Official Indy Light Discussion Thread - Round 2-3 - St. Pete

Allan Craighead

Hi all,

While not in attendance at the first non-oval event of the season, we at EFCN are keeping an eye on what is occurring in St. Petersburg and in discussions with drivers and teams at the event. Below are the times from the opening practice session on the 1.8-mile street circuit. Of note, just prior to the event getting underway, 2007 series race winner Robbie Pecorari signed with Michael Crawford Motorsports for the doubleheader weekend. The Indy Lights drivers have another practice session late in the day on Friday before qualifying and Round Two on Saturday.

Practice 1

1. Raphael Matos 1:07.8734
2. Richard Antinucci 1:07.9280
3. Jeff Simmons 1:08.2958
4. J.R. Hildebrand 1:08.4615
5. Bobby Wilson 1:08.4697
6. James Davison 1:08.5277
7. Sean Guthrie 1:08.9365
8. Dillon Battistini 1:08.9685
9. Logan Gomez 1:09.0203
10. Cyndie Allemann 1:09.0343
11. Andrew Prendeville 1:09.1862
12. Chris Festa 1:09.2983
13. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1:09.6077
14. Mitch Cunningham 1:09.6733
15. Pablo Donoso 1:09.6824
16. Al Unser III 1:09.7498
17. Robbie Pecorari 1:09.8820
18. Nathan Freke 1:10.0148
19. Micky Gilbert 1:10.1662
20. Juan Manuel Polar 1:10.1787
21. Ana Beatriz 1:10.2436
22. Brent Sherman 1:10.3120
23. Marc Williams 1:11.2237

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject:

Evening race fans,

The second practice session is now complete in St. Pete, and two-time former race winner Raphael Matos remains the man to beat. Bettering his fast time on the street circuit, the AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing pilot edged fellow Atlantic Championship graduate J.R. Hildebrand in a RLR/Andersen Racing entry. The Indy Lights return to the cockpit on Saturday with qualifying at 10:05 a.m. local time and Round two scheduled to commence at 4:45 p.m. Here are the times from the second practice session.

Practice 2

1. Raphael Matos 1:07.4950
2. J.R. Hildebrand 1:07.5857
3. Richard Antinucci 1:07.6807
4. Jeff Simmons 1:07.8844
5. Dillon Battistini 1:08.0438
6. Cyndie Allemann 1:08.2842
7. Ana Beatriz 1:08.2952
8. James Davison 1:08.2971
9. Mitch Cunningham 1:08.4248
10. Andrew Prendeville 1:08.5725
11. Pablo Donoso 1:08.6018
12. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1:08.6737
13. Micky Gilbert 1:08.8230
14. Juan Manuel Polar 1:08.8511
15. Robbie Pecorari 1:08.8650
16. Chris Festa 1:08.9202
17. Sean Guthrie 1:08.9426
18. Logan Gomez 1:08.9849
19. Al Unser III 1:09.0065
20. Brent Sherman 1:09.3309
21. Nathan Freke 1:09.7614
22. Bobby Wilson 1:10.3435
23. Marc Williams 1:10.5995

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:47 am Post subject:

Afternoon guys and gals,

Having topped the charts in practice, Brazilian Raphael Matos remained the driver everyone was chasing qualifying, capturing his second consecutive pole position of the season. the AFS Racing/Andretti Green racing pilot will start P1 for race one of the St. Pete doubleheader, with Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Richard Antinucci securing the other front-row spot. Below are the times from the qualifying session. the grid for race two will be detertmined by the results from race one later today, with a random number within the top eight bein inverted.

Qualifying

1. Raphael Matos 1:06.4669
2. Richard Antinucci 1:06.7318
3. Ana Beatriz 1:07.5217
4. Bobby Wilson 1:07.5943
5. Jeff Simmons 1:07.6391
6. J.R. Hildebrand 1:07.6421
7. James Davison 1:07.6775
8. Andrew Prendeville 1:07.8251
9. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1:08.0150
10. Logan Gomez 1:08.0859
11. Cyndie Allemann 1:08.1919
12. Robbie Pecorari 1:08.3735
13. Brent Sherman 1:08.4629
14. Pablo Donoso 1:08.4957
15. Dillon Battistini 1:08.2503
16. Chris Festa 1:08.5753
17. Junan Manuel Polar 1:08.5822
18. Mitch Cunningham 1:08.8025
19. Sean Guthrie 1:08.8202
20. Micky Gilbert 1:09.0190
21. Al Unser III 1:09.0342
22. Nathan Freke 1:09.1941
23. Marc Williams 1:10.6435

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject:

Evening gang,

The opening race of the St. Pete doubleheader proved uneventful, as Raphael Matos led all 40 laps in his AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing entry, winning for the third time on the street circuit, having won both rounds of the doubleheader in 2006. Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammates Richard Antinucci and Ana Beatriz completed the top-three, with the duo swapping places late in the race. Jeff Simmons, driving a Team Moore Racing entry will start on pole in race two, after Matos randomly selected the top-four would be inverted. Here are the results from Round Two.

Race 1

1. Raphael Matos
2. Richard Antinucci
3. Ana Beatriz
4. Jeff Simmons
5. J.R. Hildebrand
6. Arie Luyendyk Jr.
7. Andrew Prendeville
8. Cyndie Allemann
9. Juan Manuel Polar
10. Robbie Pecorari
11. Chris Festa
12. Al Unser III
13. James Davison
14. Pablo Donoso
15. Sean Guthrie
16. Micky Gilbert
17. Brent Sherman
18. Marc Williams
19. Mitch Cunningham
20. Nathan Freke
21. Dillon Battistini
22. Bobby Wilson
23. Logan Gomez

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com

Allan Craighead · Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject:

Hi gang,

After an eventful second race on the streets of St. petersburg, that featured more than one incident, Richard Antinucci emerged as the victor in his Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry. Completing the top-three in the doubleheader were RLR/Andersen Racings J.R. Hildebrand and Guthrie Racing's Logan Gomez. Below are the results. A report will be posted later.

Race 2

1. Richard Antinucci
2. J.R. Hildebrand
3. Logan Gomez
4. Dillon Battistini
5. Sean Guthrie
6. Al Unser III
7. Juan Manuel Polar
8. Nathan Freke
9. Marc Williams
10. Cyndie Allemann
11. Micky Gilbert
12. Raphael Matos
13. Brent Sherman
14. James Davison
15. Chris Festa
16. Ana Beatriz
17. Pablo Donoso
18. Mitch Cunningham
19. Jeff Simmons
20. Andrew Prendeville
21. Bobby Wilson
22. Arie Luyendyk Jr.
23. Robbie Pecorari

Cheers,
_________________
Allan Craighead
eFormulaCarNews.com Managing Editor
eKartingNews.ca Managing Editor
eSportsRacer.com Managing Editor
(226) 808-9472 Cell
acraighead@howdenmediagroup.com