Ganassi's Dario Franchitti won today the IZOD IndyCar Series' season opener by staying clear of all the obstacles that many could not avoid right at the start on the St Petersburg street course.
Franchitti was able to stay on course while many of his adversaries were involved in a multiple-car crash right at the first corner following the green flag.
Pole-sitter and main rival Will Power (Penske) followed him at the finish line with Tony Kanaan ending up third proving he was still a rider to be taken seriously in his first ever outing with KV Racing.
The real star of the day was undoubtedly Simona de Silvestro who, in her HVM Racing Dallara Honda, took a career-best fourth after a drive in which she gave Kanaan a run for his money.
The first corner incident saw a lot of frontrunners being sidelined after veteran Penske man Helio Castroneves charged in the back of Marco Andretti's car under braking.
Andretti spun into and over Ganassi's Scott Dixon as he also collected his Andretti Autosport team-mate Mike Conway and Penske's Ryan Briscoe. Both Andretti and Conway's races were over.
There were a lot of restart incidents in which a lot of drivers were involved including; Graham Rahal (Ganassi), Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti).
Great day for Takuma Sato who completed the top 5 for KV while Alex Tagliani had a promising outing for returnee Sam Schmidt Motorsports with sixth.
Four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais damaged his Dale Coyne car beyond quick repair in a warm-up accident and missed the race.
IndyCar - St Petersburg race - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 2h00m59.6886s
2. Will Power Penske + 7.1612s
3. Tony Kanaan KV + 16.1045s
4. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 16.5616s
5. Takuma Sato KV + 29.9435s
6. Alex Tagliani Schmidt + 30.4655s
7. Raphael Matos AFS + 31.5227s
8. Vitor Meira Foyt + 35.7291s
9. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 49.1432s
10. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 56.8025s
11. Danica Patrick Andretti + 57.3418s
12. JR Hildebrand Panther + 1m02.9700s
13. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 2 laps
14. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
15. James Jakes Coyne + 3 laps
16. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 4 laps
17. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 4 laps
18. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 5 laps
19. EJ Viso KV + 6 laps
20. Helio Castroneves Penske + 15 laps
Retirements:
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 58 laps
Charlie Kimball Ganassi 38 laps
Mike Conway Andretti 1 lap
Marco Andretti Andretti 0 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Coyne DNS
Franchitti was able to stay on course while many of his adversaries were involved in a multiple-car crash right at the first corner following the green flag.
Pole-sitter and main rival Will Power (Penske) followed him at the finish line with Tony Kanaan ending up third proving he was still a rider to be taken seriously in his first ever outing with KV Racing.
The real star of the day was undoubtedly Simona de Silvestro who, in her HVM Racing Dallara Honda, took a career-best fourth after a drive in which she gave Kanaan a run for his money.
The first corner incident saw a lot of frontrunners being sidelined after veteran Penske man Helio Castroneves charged in the back of Marco Andretti's car under braking.
Andretti spun into and over Ganassi's Scott Dixon as he also collected his Andretti Autosport team-mate Mike Conway and Penske's Ryan Briscoe. Both Andretti and Conway's races were over.
There were a lot of restart incidents in which a lot of drivers were involved including; Graham Rahal (Ganassi), Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti).
Great day for Takuma Sato who completed the top 5 for KV while Alex Tagliani had a promising outing for returnee Sam Schmidt Motorsports with sixth.
Four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais damaged his Dale Coyne car beyond quick repair in a warm-up accident and missed the race.
IndyCar - St Petersburg race - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 2h00m59.6886s
2. Will Power Penske + 7.1612s
3. Tony Kanaan KV + 16.1045s
4. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 16.5616s
5. Takuma Sato KV + 29.9435s
6. Alex Tagliani Schmidt + 30.4655s
7. Raphael Matos AFS + 31.5227s
8. Vitor Meira Foyt + 35.7291s
9. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 49.1432s
10. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 56.8025s
11. Danica Patrick Andretti + 57.3418s
12. JR Hildebrand Panther + 1m02.9700s
13. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 2 laps
14. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
15. James Jakes Coyne + 3 laps
16. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 4 laps
17. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 4 laps
18. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 5 laps
19. EJ Viso KV + 6 laps
20. Helio Castroneves Penske + 15 laps
Retirements:
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 58 laps
Charlie Kimball Ganassi 38 laps
Mike Conway Andretti 1 lap
Marco Andretti Andretti 0 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Coyne DNS