Grand Prix Of St. Pete Practice Report
GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE, PRACTICE REPORT
RYAN HUNTER-REAY
NO. 28 DHL HONDA
“There was some promise in our early speed; the DHL Honda was up at the top of the time charts there for the first couple of runs, but as the session went on we just didn’t get the most out of the car. We need to do some changes to react to the balance that we now have. On our new tire runs we had yellow flags in the corner so I had to slow down. I think at best we could have been P9, P8. A lot of the front runners ran three sets of tires instead of the two sets that we ran. Hopefully with our changes we can move forward tomorrow.”
On aero kits:
“Racing, first of all, is all about innovation and development and that’s what we have with the aero kits. The engine manufacturers have been tasked to put on as much downforce as efficiently as possible, and what you’ve see is a complete transformation of this Indy car where Chevy has its own look and brand and Honda has its own look and brand and stamp on the car. The performance is up, the speeds — the track records will be broken this year, and they look like you need to wear protective gloves around them, so they look awesome. They look like they should, which is incredibly fast and somewhat scary.”
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO
NO. 25 ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HONDA
“First session went okay. I think as a team we are not quite where we want to be, but we are going to work really hard. For me, it was good to be back in the car; it felt okay out there, just looking at a few changes and hopefully we’ll do another leap forward. It’s great to be back here in St. Pete.”
CARLOS MUÑOZ
NO. 26 ANDRETTITV/CINSAY HONDA
“We’re back in St. Petersburg! The second session was rained out, so our day didn’t go as planned. We have a bit of work to do. The first session tomorrow is for 45 minutes and then qualifying, so we’ll see how it goes. The important thing is qualifying, so now we are thinking and working towards that.”
MARCO ANDRETTI
NO. 27 SNAPPLE HONDA
“We struggled today with brake issues, so we only had one real run there at the end of the first session. We think we have a direction on where we need to go but a lot of work to do in Practice Three tomorrow, and then on to quals. Looking to move the Snapple car up the charts.”
GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE, PRACTICE REPORT
NO. 83 ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA
– Ran 17 laps in the morning session with a best time of 01:07:9134
“It was a day of ups and downs really. This morning was okay – it was only my second day in the car, so to get out there and come away P5 was okay. Obviously I want to be P1, and we’re still working towards that. We made quite a lot of setup changes from the first session to the second session, it’s just unfortunate that the second session got rained off and canceled. We didn’t get to try those changes but we’ll go into qualifying and see how it goes tomorrow. Having a lot of fun so far – it’s good to be back in St. Pete.”
SHELBY BLACKSTOCK
NO. 51 STARSTRUCK MAZDA
– Nashville native finished Practice One in P10, officially marking the start of his Indy Lights rookie campaign
– Today completed 18 laps with a best time of 01:08.5328
“Today wasn’t the day we really wanted. The first session, we needed a couple of setup changes and we weren’t exactly where we thought we would be. We did make some setup changes for Practice Two, but unfortunately there was some precipitation coming out of the upper atmosphere (haha). The session ended up getting called, but we still have a lot to look forward to tomorrow. I want to thank the Starstruck Andretti Autosport guys for giving me a good car that I think has a great chance to get us a nice qualifying position tomorrow.”
NO. 22 WEIRON TAN ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA
– The Malaysian racer set a fastest lap of 01:12:9013
“It’s great to be in St. Pete today; it was my first time driving on a street course. Everything here is great – the fans are really cool, it’s a really good atmosphere… I’m sure it will be even better on Sunday. So far so good. Practice Two was a bit wet, so we didn’t really get to run much. Practice One was good – just getting my head around the track. We’re really looking forward to qualifying tomorrow so it’s all been good.”
DALTON KELLETT
NO. 28 K-LINE INSULATORS USA, INC. ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA
– Series sophomore’s best time over 28 laps was 01:13.8046
“It was good to get on track at St. Pete for the season opener here. The track is great as always. Sadly there was a little bit of rain this afternoon, but we still managed to get a little bit of time on track before the rain came down too hard. We ended up P3 in the second session, so we’re really looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying.”