The wait is finally over. The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season is officially set to begin this weekend with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. While the anticipation is huge simply to start off another season, there’s a reason that the hype is possibly slightly higher this weekend.
This weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg marks the first race featuring the aerodynamic bodywork kits designed, manufactured and supplied by Chevrolet and Honda. For the first time since the Dallara IR-12 chassis debuted, the cars will look different for each of the two manufacturers. For this event, it marks the first time the road/street course kit has been used in competition. The teams had a chance to test the kits at Barber Motorsports Park earlier this month, with defending series champion Will Power topping the charts with a lap of one minute and 7.3118 seconds around the 2.3 mile road course.
While the championship isn’t close to being a big part of the discussion yet, it certainly helps to get off to a good start in the season. Power did just that last year as he won the event after starting fourth. He then went on to win his first career championship. Is there a possibility of a third victory for the Team Penske driver?
“I’m really excited to get the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series started and represent the sport as the champion throughout the year,” he commented. “Even though I was able to break through last year and win my first title, I am preparing to go into this season just as hungry as I was before I became a champion. The drive to win multiple championships is just as strong as the drive to win one. To do that, it’s important to get off to a good start at St. Pete. Winning there last year in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was critical to the championship push. Now that I’m in the No. 1 Verizon Chevy for 2015, we need to put the new number in Victory Lane as well.”
Power added that he feels Chevrolet has done a good job in designing the aero kits and developing them with producing “massive downforce and low drag” so “the cars are absolutely glued to the track.”
“Obviously, as we go along in the year we are going to learn more and more about what we need to push for wins,” he continued. “That is where having a new, fourth car with Simon Pagenaud will be key. His ability to communicate what a car is doing and what it needs is really impressive. He’s going to add a lot to Team Penske and I look forward to racing as his teammate for quite a while.”
While Power enters the weekend with success in his backpocket, that’s something that his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya hasn’t been as blessed to experience at St. Petersburg as he finished 18th last year. However, with a whole season of IndyCar competition under his belt and having gotten used to the cars, he could possibly run up front this weekend.
“The race at St. Pete was a bit of a struggle for me last year, especially since I had never been on the ‘red’ Firestone tires until the race started, and it took some adjusting,” Montoya admitted. “Toward the end of the year, though, we were really competitive, leading laps and running at the front of the field. With that year under my belt I really think we can get the season started strong at St. Pete.”
Team Penske has won the most events at St. Petersburg – six wins in 11 starts – and if Montoya and Power aren’t able to get it done, all eyes will be on Helio Castroneves, who is a three-time winner of the event and finished third last year. He is looking for the extra edge this year in hopes of his first championship after finishing in the runner-up spot the past two seasons.
“This is a track that has been very good to Team Penske, and to me personally,” Castroneves commented. “Even though we are introducing new aero kits to the series this year, I think you will see Team Penske and Chevrolet at the front of the field when the laps are winding down in the race. I have been encouraged with the speed in the No. 3 Hitachi Chevy during our testing over the last couple of weeks. Team Penske is always strong in qualifying at St. Pete as well. If we can get a good starting spot I believe we can keep the car up front all day and challenge for the win.”
While Team Penske has led the way, Chip Ganassi Racing has been there with them at every step of the road. Last year, though, the team got off to an off-start, which set them back and caused them to not contend for the championship. Getting a better start this year is certainly going to be key for the whole team. Scott Dixon leads the CGR organization into St. Petersburg, as he’s the longest-tenured driver on the team. He has never won at St. Petersburg, but has scored three runner-up finishes.
“St. Petersburg is one of the best places to kick off the season,” Dixon shared. “It’s around spring break time, they do a fantastic job of getting the community in and obviously the party atmosphere there too with different things going on during the day. All the different classes of cars that race there and all the variety of things to do in St. Pete make it pretty fantastic for a lot of people. I live in Indianapolis and we finally get to have some sun and get to hang out in some warm weather.”
He will be joined by his experienced teammate Tony Kanaan, who enters his second season with CGR. Kanaan hopes last year’s momentum carries forward after scoring the victory in the season-ending event.
“It’s been a lot of fun getting to know the new Chevy aero kits over the last month, but I think it’s safe to say that I’m ready to get back on track for the season opener in St. Petersburg this weekend,” Kanaan said. “I’m loving my new colors representing NTT DATA this season and it’s been a seamless transition working with my new lead engineer Todd Malloy. I think everyone at NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing is just excited to get out there to start the new season and really see what these new cars can do.”
KV Racing is also looking to get off to a solid start, however that may prove to be difficult. Sebastien Bourdais hasn’t had the best luck at St. Petersburg in the past with his best career-finish being 11th in 2013. However, he does know how to get it done on the street courses, having won the Honda Indy Toronto last year.
“St. Petersburg is my home race, but unfortunately, other than a pole in my first race (2003), I haven’t really had the success I would have liked,” Bourdais admitted. “We had a good race going last year and I think we were in a position to finish in the top four or five, but things just didn’t go our way. I don’t feel any additional pressure to do well in St. Petersburg…but it’s nice to be able to sleep in my own bed and have friends and family at the track.”
Graham Rahal is another driver looking to hinder in the success after not having the season that he would’ve preferred last year. However, since winning in his rookie season in 2008, the last four years have seen Rahal finish outside of the top 10.
“I’m ready to just get this season going,” Rahal shared. “It’s such a long offseason that I feel like we’re kind of behind. The team has been doing such a great job and I’m just thrilled to get this thing going. I think it’s going to be a great year. I’m excited and ready to go. St. Pete is going to be interesting because it will be our first hard run with the new aero kits. The car seems to be handling everything pretty well. Durability seems to be pretty good. At the end of the day, I think everybody is ready to get to St. Pete.”
Being familiar with their teams is the key for the above drivers, but there are some who come in with experience – but lack of familiarity. James Hinchcliffe made the move to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports over the off-season after spending the past couple of seasons with Andretti Autosport. The Canadian has won on the streets of St. Petersburg before, scoring the victory in 2013.
“St. Pete is like the first day of school, providing that you like school, that is. I love going there,” he commented. “The race is awesome, the track is fun and it’s a place that I’ve always run well at. It’s been nice getting back in the cars to go testing but I think the whole Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team just wants to get back to racing and see what we can do in the Arrow car. It can’t come soon enough.”
He will be joined by his new teammate James Jakes, who is also excited to start the season after being announced as the driver of the No. 7 Honda last month.
“We’ve had a busy few weeks leading up to the race and hopefully everything we’ve learned will benefit us for the Verizon IndyCar Series season opener,” Jakes said. “We’re looking to start the season strong so that we have a good baseline for 2015.”
While tons of experience makes up the field, the first event of the year brings forth a bunch of rookies. Five drivers will make their first start at St. Petersburg – Stefano Coletti, Sage Karam, Gabby Chaves, Luca Filippi and Francesco Dracone, with the first three competing for Sonoco Rookie of the Year.
“I am really excited to start the championship and the challenge of learning all the new tracks,” Coletti said. “I have done a few tests now with KV Racing Technology and gathered some valuable data, which I’m looking forward to being able to use this weekend at St. Petersburg. I have been able to watch some past races, so I have an idea of what the track will be like and especially what to expect in Turn 1, which looks extremely tight. Having such an experienced teammate as (Sebastien) Bourdais has been really helpful and we work well together, so I am looking forward to having a great first season to my Indy car career.”
Karam, meanwhile, will become the youngest drivers to start an IndyCar race for Chip Ganassi Racing. He won the 2013 Indy Lights Presented by Coopers Tire Championship.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to get the season started,” Karam shared. “When I signed as a development driver with the team last year, I was able to get in and help out the IMSA team, but now it’s time to get the INDYCAR season started. St. Pete is a track I’ve had success on before in the ladder series and I’m ready to go. We’ve been testing a lot the past few months and I’ve really been trying hard to absorb everything I’ve learned from my teammates and our driver coach Dario Franchitti.”
