Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe, Honda Set Opening-Day Pace in St. Petersburg
- Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchliffe lead a 24-car field as 2018 season begins
- Seven Honda drivers, five Honda teams post top-10 times in practice
- Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg opens the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series
The Honda-powered duo of Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe led the way Friday in "opening day" practice to officially start the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season in advance of Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Andretti Autosport's Hunter-Reay was quickest on the day, with a best lap of 1:00.8295, nearly two full seconds quicker than last year's opening day practice, with much of the increase due to the new bodywork – called the universal aero kit – being utilized by all teams in 2018. Leading the two-car Schmidt Peterson Motorsports effort, 2013 St. Pete race winner James Hinchcliffe ended the day second quickest, just five-hundredths of a second back.
Scott Dixon ended the day fourth for Chip Ganassi Racing, with Alexander Rossi sixth in his Andretti Autosport Honda. Robert Wickens placed the second Schmidt Peterson Honda in seventh to lead the rookie field. Defending race winner Sebastien Bourdais ran eighth for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan; and Takuma Sato rounded out the top 10 in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
Activities on the temporary street circuit continue tomorrow with final practice and qualifying. Sunday's 110-lap season-opening race starts at 12:30 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on ABC.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport Honda) quickest in opening-day practice: "Not a bad way to start the season. We're still in the early days and will need to put all our heads together and figure out how we're going to make these cars go faster tomorrow. I think everybody left today feeling like they left something on the table, ourselves included, but it's nice to see the No. 28 DHL Honda right up in front."
Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Circuit: Bayfront Park (1.8-mile temporary street circuit) St. Petersburg, FL 2017 Winner: Will Power (Team Penske) 106.118 mph average Weather: Sunny, mild, 65 degrees F
Top-10 Friday Practice Session Results:
| Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Best Time |
Notes |
|
1. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:00.8295 |
106.527 mph avg. |
|
2. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:00.8724 |
|
|
3. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:00.9933 |
|
|
4. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:01.1004 |
|
|
5. |
Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
1:01.1012 |
|
|
6. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:01.1542 |
|
|
7. |
Robert Wickens-R |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
1:01.2190 |
|
|
8. |
Sebastien Bourdais |
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan |
Honda |
1:01.2741 |
|
|
9. |
Tony Kanaan |
A.J. Foyt Racing |
Chevrolet |
1:01.3185 |
|
|
10. |
Takuma Sato |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:01.3491 |
|
Other Honda Results
| 11. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:01.3780 |
|
|
16. |
Ed Jones |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
1:01.5819 |
|
|
18. |
Zach Veach-R |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
1:01.8423 |
|
|
20. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
1:01.9993 |
|
|
21. |
Zachary Claman DeMelo-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
1:02.0368 |
|
|
23. |
Jack Harvey-R |
Michael Shank Racing |
Honda |
1:02.1640 |
|
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