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25th
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Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe fighted his way all through the race and finally earned his first ever IndyCar victory of his career in the season-opening race in St. Petersburg.
On three separate occasion, "Hinch'' had to regain the lead during the race after initially taken advantage early on over polesitter Will Power (Penske).
On a later restart, the Canadian had the best over Helio Castroneves (Penske) and was able to maintain the lead during the last laps as the Brazilian made himself a constant menace.
Hinchcliffe crossed the finish line 1.0982s in front of Castroneves. Hinchcliffe's teammate Marco Andretti outdone himself on the street circuit to finish third.
Simona de Silvestro (KV Racing) remained amongst the leaders for the better part of the race but in the end her tires began to fade away, and within a few laps went from third to sixth.
Her teammate, Tony Kanaan and Ganassi's Scott Dixon completed the top five, finishing respectively 4th and 5th.
Rookie Tristan Vautier and his countryman Simon Pagenaud both experienced exhaust problems on their Schmidt Peterson DW12 and were forced to retire while Vautier was running sixth.
Current series' champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay was also forced to park his car with a mechanical problem, while his rival Power's afternoon did not go much better as he was rear-ended by a distracted JR Hildebrand that let Power with no choice than to get into the pits for repairs.
The Australian race ended a short time later when he hit the barriers.
Results - 110 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 2h22m12.5502s
2. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 1.0982s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 16.3664s
4. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy + 19.6083s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 20.7627s
6. Simona de Silvestro KV Dallara-Chevy + 20.7890s
7. EJ Viso Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 20.8229s
8. Takuma Sato Foyt Dallara-Honda + 21.1878s
9. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda + 21.6832s
10. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda + 22.5569s
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 22.7354s
12. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 24.5429s
13. Graham Rahal Rahal Dallara-Honda + 37.5324s
14. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy + 45.2054s
15. James Jakes Rahal Dallara-Honda + 45.7793s
16. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy + 3 laps
17. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy + 6 laps
Retirements:
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 79 laps
JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 78 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Dragon Dallara-Chevy 72 laps
Tristan Vautier Schmidt Dallara-Honda 69 laps
Ana Beatriz Coyne Dallara-Honda 55 laps
Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 50 laps
Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 26 laps
Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 18 laps
On three separate occasion, "Hinch'' had to regain the lead during the race after initially taken advantage early on over polesitter Will Power (Penske).
On a later restart, the Canadian had the best over Helio Castroneves (Penske) and was able to maintain the lead during the last laps as the Brazilian made himself a constant menace.
Hinchcliffe crossed the finish line 1.0982s in front of Castroneves. Hinchcliffe's teammate Marco Andretti outdone himself on the street circuit to finish third.
 |
| Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Mario Andretti. (Photo: LAT for IndyCar) |
Simona de Silvestro (KV Racing) remained amongst the leaders for the better part of the race but in the end her tires began to fade away, and within a few laps went from third to sixth.
Her teammate, Tony Kanaan and Ganassi's Scott Dixon completed the top five, finishing respectively 4th and 5th.
Rookie Tristan Vautier and his countryman Simon Pagenaud both experienced exhaust problems on their Schmidt Peterson DW12 and were forced to retire while Vautier was running sixth.
Current series' champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay was also forced to park his car with a mechanical problem, while his rival Power's afternoon did not go much better as he was rear-ended by a distracted JR Hildebrand that let Power with no choice than to get into the pits for repairs.
The Australian race ended a short time later when he hit the barriers.
 |
| James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport. (Photo: LAT for IndyCar) |
Results - 110 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 2h22m12.5502s
2. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 1.0982s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 16.3664s
4. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy + 19.6083s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 20.7627s
6. Simona de Silvestro KV Dallara-Chevy + 20.7890s
7. EJ Viso Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 20.8229s
8. Takuma Sato Foyt Dallara-Honda + 21.1878s
9. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda + 21.6832s
10. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda + 22.5569s
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 22.7354s
12. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 24.5429s
13. Graham Rahal Rahal Dallara-Honda + 37.5324s
14. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy + 45.2054s
15. James Jakes Rahal Dallara-Honda + 45.7793s
16. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy + 3 laps
17. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy + 6 laps
Retirements:
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 79 laps
JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 78 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Dragon Dallara-Chevy 72 laps
Tristan Vautier Schmidt Dallara-Honda 69 laps
Ana Beatriz Coyne Dallara-Honda 55 laps
Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 50 laps
Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 26 laps
Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 18 laps