“Mayor Of Hinchtown” Secures Maiden IndyCar Victory At St. Pete

The man known by many as the “Mayor of Hinchtown”, James Hinchcliffe, secured his maiden IZOD IndyCar Series race victory in an enthralling season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The Canadian ace finished ahead of 2012 race winner Helio Castroneves, with Marco Andretti 3rd for Andretti Autosport.

Will Power had secured pole position for the 110-lap race, and started the race alongside Japanese driver Takuma Sato. The second row of the grid consisted of “Swiss Miss” Simona de Silvestro, with eventual race winner James Hinchcliffe 4th alongside the KV Racing Technology driver. The race began under cloudy skies over the Streets of St. Petersburg, as Susie Wheldon got proceedings underway by waving the green flag at the start. Will Power led into the first corner, ahead of Takuma Sato as both James Hinchcliffe and Helio Castroneves got around Simona de Silvestro into Turn 1.

During the opening laps of the race, Will Power opened up a considerable lead to the A.J. Foyt Racing of Takuma Sato. By Lap 10, the Australian driver had opened up a four second lead to Sato, as Alex Tagliani became the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop on Lap 12. This sparked several other drivers to pit throughout the next few laps, including Simon Pagenaud, Justin Wilson and Scott Dixon.

Dario Franchitti’s car is cleared after his incident on Lap 19.

Four-time IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti suffered a disastrous start to his 2013 campaign, after the Target Chip Ganassi driver made contact with the wall at Turn 4 on Lap 19 and was forced into his first retirement in 67 races. This caused the first full course caution of the race, and allowed the leaders to pit under caution a lap later. Will Power won the race off of pit-road, as Takuma Sato dropped to 3rd behind Helio Castroneves. The race was resumed on Lap 26, as Helio Castroneves stormed around Will Power for the lead at Turn 2.

Further back down the order there was total carnage at Turn 9, as a multi-car incident involving Charlie Kimball, Ana Beatriz, JR Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter and Oriol Servia. Everyone except Ana Beatriz managed to resume racing, as the safety car was called upon once again for the second time. Simon Pagenaud pitted and was forced into retirement with a mechanical issue involving his exhaust system. The race was resumed on Lap 32, as Helio Castroneves led away at the front. James Hinchcliffe managed to overtake Will Power for 2nd position, and began to catch Castroneves for the lead.

On Lap 45 there was a third safety car period for debris in Turn 14, which allowed the leaders to pit under caution. Helio Castroneves won the race off of pit road ahead of Will Power and James Hinchcliffe, as Oriol Servia assumed the lead of the race after electing not to pit under caution. This saw the Spaniard lead his first laps of an IZOD IndyCar Series race since the 2011 Indianapolis 500, as Josef Newgarden became the next retirement of the race after suffering from a clutch issue. The race was eventually resumed on Lap 55, as Servia led at the front for Panther Racing.

Oriol Servia was finally forced to pit on Lap 62, allowing Helio Castroneves to resume his lead of the race. Servia frustratingly suffered a slow getaway from his pit-box, loosing himself valuable time in the process. Reigning Series Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay endured a frustrating start to his title defense, after a collision with Graham Rahal saw him suffer from a throttle issue towards the back of the pack. Series rookie Tristan Vautier retired from the race on Lap 69 with a mechanical issue, after initially starting the race from an impressive 6th.

A fourth full course caution was caused by Sebastian Saavedra on Lap 74, when the Colombian driver made a heavy impact with the tyre barriers at Turn 10. The leaders once again elected to pit under caution, as Castroneves retained his lead ahead of Hinchcliffe who overtook Power for 2nd. Whilst under safety car conditions, JR Hildebrand controversially collided with Will Power at Turn 9. The 25-year-old American driver was forced into retirement, whereas Will Power returned to the pits to repair his damage sustained in the incident.

On the restart, Helio Castroneves ran wide at Turn 1, allowing James Hinchcliffe to make a pivotal overtaking maneuver for the lead of the race. The Canadian sensation remained in the lead until the end, in doing so storming to his maiden IZOD IndyCar victory ahead of Helio Castroneves. On the penultimate lap the race Simona de Silvestro ran wide at Turn 14 and allowed both Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan through, with the former finishing 3rd.

The opening race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season was an enthralling spectacle, with Andretti Autosport taking only their second victory around the Streets of St. Petersburg after the late Dan Wheldon’s victory at the inaugural running of the event back in 2005. The new season looks set to be another intriguing battle at the front, with several new faces set to surprise many in the races ahead.

Results - 110 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                        Time/Gap
 1.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Dallara-Chevy     2h22m12.5502s
 2.  Helio Castroneves    Penske Dallara-Chevy           + 1.0982s
 3.  Marco Andretti       Andretti Dallara-Chevy        + 16.3664s
 4.  Tony Kanaan          KV Dallara-Chevy              + 19.6083s
 5.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi Dallara-Honda         + 20.7627s
 6.  Simona de Silvestro  KV Dallara-Chevy              + 20.7890s
 7.  EJ Viso              Andretti Dallara-Chevy        + 20.8229s
 8.  Takuma Sato          Foyt Dallara-Honda            + 21.1878s
 9.  Justin Wilson        Coyne Dallara-Honda           + 21.6832s
10.  Alex Tagliani        Herta Dallara-Honda           + 22.5569s
11.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon Dallara-Chevy          + 22.7354s
12.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi Dallara-Honda         + 24.5429s
13.  Graham Rahal         Rahal Dallara-Honda           + 37.5324s
14.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter Dallara-Chevy       + 45.2054s
15.  James Jakes          Rahal Dallara-Honda           + 45.7793s
16.  Will Power           Penske Dallara-Chevy            + 3 laps
17.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy       + 6 laps

Retirements:

     Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti Dallara-Chevy           79 laps
     JR Hildebrand        Panther Dallara-Chevy            78 laps
     Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon Dallara-Chevy             72 laps
     Tristan Vautier      Schmidt Dallara-Honda            69 laps
     Ana Beatriz          Coyne Dallara-Honda              55 laps
     Josef Newgarden      Fisher Dallara-Honda             50 laps
     Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Dallara-Honda            26 laps
     Dario Franchitti     Ganassi Dallara-Honda            18 laps

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