IndyCar 2015 - Montoya leads the way

Well they always say better late than never! Apologies this race report is so late folks but hope it was worth it. Just under two weeks ago IndyCar's 2015 season got underway in St Pertersburg, Florida, and it was Colombian and former F1 star Juan Pablo Montoya who took the first victory of the season ahead of his reigning champion Penske team mate and pole sitter, Will Power and Chip Ganassi's Tony Kanaan. Before the race, Montoya had said "Roger (Penske) hired me to get the job done and I do my best to get the job done" Montyoa did exactly that, picking up his second win in IndyCar since making his comeback in 2014.

Power lead for much of the race, but was overtaken by his team mate at the final pit stops and Montoya held on to the win, despite a scary moment 11 laps from the end, when Power made an audacious move down the inside of Montoya at turn 10, clipping the back of JPM and damaging the front wing of Powers car. With the new aerokits adding so much more down-force to the DW12 chassis, Power struggled more than perhaps he might have done had this been 2014, and he couldn't challenge his team mate after that, falling back to 1.5474 seconds at the checkered flag. 

Will Power, No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet - Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet

"If I hadn't damaged my front wing, maybe I would have had another shot,” Power said. “He was very strong on the front straight and my exits weren't very good. That was really my only chance. I thought maybe I would catch him off-guard there. You don't expect someone to pass there, so, yeah, I gave it a shot.

Will Power, No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet - Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet

“I was surprised at how aggressively he turned, but he wanted to win the race and so did I.” said Juan Pablo.  “I saw him make the move but he was way too far and I wasn't going to give him the position. If he was beside me I would have said, ‘OK, go ahead.’ When I got to the turning point he wasn't even close. It is a shame we touched, but it’s all good, it’s racing.

Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet

“The tires were not falling off and right there at the end I was just running slow to look after them. When I needed to push I could push. Everybody with Verizon and Team Penske did an amazing job; Chevy as well. This aero kit is amazing to drive.” The win marked the 175th for the Penske team in IndyCar. "It was a fight between our two guys in front. It was just an amazing weekend,” said Roger Penske. "To come back this year with the fast times in qualifying and win this race 1-2, and four drivers in the top six, wow, what a day".

Tony Kanaan, No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Tony Kanaan had a fairly quite run to third place, driving No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finishing 11.1685 seconds behind the winner and Helio Castroneves, the only three-time winner at St. Petersburg, placed fourth in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet. Simon Pagenaud finished fifth in the No. 22 Penske Chevrolet.

Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet

"Chip told me to bring the car back in one piece. He didn't want to see a scratch apart from the marbles,” said Tony Kanaan,  “We tried to stay out of trouble. The Penske guys were definitely tough today. On that last stint, we had to save a little bit more fuel, and not having the pace, I had to drop back. But we will take third. It's good points, and we have to work from here.” The final Penske, the No.3 of Helio Castroneves, held on to fourth despite losing some time on a restart earlier on in the race after qualifying in third place.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport

Kanaan and Ganassi aren't the only ones who have work to do, the Honda contingent need to work harder to beat the Chevrolet guy's.  Ryan Hunter-Reay finished seventh in the No. 28 Andretti Autosport car, and was the highest placed car powered by Honda. “I think that was the hardest seventh-place finish I’ve seen,” he said. “That’s how it is sometimes, when you have bad days you have to bring home solid top 10s. We’ll take the top 10 and move ahead with the DHL car for New Orleans.”

Simona De Silvestro, No.25 Andretti Autosport

Behind the leaders, the race was a hell of a scrappy affair interrupted numerous times for cautions to remove debris coming from the new aero kits on the cars, highlighting how easy it is for the new kits to shed winglets during contact. Few drivers were more in the wars however than Simona de Silvestro. Her IndyCar comeback with the Andretti team was ruined by two collisions. The first of them was a bit of a friendly-fire incident involving ger Andretti team-mates Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz, with the second one being a slightly misjudged passing, ending with her spearing into the unfortunate James Jakes.

Simona De Silvestro, No.25 Andretti Autosport

The latter earned her a drive-through penalty, a punishment that was also received by Graham Rahal, after he hit the crippled car of Charlie Kimball near the end of the race. Amid all the messiness, Jack Hawksworth capitalised on an aggressive pit strategy to climb from last to eighth, putting him just ahead of Luca Filippi, Filippi spending most of his maiden outing for CFH Racing nursing a broken wing. 

Jack Hawksworth, No.41  AJ Foyt Racing ABC Supply Honda

So, here are the full results for the 2015 IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, courtesy of autosport.com;

Sadly, a fan was injured during the race by a piece of debris, coming from one of the new aero kits on the cars. Modifications have been made ahead of tomorrow's inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana to strengthen the kits to prevent an incident like this from happening again. IndyCar however has returned with an eventful season opener, expect more action this weekend in what should be a fascinating race in Louisiana. Can anyone stop the Penske boys? I can't wait to find out! Until next time, ciao.

Helio Castroneves, No.3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet