ST. PETERSBURG, Fla,—Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Simona di Silvestro were the three fastest driver on the first day of practice of the 2013 IndyCar season, topping the time charts on the St. Petersburg street circuit.
2012 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving for Andretti Autosports, was quickest in the first session and second in the second. Three-time championship runner-up Penske’s Will Power pushed hard in the afternoon, sliding around the faster corners and obviously testing the limits. Simona di Silvestro, now with KV Racing, surprised everyone by running with the fastest, after struggling all through 2012 with HVM’s Lotus-powered car.
Also surprising was the absence of the Ganassi boys, multiple champions Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. These two, like all Honda-powered drivers, couldn’t match the Chevys on Day One.
After the second session the fastest three sat down with the press to discuss the session.
Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay opened the session.
“It’s certainly great to be back at St. Pete, I love it here,” he said. He went on to say that while he was glad to be among the fastest, he didn’t think this gave him a lock on a podium finish.
“It’s still early yet; the track’s still rubbering in. The track’s going to be changing constantly; every time we go out on track the set-up changes. It’s amazing how quickly these tracks change—with street circuits every car that’s out there is making a difference. The car’s evolving and we’re making changes to keep up with [the track].
“We made some good [changes] there about halfway through the sessions but we’ve got a pretty good gap to close to Will [Power]— it’s just under two tenths. It’s good to go into tomorrow knowing we’re somewhere close; the guys have done a great job in the offseason.”
He wasn’t surprised to see either of the other two drivers on top of the time sheets.
“Simona’s the real deal—we’ve seen that since Day One,” he said. “She’s quick; very quick, scary quick. She’s on a good team with a great manufacturer like Chevrolet, so she’s go the horsepower to do it this year. Hopefully she takes it easy on TK [KV Racing team mate Tony Kanaan].
“Will’s always right on it; we expected that. From last your we needed to work on our consistency early in the weekend to make the most of it, so it’s good being where we are.
“Other than that it will be the usual suspects, the guys you'd expect, and it’s great to have Simona here with her new team. But I’m sure Will and I will be a season-long thing.”
Will Power also didn’t make much of being fast in the early sessions. “We’re still fighting the many things you fight around here handling-wise. The Honda guys seem to be on the back foot but it will be tough to stay up front with those two [Andretti] guys [Ryan Hunter Reay and James Hinchcliffe, fastest in the morning sessions.]
Power did make one bold statement: he said he expected qualifying times to be under one minute.
“Yes, I think we will get into the 59s. The Red tires are half a second or sometimes a second quicker, and the track could get a second quicker, so I would expect 59s.”
Simona discussed qualifying, and the difference between being in Lotus-powered car versus having a Chevrolet motor.
“For me qualifying is something kind of new because last year every time we went to qualify we would be out right away,” she explained. “We‘ll see; we’ll how the Red tire is. I think starting up front makes it a little easier. Hopefully we'll be right where these two guys are; that should be all right.”
Regarding the new motor, she said, “It felt like I was literally driving in another category last year. Last year I was driving and I knew I was under-powered but when I first got in the Chevy car, I couldn’t believe there was such a difference.
“The main thing is we have so many more tools. Last year we didn’t even have a Yellow map [an engine setting for running at reduced power under a yellow flag] so we were running always with the same thing. Now we have more aids to help you run; it’s really helpful.”
Finally, the she addressed a remark made by her KV team mate Tony Kanaan, that she had no more excuses and needed to perform in 2013.
“I think I agree. I’ve been three years in the series and we’ve always been struggling with something. Now I am with KV and I think we have the tools in the tool box to make things happen. The tools are here to be really competitive,” she replied.
Di Silvestro and the rest of the IndyCar driving corps will get the chance to prove it all on track in the final practice session starting at 10:25 a.m. and qualifying, which starts at 2:05 p.m.
The IndyCar Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg starts at 12:40 p.m. Sunday, March 24. Tickets are available at the gate or through the IndyCar Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg website.
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