Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Indycar race infobox
Name=Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Track_

Map of the track with the surrounding area
Venue=Streets of St. Petersburg
Sponsor=Honda
First race=1985
First IRL race=2005
Time=UTC-5 (UTC-4 DST)
Distance=1.80 miles
Laps=100
Previous names=St. Petersburg Grand Prix (1985-1990)
Kash n' Karry Florida Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (1996-1997)
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2003)
Record_driver = Sébastien Bourdais
Record_time = 1:00.928
Record_speed_mph = 106.710
Record_speed_kmh = 171.733
Record_team = Newman-Haas Racing
Record_class = Champ Car
Record_year = 2003| Network=ESPN

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race is telecast on ESPN or ABC.

Racing in the St. Petersburg area dates back to 1985. The SCCA Trans-Am Series held a race on a downtown waterfront circuit from 1985-1990. Local residents and businesses complained about noise, and the event was put on hiatus. Racing in the Tampa Bay Area also included an IMSA race at the Florida State Fairgrounds. But it only lasted two years (1989-1990).

In 1996-1997, the St. Petersburg race was revived on a course around Tropicana Field. Along with the Trans-Am Series, support races included U.S. FF2000, World Challenge, Pro SRF, and Barber Dodge. The event was well-received, but the course was considered unsatisfactory. The event went again on hiatus for several years.

In 2003, the event was revived once again. The race was first run as a Champ Car event in 2003. It utilitzed a modified version of the original 1985-90 waterfront circuit.

For 2004, however, the event was cancelled due to a dispute between the promoters. When the race returned in 2005, it switched to the IndyCar Series, and marked the first non-oval event for the Indy Racing League. Starting in 2007, the race weekend was expanded to include an ALMS event.

It was announced during 2008 race that Andretti Green Promotions, the organization that owns and operates the event, signed a contract extension with the city of St. Petersburg through 2013.

Past winners

CCA Trans-Am

*1985 Willy T. Ribbs
*1986 Pete Halsmer
*1987 Scott Pruett
*1988 Walter Röhrl
*1989 Irv Hoerr
*1990 Chris Kneifel
*1996 Ron Fellows
*1997 Tommy Kendall
*2003 Scott Pruett

IMSA (fairgrounds)

*1989 Price Cobb
*1990 James Weaver

Course

The Streets of St. Petersburg course is a street circuit connecting existing roads with one of the two landing strips of Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The original 1985 Trans-Am course utilized a similar layout. At the end of Bayshore Drive, rather than diverting off to the airport runways, the course circled around 5th Avenue Southeast and the start/finish line was located just south of the paddock. In addition, the old course traveled further up Beach Drive Northeast, all the way to 5th Avenue Northeast. When the course was reconfigured, it turned at Central Avenue instead.

The second course at Tropicana Field was located about a mile west of the waterfront location.

The proposed Rays Ballpark is situated inside the confines of the course layout and may disrupt or require changes to the track in the future.

Motorsport venue Name = Streets of St. Petersburg | Location = St. Petersburg, Florida Time=UTC-5 (UTC-4 DST) Image_caption = Streets of St. Petersburg trackmap Owner = Andretti Green Promotions Events = IRL, ALMS Capacity = 40,000 Length_mi = 1.8 Length_km = 2.89

References

* [http://www.indycar.com IRL's website]
* [http://www.champcarstats.com ChampCarStats.com]
* [http://www.gpstpete.com Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg's website]
* [http://www.americanlemans.com American Le Mans Series website]
* [http://www.sptimes.com/2003/02/21/Grandprix/City_has_had_false_st.shtml City has had false starts with racing]
* [http://theracingline.net/racingcircuits/racingcircuits/UnitedStates/fl/StPetersburg1986.html Grand Prix circuit track maps of all three layouts]

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