2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

2008 St. Petersburg

Race details
2nd round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season
Date	April 6, 2008
Official name	Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Location	Streets of St. Petersburg
Course	Temporary Street Circuit 1.800 mi / 2.897 km
Distance	83 laps 149.400 mi / 240.436 km
Weather	78 °F, Rain & clouds
Pole position
Driver	Tony Kanaan ( Andretti Green Racing)
Time	1:02.5322
Fastest lap
Driver	Tony Kanaan ( Andretti Green Racing)
Time	1:03.8874 (on lap 76 of 83)
Podium
First	Graham Rahal ( Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing)
Second	Hélio Castroneves ( Penske Racing)
Third	Tony Kanaan ( Andretti Green Racing)

The 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on April 6, 2008 at the 1.8-mile (2.9 km) temporary street and airport circuit on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.^[1] The race was a time-limited race due to rain, with the race falling some seventeen laps short of full race distance. The race was won by Graham Rahal on his IndyCar Series debut, having missed the first round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, due to a lack of spare parts for his #06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing machine.

At 19 years, 93 days old, Rahal became the youngest driver ever to win an Indy-style race, as well as the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history^[2] breaking Marco Andretti's record of 19 years, 167 days from the 2006 IndyCar Series season.^[2] He also became the fourth driver to win an IndyCar Series race in his first start, joining Buzz Calkins, Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Dixon.^[2]

Qualifying

• All cars are split into two groups of thirteen, with the fastest six from each group going through to the "Top 12" session. In this session, the fastest six runners will progress to the "Firestone Fast Six". The fastest driver in this final session will claim pole, with the rest of the runners lining up in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (Fast Six from 1-6, Top 12 from 7-12 and Round 1 from 13-26) Drivers can use as many laps as they want in the timed sessions.

Round 1

Group 1

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed (mph)
1	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	1:02.6560	103.422
2	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	1:02.7752	103.225
3	06	Graham Rahal (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.9581	102.926
4	34	Franck Perera (R)	Conquest Racing	1:03.1453	102.620
5	14	Darren Manning	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	1:03.1822	102.561
6	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	1:03.1923	102.544
7	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.2757	102.409
8	36	Enrique Bernoldi (R)	Conquest Racing	1:03.4568	102.117
9	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.5766	101.924
10	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	1:03.8007	101.566
11	19	Mario Moraes (R)	Dale Coyne Racing	1:04.1590	100.999
12	23	Townsend Bell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	1:04.3880	100.640
13	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing	1:07.7041	95.711

Group 2

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed (mph)
1	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.7341	103.293
2	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	1:02.8910	103.035
3	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.0131	102.836
4	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	1:03.1560	102.603
5	5	Oriol Servià (R)	KV Racing	1:03.1653	102.588
6	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:03.2095	102.516
7	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:03.2365	102.472
8	33	E. J. Viso (R)	HVM Racing	1:03.3067	102.359
9	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	1:03.3591	102.274
10	4	Vitor Meira	Panther Racing	1:03.4480	102.131
11	24	Jay Howard (R)	Roth Racing	1:03.7447	101.656
12	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	1:04.4996	100.466
13	18	Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	1:09.3851	93.392

Round 2 (Top 12)

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed (mph)
1	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	1:02.1355	104.288
2	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	1:02.4960	103.687
3	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	1:02.5031	103.675
4	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.5393	103.615
5	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	1:02.6864	103.372
6	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	1:02.6869	103.371
7	5	Oriol Servià (R)	KV Racing	1:02.7427	103.279
8	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:02.7964	103.191
9	06	Graham Rahal (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.8122	103.165
10	34	Franck Perera (R)	Conquest Racing	1:02.8749	103.062
11	14	Darren Manning	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	1:03.0136	102.835
12	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.2443	102.460

Round 3 (Firestone Fast Six)

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed (mph)
1	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	1:02.5322	103.627
2	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	1:02.6096	103.499
3	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.6426	103.444
4	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	1:02.6462	103.438
5	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	1:02.7071	103.338
6	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	1:03.0077	102.845

Grid

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed (mph)
1	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	1:02.5322	103.627
2	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	1:02.6096	103.499
3	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.6426	103.444
4	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	1:02.6462	103.438
5	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	1:02.7071	103.338
6	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	1:03.0077	102.845
7	5	Oriol Servià (R)	KV Racing	1:02.7427	103.279
8	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:02.7964	103.191
9	06	Graham Rahal (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:02.8122	103.165
10	34	Franck Perera (R)	Conquest Racing	1:02.8749	103.062
11	14	Darren Manning	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	1:03.0136	102.835
12	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.2443	102.460
13	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:03.2365	102.472
14	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.2757	102.409
15	33	E. J. Viso (R)	HVM Racing	1:03.3067	102.359
16	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	1:03.3591	102.274
17	4	Vitor Meira	Panther Racing	1:03.4480	102.131
18	36	Enrique Bernoldi (R)	Conquest Racing	1:03.4568	102.117
19	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	1:03.5766	101.924
20	24	Jay Howard (R)	Roth Racing	1:03.7447	101.656
21	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	1:03.8007	101.566
22	19	Mario Moraes (R)	Dale Coyne Racing	1:04.1590	100.999
23	23	Townsend Bell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	1:04.3880	100.640
24	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	1:04.4996	100.466
25	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing	1:07.7041	95.711
26	18	Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	1:09.3851	93.392

• Before the race, Marty Roth had a problem with his car and did not start. Bruno Junqueira therefore moved up to 25th on the grid.

Race

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	06	Graham Rahal (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	83	2:00:43.5562	9	19	53
2	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	83	+3.5192	4	0	40
3	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	83	+5.5134	1	15	35
4	33	E. J. Viso (R)	HVM Racing	83	+8.8575	15	12	32
5	36	Enrique Bernoldi (R)	Conquest Racing	83	+9.6360	18	3	30
6	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing	83	+10.0071	14	0	28
7	5	Oriol Servià (R)	KV Racing	83	+11.2871	7	0	26
8	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	83	+12.8493	2	0	24
9	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	83	+14.3598	3	18	22
10	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	83	+16.7298	19	0	20
11	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	83	+20.8319	24	0	19
12	10	Dan Wheldon	Target Chip Ganassi	83	+24.7800	8	0	18
13	14	Darren Manning	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	83	+45.8601	11	0	17
14	24	Jay Howard (R)	Roth Racing	82	+1 Lap	20	0	16
15	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	82	+1 Lap	16	0	15
16	19	Mario Moraes (R)	Dale Coyne Racing	82	+1 Lap	22	0	14
17	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	81	+2 Laps	6	4	13
18	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	80	Accident	21	0	12
19	4	Vitor Meira	Panther Racing	75	Collision	17	1	12
20	34	Franck Perera (R)	Conquest Racing	75	Collision	10	0	12
21	23	Townsend Bell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	75	Collision	23	0	12
22	9	Scott Dixon	Target Chip Ganassi	74	Mechanical	13	0	12
23	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	56	Accident	5	11	12
24	18	Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	44	Mechanical	25	0	12
25	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	41	Mechanical	12	0	10
DNS	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing	0		26	0	5

Notes

• The race began under caution, due to the rain that was lying on the street circuit. The race would finally go green on lap 10.
• Due to a two-hour time limit, the race was curtailed after 83 of the original 100 laps.

References

1. "St. Petersburg results". Indycar.com. 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
2. "Rahal's victory sets open-wheel record". IndyStar.com. 2008-04-06. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-08.