The Verizon IndyCar series started 2017 with a charging Frenchman from the back of the grid. Sebastien Bourdais comeback win from last place is one for the ages, but admitted he had some luck today.
“Let’s face it, we got a lucky break with that yellow there to cycle to the front, which made up for my mistake in qualifying,” said Bourdais to Motorsport.com. “We definitely capitalized on that.
“It’s probably the hardest race to recover.
“Because it’s really hard to pass and every time we come here, and it looks like we have a reasonable car, and that was the case this weekend, and I threw it away [in qualifying].”
Here are some other talking points from the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Charlie Kimball caused a four-car incident on the opening lap that affected all involved.
Simon Pagenaud recovered nicely from P14 to take P2, in his first race as defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion.
Spencer Pigot was charging through the field after starting P13 until a brake fire ended his race.
Will Power went from pole-sitter to DNF after mechanical issues forced him to retire.
These are just some of the the storylines from the first race of the 2017 IndyCar Series season at St. Petersburg. For a full team-by-team recap, start the slideshow.
Dale Coyne Racing
Sebastien Bourdais and DCR couldn’t ask for a better start to the season, especially after what happened in qualifying. The Frenchman took over after an early caution on lap 36 and didn’t look back. Leading a race-high 69 laps to the victory—his 36th after starting last is very satisfying.
Ed Jones had a good start to his IndyCar Series career, finishing P10 after starting P18.
Team Penske
The defending IndyCar Series champion couldn’t quite get the win, but Simon Pagenaud still made it to the podium and on pace for a successful start to his title defense.
Helio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden had a quiet and somewhat successful day in St. Petersburg. Finishing in the top-10, P6 and P8 respectively. With Castroneves recovering from a early unscheduled pit stop to remove debris from ECR’s JR Hildebrand’s car lodged in his front wing.
Will Power’s St. Petersburg pole curse continues. After grabbing his 7th pole position, the Australian had a race to forget. Losing the lead to SPM’s James Hinchcliffe after 5 laps and moving down the grid steadily after. He would eventually succumb to mechanical issues with 11 laps to go after a black flag and eventually DNF’d.
Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon’s podium-only weekend culminated in a P3 race finish. Dixon did not finish outside of the top-3 in any session at St. Petersburg.
Tony Kanaan and Max Chilton both have had better days. After starting alongside each other in P6 and P7, the CGR duo finished P12 and P16 respectively, mainly due to traffic during the pit stops.
Charlie Kimball’s day ended around T3 on the opening lap. After he suffered the after-effects of a four-car incident involving himself, Graham Rahal, Carlos Munoz, and JR Hildebrand. He would finish P18, the last of the runners.
Andretti Autosport
Ryan Hunter-Reay recovered from a crash in warm up to finish P4, fending off new Andretti team-mate Takuma Sato.
Takuma Sato had a surprisingly successful race considering his problems in practice. He finished P5 but did lead the race for 2 laps during the last round of pit stops before eventual winner Bourdais overtook him on lap 57.
Marco Andretti was +8 after starting in P15, finishing P7. This season is crucial for Andretti after a miserable 2016 campaign.
Alexander Rossi was the lone Andretti Autosport driver not in the top-10, narrowly missing the cut, finishing P11.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
James Hinchcliffe continues his return to race form after his accident. He overtook pole-sitter Will Power going into lap 6 and led the race for 21 laps, before a charging Pagenaud took him. Poor traffic management from the pits stops however caused Hinchcliffe to slip and finish P9.
Mikhail Aleshin’s contact with Tony Kanaan on lap 26 which led to a caution was key to Bourdais comeback bid. Aleshin would finish P14, a +3 improvement.
Ed Carpenter Racing
JR Hildebrand was one of the four who made contact at T3 on the opening lap. Debris from Hildebrand’s car would cause Castroneves to pit early. Hildebrand’s return to full-time racing has mixed results as he would finish P13.
Spencer Pigot had a great start to the first third of the race making up places after starting P13, and climbing as high as P5 before a brake fire caused him to DNF.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Conor Daly’s return to A. J. Foyt Enterprises has been poor, starting in testing and leading up to the race constantly being at or near the back of the grid in every session. However the 25 year-old rallied to finish P15 in his first race back with the team.
Carlos Munoz fared better than team-mate Daly throughout practice and qualifying, but being in a four-car incident on the opening lap doomed the Colombian’s first race with A. J. Foyt Enterprises. Munoz would be the first to retire after 32 laps.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Graham Rahal, like the others involved in the opening lap incident never quite recovered after it. While he continued to run and did finish, it is unlikely a P17 finish was what he and RLL Racing had in mind.