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story by craig lord

Photos lat usa

In every motorsport

category there are the

bIg names posItIons of

stature gIven by careerresults and the team they

drIve for. therefore by

rIght, those bIg names

should receIve the kudos

at events; they should

also by default be rated

as an on-form probable

for a posItIve outcome.

however, the thIng that

motorsport fans love Is

when a new name can pop

Itself Into the mIx

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The opening event or the IZOD IndyCar season looked

as though it was going to provide a same-old situation,

Will Power claiming pole as a driver or the Penske

team with a long queue o top names and teams right behind

him Excuse me, scratch that, I apologise or that sentence as

it was simply habitual to write such things the real act o the

matter was that we had exactly the opposite.

While seeing Power up top was o no shock, it was with raised

eyebrows that the Fast Six would contain only one other big

name that being Helio Castroneves and the raised eyebrows

came with wide smiles rom all who watched. Without being

derogatory towards our o the names, it was simply that things

had become customary and to see the qualiying results all as

they did was as welcoming as it was unexpected.

Going back to the opening statements o names with

teams, there is a situation where you get a mix o that a bigperormance team that doesnt have a driver with a stack o

high perormance results, and that was the case or Andretti

Motorsports. Whilst they came into the 2013 season with the

Championship belt around Hunter-Reays waist, their other driver

James Hinchclie had only produced a seemingly mediocre bag

o results rom his rst season stint with the team. His prole

was high due to the team he was running in, and by proxy due

to the sponsorship package and drivers that he took over rom.

But when it came to the expectations o Hinchclie by the sports

watchers, there was a eeling o potential with high improbability,

not because o his driving decits, but due to the other names

around him on that track but how we watchers enjoyed

being proven wrong when he placed himsel into that Fast Six

qualiying section.

To make things even more spectacular or the opening

segment o 2013, Power, Hinchclie, and Castroneves were then

joined by two names that had predominantly been used to ll

post-race listings and a rookie, Takuma Sato, Simona De Silvestro,

and Tristan Vautier; all three o them producing qualiying runs to

set the new season alight. The sign o pace rom teams outside

o the norm this early in the season was exactly what the sportneeded. To then see the other Andretti cars qualiy in 7th, 8th

and 22nd was a slight shock but certainly less than what it was to

see the Ganassi cars qualiy down in 10th and 20th.

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The opening event for the IZOD IndyCar

season looked as though it was going to

provide a same-old situation, Will Power

claiming pole as a driver for the

Penske team with a long queue of top

names and teams right behind him

Excuse me, scratch that...

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When it came to the race itsel, things were to become

even more dramatic as the temporary street circuit o St

Petersburg was to provide the usual spectacle o drivers

having to negotiate around the two walls the one on the let

and the one on the right.

From the outset it was Will Power that launched away with

the race, the Penske car looking to stretch its legs and leave all

others in his wake, with Sato unable to maintain the pace, slowing

the others down behind him. By the 20th o 110 laps the positions

throughout the eld had changed quite dramatically, Kanaan

going rom 11 to 7th, Dixon rom 20 to 16, Rahal rom 15 to 10,

and Hildebrand rom 24 to 19. But up ront it seemed to be a one

horse race with Power ahead o Sato by just under 11 seconds,

while Castroneves had moved to 3rd ahead o Hinchclie and De

Silvestro. It was at this time however that the rst o the big name

teams would have to deal with early season drama.The two Ganassi machines were out o sorts, and both drivers

were unhappy with the way the cars were handling, it was

Franchitti however that would have to cope with the worst start

to a season ater making big contact with a wall on resh cold

tyres. His extra risk-taking as he tried to make up the numbers

was to be the start o something good or his opposition because

the yellow fag incident produced a rat o pitstops and a restart

that was to nulliy Powers 11 second lead.

Castroneves was the beneactor o the restart going rom

3rd to 1st, and two corners later Sato was moved down to 4th

as Hinchclie started to appreciate that his ability to race up

ront was realistic. Then another yellow was to be the undoing o

Power as during the restart he and his team-mate Castroneves

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had a minor coming together which slowed him down and

allowed Hinchclie the opportunity to move up into 2nd with

Power now struggling in 3rd.

Naturally the St Petersburg circuit was to produce more saety

car segments, and due to pitstops it would once again change

the positions o the ront six, with Power getting the jump on

Hinchclie only to have the exact opposite happen on the

subsequent pitstops under yellow o lap 75. From there it was tobe disaster or Power, because J.R. Hildebrand decided to ride his

car up and over the right side o the Penske machine while under

saety, and whilst the team was able to get Power back on track

the subsequent damage to his car meant that he was unable to

sustain any serious ront running pace.

It was then, with 25 laps to go under restart that the world

changed or Hinchclie, he controlled his restart and applied

enough pressure to Castroneves that he orced the Brazilian

into a rare racing mistake, and Hinchclie was now in uncharted

territory. He was not alone though in regards to providing the

ans with wonderul driving because De Silvestro was back in 3rd,

Kanaan had leapt into 4th, Andretti was 5th and Dixon had come

rom position 20 to be amongst the ront segment in 6th.

Power had gone rom leading by 11 seconds to ghting back in

13th, but while many people could empathize with his ate, there

were equally as many hoping that Hinchclie would be able to

hold o Castroneves up ront.

Meanwhile, as the Andretti and Penske teams were ghting

up ront, and with only one lap remaining De Silvestro was in

with a chance or a podium but she had run out o tire grip,

that allowed Andretti to re past, and although she was ableto control the car or the rest o the lap, in the last twenty eet

beore the chequered fag both Kanaan and Dixon were also

able to sneak past her.

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The spoils however o

the opening round, were

as a whole to go to the

Andretti camp not only

because o Hinchclies

ability to hold o

Castroneves or the win, but

because Marco had claimed

3rd, and the car o EJ Viso

had come rom 22nd

to nish in 7th.

The aspects o that openingrace were quite remarkable, and

given that ater one event the big

names could possibly change in

the IZOD IndyCar ranks, it set all

eyes on the Grand Prix o Alabama,

at the ten-year old Barber Circuit.

More so however, it sent eyes towards

Andretti Autosport who had made a

clear statement at St Petersburg.

This statement was amplied or Ryan

Hunter-Reay ater he claimed Pole at the2.3 mile purpose built road course, but he

was relatively alone rom his team-mates,

with Marco starting rom 7th, Viso 16th and

Hinchclie in 20th.

While Penske had a reasonable shot with

cars on rows one, three and ve, the Ganassi

camp had mixed bag with Dixon on row three

and Franchitti back on row nine but just like

the opening event o the season, there was to

be some resh blood starting near the pointy

end o the eld.

This resh blood was made up o the only season

Rookie Tristan Vautier who had pushed the Schmidt

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While Penske had a reasonable shot with cars on

rows one, three and five, the Ganassi camp had

mixed bag with Dixon on row three and Franchitti

back on row nine but just like the opening event

of the season, there was to be some fresh blood

starting near the pointy end of the field.

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Peterson car into third or the start, and just behind him would

be Charlie Kimball, who whilst certainly not a Rookie, he and his

team were under severe pressure to perorm ater airly mediocre

perormances the last two seasons under the Chip Ganassi fag.

From the fag drop Power made a mistake by going wide

during the rst two turns and was subsequently swamped byVautier and Andretti who moved in behind Hunter-Reay. From

there it was aggression rom all in the eld as they jostled or

better track position. Seriva and Rahal had a coming together

and that brought out the course yellow, and it was during that

rst segment behind the saety car that the series leader was to

end his race in the most sad way. He received a fat tyre and he

was unable to drive on it, then the wheel ell o during his tow

back to the pits, so he had to park it up and wait or another

yellow fag and that did not work in his avour. The series leader

was out.

While Hunter-Reay was leading the eld, it was Kimball who

was making himsel known to the large crowd as he took the

third spot away rom Andretti, and started to chase down the

Rookie Vautier, but that was not going to be an easy job as

Vautier was showing that he has earned his shot amongst the big

league.

By lap 45 it had come back predominantly to a case o the

big names, with Power, Hunter-Reay, Castroneves and Dixon all

ghting or the glory spot, however there were two names amid

that inner sanctum, and they deserved to be there. Vautier was

4th, and the leader was Charlie Kimball.

There were circumstances or these positions, mainly being

the timing o individual pitstops given that since lap 2, there had

been no saety car intervention; however that did not detract

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rom the main act that once again, the IZOD IndyCar series was

throwing more resh names into the mix.

Ganassi however were still doing it tough, because even

though they had Kimball and Dixon pushing hard up ront, a

mainstay o the category was yet again going to receive a DNF

beside his name, the Franchitti car was out with mechanical

issues in what is possibly the worst start to his IndyCar career

to date.

That o course was o no concern to the likes o Kimball or

Vautier, who were quite content to mix it up ront as much as

possible, and they managed to do so or two-thirds o the race

distance, beore the play was made by Hunter-Reay, Castroneves

and Dixon. Those particular drivers, along with their teams

correct play on tire and pit strategies had moved them into a

three-way ght or the lead.

However, while the race had come back to the big names

it was not a total case o domination. Simon Pagenaud, Justin

Wilson and Jose Newgarden had all moved themselves into the

running or a top ten nish, and with Tristian Vautier still holding

o the likes o Alex Tagliani or that nal 10th spot, there was a

real chance or quiet in-house bragging rights to be made.

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The nal 10 laps became a tense sprint, with the Andretti,

Penske and Ganassi teams lling the top ve positions, which

meant that apart rom a disaster rom any o those, it was looking

unlikely that another team would get a look in. What was or

certain though, is that those drivers who were up ront, deserved

to be there, and the ght or the podium was to be a strong one

when Dixon managed to pass Castroneves with 13 to go.

From there however the fow was going to stay in that

order, the tire strategies working or some and not or others,

and while Castroneves was only going to claim third, it

was enough a points haul good enough to take over the

championship lead. And while Dixon was unable to take the

victory away rom Hunter-Reay, he has slotted himsel into

second on the overall standings.

Yes, it was the same teams up top, and you could look at it

and shrug your shoulders, but with Kimball nishing with a career

high o orth and the likes o the beore mentioned Pagenaud,

and Vautier rubbing up amongst it, along with De Silvestro and

Visos perormances rom the St Petersburg round there is the

huge possibility that this season, the regular big names may

have less impact than beore.KBN