2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

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.

United States 2008 St. Petersburg
Race details
2nd round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season
DateApril 6, 2008
Official nameHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
LocationStreets of St. Petersburg
CourseTemporary Street Circuit
1.800 mi / 2.897 km
Distance83 laps
149.400 mi / 240.436 km
Weather78 °F (26 °C), Rain & clouds
Pole position
DriverTony Kanaan (United States Andretti Green Racing)
Time1:02.5322
Fastest lap
DriverTony Kanaan (United States Andretti Green Racing)
Time1:03.8874 (on lap 76 of 83)
Podium
FirstGraham Rahal (United States Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing)
SecondHélio Castroneves (United States Penske Racing)
ThirdTony Kanaan (United States Andretti Green Racing)

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

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  • 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

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Group 1

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PosNo.DriverTeamTimeSpeed (mph)
18 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.6560103.422
211 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.7752103.225
306 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.9581102.926
434 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing1:03.1453102.620
514 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises1:03.1822102.561
617 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:03.1923102.544
727 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing1:03.2757102.409
836 Enrique Bernoldi (R)Conquest Racing1:03.4568102.117
97 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing1:03.5766101.924
1020 Ed CarpenterVision Racing1:03.8007101.566
1119 Mario Moraes (R)Dale Coyne Racing1:04.1590100.999
1223 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:04.3880100.640
1325 Marty RothRoth Racing1:07.704195.711

Group 2

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PosNo.DriverTeamTimeSpeed (mph)
102 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.7341103.293
26 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.8910103.035
326 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing1:03.0131102.836
43 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:03.1560102.603
55 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing1:03.1653102.588
610 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing1:03.2095102.516
79 Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing1:03.2365102.472
833 E. J. Viso (R)HVM Racing1:03.3067102.359
915 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:03.3591102.274
104 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing1:03.4480102.131
1124 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing1:03.7447101.656
122 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing1:04.4996100.466
1318 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing1:09.385193.392

Round 2 (Top 12)

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PosNo.DriverTeamTimeSpeed (mph)
18 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.1355104.288
211 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.4960103.687
36 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.5031103.675
402 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.5393103.615
517 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:02.6864103.372
63 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:02.6869103.371
75 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing1:02.7427103.279
810 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing1:02.7964103.191
906 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.8122103.165
1034 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing1:02.8749103.062
1114 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises1:03.0136102.835
1226 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing1:03.2443102.460

Round 3 (Firestone Fast Six)

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PosNo.DriverTeamTimeSpeed (mph)
111 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.5322103.627
28 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.6096103.499
302 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.6426103.444
43 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:02.6462103.438
56 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.7071103.338
617 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:03.0077102.845

Grid

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PosNo.DriverTeamTimeSpeed (mph)
111 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.5322103.627
28 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.6096103.499
302 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.6426103.444
43 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:02.6462103.438
56 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.7071103.338
617 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:03.0077102.845
75 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing1:02.7427103.279
810 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing1:02.7964103.191
906 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.8122103.165
1034 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing1:02.8749103.062
1114 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises1:03.0136102.835
1226 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing1:03.2443102.460
139 Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing1:03.2365102.472
1427 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing1:03.2757102.409
1533 E. J. Viso (R)HVM Racing1:03.3067102.359
1615 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:03.3591102.274
174 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing1:03.4480102.131
1836 Enrique Bernoldi (R)Conquest Racing1:03.4568102.117
197 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing1:03.5766101.924
2024 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing1:03.7447101.656
2120 Ed CarpenterVision Racing1:03.8007101.566
2219 Mario Moraes (R)Dale Coyne Racing1:04.1590100.999
2323 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:04.3880100.640
242 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing1:04.4996100.466
2525 Marty RothRoth Racing1:07.704195.711
2618 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing1:09.385193.392
  • 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

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PosNo.DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridLaps LedPoints
106 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing832:00:43.556291953
23 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing83+3.51924040
311 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing83+5.513411535
433 E. J. Viso (R)HVM Racing83+8.8575151232
536 Enrique Bernoldi (R)Conquest Racing83+9.636018330
627 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing83+10.007114028
75 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing83+11.28717026
88 Will Power (R)KV Racing83+12.84932024
902 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing83+14.359831822
107 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing83+16.729819020
112 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing83+20.831924019
1210 Dan WheldonTarget Chip Ganassi83+24.78008018
1314 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises83+45.860111017
1424 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing82+1 Lap20016
1515 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing82+1 Lap16015
1619 Mario Moraes (R)Dale Coyne Racing82+1 Lap22014
1717 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing81+2 Laps6413
1820 Ed CarpenterVision Racing80Accident21012
194 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing75Collision17112
2034 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing75Collision10012
2123 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing75Collision23012
229 Scott DixonTarget Chip Ganassi74Mechanical13012
236 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing56Accident51112
2418 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing44Mechanical25012
2526 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing41Mechanical12010
DNS25 Marty RothRoth Racing02605

Notes

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "St. Petersburg results". Indycar.com. 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  2. ^ a b c "Rahal's victory sets open-wheel record". IndyStar.com. 2008-04-06. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
Preceded by IRL IndyCar Series
round 2

2008
Succeeded by
2008 Indy Japan 300 (IRL teams; 3A)
2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (transition teams; 3B)