Sunday, April 6, 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg –
St. Petersburg, Fla. Round 2 of 16 in the IndyCar Series
RANK | NAME | ENTRY | START
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HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER GRAHAM RAHAL BECAME YOUNGEST WINNER IN SERIES HISTORY WITH VICTORY IN TODAY’S HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG; McDONALD’s DRIVER WILSON LED BUT FINISHED NINTH
Justin Wilson, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I'm a little disappointed with the result but very pleased with the way that everyone has worked. I felt that the McDonald's car was very quick and we are capable of winning. But circumstances didn't work out so if I didn't win I was very pleased that Graham did. It is obviously a great car and he's great teammate to have. I am very happy that he was able to win in his first IndyCar Series start. I think we will see a lot more of Graham."
FAST FACTS: Was his first race here, second in the IndyCar Series, and first in an Indy car on a street course …Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a championship contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season.
Graham Rahal, No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It feels awesome to win! I’m so happy to have won a race and so proud of my guys. Helio is very successful and won a lot of races but I knew we had the pace that we could pull away. We were pulling away before and were aggressive saving fuel. You know there is one more lap left and you just don’t want to lose your focus so I was just trying to stay calm and make it through the last set of corners. I knew we had quote a gap so I wasn’t too worried. My dad said ‘Nice job.’ What more is there to say. What a great feeling.”
FAST FACTS: Was his first race here and his first IndyCar Series race…Became the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history at 19 years and 93 days old. Marco Andretti previously held the record for his ’06 win at Infineon Raceway at 19 years, five months and 14 days old. Nelson Philippe holds the Champ Car record for his ’06 win in Australia at 20 years, two months and 29 days old. With his second place finish in Houston in 2007, he became the youngest Champ Car driver (1979-2007) to finish on the podium at 18 years, three months and 18 days…His first time behind the wheel of an IndyCar Series car on a road/street course was Tuesday when the team attempted to test for three hours at Sebring International Raceway but were rained out after 10 laps for each driver.
NHR competed in the Champ Car race here in 2003 with rookie Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira. Bourdais won the pole position in his Champ car debut and became the first driver to accomplish the feat since Nigel Mansell won the pole for the ’93 Australian event – also while driving for NHR. He led 30 laps and became the first driver in the 25 year history of series to lead the first laps of his inaugural Champ car race. He also set the fastest race lap but he put too much pressure on himself to get back to the front after the team pit him out of sequence and contact ended his race. Junqueira was 2nd fast in prov. qualifying on Friday but his fastest lap in final qualifying (possible 3rd) was not allowed because he brought out a red flag when he spun and stopped on course. More red flags resulted in a seventh place start. He dropped to 14th in the race due a disengaged air hose on the inside rear tire changer’s air gun that but charged back to a 3rd place finish.
