelli World Challenge returns to the streets of downtown Saint Petersburg, Florida for two races, on Saturday and Sunday. Friday practices were followed by a late-afternoon race-qualifying session. . Alex Figge, driving one of K-PAX Racing’s Volvo S60s, set a qualifying-time record of 1 minute, 13.9 seconds, averaging 87.6 mph on downtown Saint Pete’s 14-turn, 1.8-mile course. Figge edged his teammate Randy Pobst, who will start race one alongside him on the front row. . Figge remarked, “On a street course, it’s nice to have the…
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