IZOD IndyCar Series Practice/Qualifying for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

 

P1 Will Power (No.12 Chevrolet) at 61.372 seconds
P2 Ryan Briscoe (No.2 Chevrolet) at 61.535 seconds                
P3 Ryan Hunter-Reay (No.28 Chevrolet) at 61.932 seconds
P7 Scott Dixon (No.9 Honda) at 61.763 seconds
P10 Dario Franchitti (No.10 Honda) at 61.957 seconds 

Practice
P1 Simon Pagenaud (No.77 Honda) at 61.892 seconds
P2 Will Power (No.12 Chevrolet) at 61.939 seconds
P3 Ryan Briscoe (No.2 Chevrolet) at 61.942 seconds
P4 Dario Franchitti (No.10 Honda) at 62.004 seconds
P7 Scott Dixon (No.9 Honda) at 62.056 seconds

 

Notes
• Both No.9 and No.10 cars will move up one grid position for the race tomorrow (No.9 sixth and No.10 ninth) as a result of an engine change by the fourth-place qualified car of Simon Pagenaud.
• The No.10 team enters tomorrow’s race as the defending winner at St. Petersburg.
• TCGR has competed on the Streets of St. Petersburg since 2005 with one win, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
• Both cars advanced to the second round of qualifying but placed just outside the cut-off for the final segment.

 

 

Dario Franchitti: “Our setup wasn't where it needed to be obviously. I don't think it’s by accident the Chevy guys were up there. We'll just keep our heads up and get the work done. We still have some tricks up our sleeve."

 

Scott Dixon: “Obviously not where we wanted to be with the Target cars in qualifying. We have some work to do but I'm confident in the team and our ability to bounce back and contend for the race win tomorrow.”

 

Target Chip Ganassi Racing will compete in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at the Streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 25 (12:30 PM ET, ABC).
  
IZOD IndyCar Series Practice for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Practice 1
P1 Scott Dixon (No.9 Honda) at 63.040 seconds
P2 Ryan Briscoe (No.2 Chevrolet) at 63.519 seconds
P3 Will Power (No.12 Chevrolet) at 63.574 seconds
P4 Dario Franchitti (No.10 Honda) at 63.601 seconds

Practice 2
P1 Will Power (No.12 Chevrolet) at 62.007 seconds
P2 Ryan Briscoe (No.2 Chevrolet) at 62.093 seconds
P3 Dario Franchitti (No.10 Honda) at 62.609 seconds
P5 Scott Dixon (No.9 Honda) at 62.311 seconds

Notes
The Target team worked on overall grip and down force levels during the two practice sessions.

Drivers paid special attention to the rate at which the track rubbered in in order to get a starting point for qualifying tomorrow.

Since 2006, Team Target has won four of the last six IZOD IndyCar Series openers (Homestead: 2006, 2007, 2008; St. Pete: 2011).

TCGR Quoteboard

Dario Franchitti: “We're still learning both the engine and the chassis. The Target guys are working hard on it and we have tonight and a practice session tomorrow to get it right for qualifying. You always have these things when you’re developing a new car. It’s a lot of work."

Scott Dixon: “We worked today on balance for the most part. Coming back to St. Petersburg with a new car, there are a lot of unknowns obviously. The Target car is good though. We made a number of adjustments in the second session and I think we over-adjusted and got the car too loose. Looking back now I think we should probably have been higher up on the scoring charts.”