2003 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Last updated
Flag of the United States.svg 2003 St. Petersburg
Race details
Race 1 of 18 in the 2003 CART season
St. Petersburg street & airport racing circuit.svg
St. Petersburg Track Layout
DateFebruary 23, 2003
Official name Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Location Albert Whitted Airport
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
CourseTemporary airport & street circuit
1.806 mi / 2.906 km
Distance105 laps
189.630 mi / 305.130 km
WeatherSunny with ambient temperatures reaching 79.0 °F (26.1°C); Wind speeds reaching 11.10 mph (17.86 km/h). [1]
Pole position
Driver Sébastien Bourdais  (Newman/Haas Racing)
Time1:00.928
Fastest lap
Driver Sébastien Bourdais  (Newman/Haas Racing)
Time1:01.825 (on lap 29 of 105)
Podium
First Paul Tracy  (Team Player's)
Second Michel Jourdain Jr.  (Team Rahal)
Third Bruno Junqueira  (Newman/Haas Racing)

The 2003 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2003 CART World Series season, held on February 23, 2003 at Albert Whitted Airport and the surrounding streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Contents

Report

French rookie Sébastien Bourdais took pole position at an average speed of 106.710 mph (171.733 km/h) for the Newman/Haas Racing team. Paul Tracy lined up alongside him, with Adrian Fernández and Patrick Carpentier on row two.

The race began under green, with Bourdais leading into turn one ahead of Tracy. At the end of the first lap, an incident between Bruno Junqueira and rookie Mario Haberfeld occurred when Haberfeld pushed Junqueira along the pit wall, and nearly drove straight into Michel Jourdain Jr. when the Mexican was turning into the first corner. On the third lap, Alex Tagliani struck the tire wall at turn 10, bringing out the first caution of the race.

Bourdais led until lap 31, when he lost the lead to Tiago Monteiro in the first scheduled pit stops. Tracy had pushed enough laps to come out ahead of Bourdais when the pack was finally shuffled after the stops. On lap 42, the Frenchman damaged his car into a concrete wall and had to pit for repairs, leaving him several laps down. This left Tracy unchallenged, the Canadian scoring the first victory of the 2003 season in his first race driving for Team Player's. Jourdain was second and Junqueira finished third.

Qualifying results

PosNatNameTeamQual 1Qual 2Best
1 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing 1:01.6761:00.9281:00.928
2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Paul Tracy Team Player's 1:03.0311:01.4761:01.476
3 Flag of Mexico.svg Adrian Fernández Fernández Racing 1:02.7191:01.7491:01.749
4 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Patrick Carpentier Team Player's1:02.3501:01.7591:01.759
5 Flag of Mexico.svg Michel Jourdain Jr. Team Rahal 1:02.5121:01.8121:01.812
6 Flag of Brazil.svg Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 1:02.7201:01.8651:01.865
7 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing1:01.9181:01.9801:01.918
8 Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Vasser American Spirit Team Johansson 1:03.4381:01.9941:01.994
9 Flag of Spain.svg Oriol Servià Patrick Racing 1:02.0621:02.8471:02.062
10 Flag of Mexico.svg Mario Domínguez Herdez Competition 1:02.2801:02.1011:02.101
11 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Darren Manning Walker Racing 1:03.4481:02.2391:02.239
12 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hunter-Reay American Spirit Team Johansson1:04.3471:02.3061:02.306
13 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani Rocketsports Racing 1:02.8221:02.5231:02.523
14 Flag of France.svg Patrick Lemarié PK Racing 1:06.2321:02.9531:02.953
15 Flag of Brazil.svg Roberto Moreno Herdez Competition1:04.9461:03.0501:03.050
16 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing 1:05.1701:03.9871:03.987
17 Flag of Switzerland.svg Joël Camathias Dale Coyne Racing 1:04.7731:04.2411:04.241
18 Flag of Mexico.svg Roberto González Dale Coyne Racing1:06.7991:04.9481:04.948
19 Flag of Mexico.svg Rodolfo Lavín Walker Racing-*1:06.5271:06.527

* Rodolfo Lavin's time from the first qualification session was withdrawn when he changed to a backup car for the second session.

Race

PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
13 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Paul Tracy Team Player's 1052:04:28.904221
29 Flag of Mexico.svg Michel Jourdain Jr. Team Rahal 105+12.1 secs516
31 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing 105+16.6 secs714
434 Flag of Brazil.svg Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 105+41.4 secs612
54 Flag of Brazil.svg Roberto Moreno Herdez Competition 105+56.8 secs1510
612 Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Vasser American Spirit Team Johansson 104+ 1 Lap88
77 Flag of Portugal.svg Tiago Monteiro Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing 104+ 1 Lap166
832 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Patrick Carpentier Team Player's103+ 2 Laps45
919 Flag of Switzerland.svg Joël Camathias Dale Coyne Racing 103+ 2 Laps174
1027 Flag of France.svg Patrick Lemarié PK Racing 102+ 3 Laps143
112 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing97+ 8 Laps14
1220 Flag of Spain.svg Oriol Servià Patrick Racing 96+ 9 Laps91
1315 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Darren Manning Walker Racing 75Clutch110
1455 Flag of Mexico.svg Mario Domínguez Herdez Competition71Contact100
1551 Flag of Mexico.svg Adrian Fernández Fernández Racing 69Contact30
1631 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hunter-Reay American Spirit Team Johansson61Contact120
1711 Flag of Mexico.svg Roberto González Dale Coyne Racing21Off Course180
185 Flag of Mexico.svg Rodolfo Lavín Walker Racing12Contact190
1933 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani Rocketsports Racing 3Contact130

Caution flags

LapsCause
5-7 Tagliani (33) contact
13-14 Lavín (5) spin
16-17 Lemarié (27) spin
48-50 Carpentier (32) contact
62-67 Hunter-Reay (31) contact

Notes

LapsLeader
1-30 Sébastien Bourdais
31-34 Tiago Monteiro
35-105 Paul Tracy
 
DriverLaps led
Paul Tracy 71
Sébastien Bourdais 30
Tiago Monteiro 4

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References

  1. "Weather information for the 2003 St. Petersburg Grand Prix".
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Coordinates: 27°46′0.4″N82°37′54.3″W / 27.766778°N 82.631750°W / 27.766778; -82.631750