ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ryan Briscoe finished two points arrears of fifth-place Tony Kanaan in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series championship, and if not for a slow start the 30-year-old North Carolina transplant would have been in the top five.
So the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is especially important to Briscoe.
“I do put a lot of emphasis on the first race of the championship,” said Briscoe, who won the 2009 race on the St. Petersburg temporary street course. “It helps a lot starting a championship on the right foot forward, and if you come off with a top-three result or a win you move into the second race then the third race with a bit of a head start.”
Last year, Briscoe lined up fifth and second in the first two events but results didn’t match the starting positions (18th and 21st). He recovered with top-three finishes in the subsequent two races (Long Beach and Sao Paulo) and posted eight other top-10 finishes the remainder of the season.
“I think you start to think more rationally and you are not trying to play catch-up and doing things you wouldn’t if you were leading the championship,” continued Briscoe, who was second-quick on the first day of practice. “It is something to keep in mind that maybe if you don’t start on the right foot to just hit the second race as though maybe you did. I really want to do everything possible to try to win the first race of the year and hit the road running from there.”
He’ll be running right to the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on March 30-April1 at Barber Motorsports Park, where he hopes to join Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Will Power as winners on the 2.38-mile, 14-turn road course.
“I fully expect us to be one of the best, but you can’t underestimate the strength of some of the other smaller teams,” Briscoe said. “There are some really good engineers and drivers on other teams. Schmidt, they have a great team even Dale Coyne with Bill Pappas and Justin Wilson, there are a lot of talent spread through the field on the engineering side and on the driving side. You can never underestimate that, but we know what we’ve got we have the continuity and we are working really hard to try to be the best.”
KV Racing Technology adds full-season sponsor
KV Racing Technology w/ SH announced that Bio-Engineered Supplements and Nutrition, Inc. will join the team for the entire season as a sponsor on the Chevrolet-powered No. 11 car driven by Tony Kanaan.
“I have used BSN products for a long time to help out with my workouts long before they were associated with KV Racing, so I'm more than glad to welcome them to the team,” Kanaan said. ”Winning involves preparation and BSN has what it takes to get you the next level.”
BSN president Charles Hemmingway said the partnership is a natural.
“It’s no secret to us at BSN that hardcore IndyCar fans embrace cutting-edge products that produce results, and that’s why we made the decision to jump into the sport,” he said.
Andretti helmet pays tribute to Wheldon
Marco Andretti is wearing a special helmet to honor the late Dan Wheldon, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who called St. Petersburg home. The helmet incorporates elements of Andretti’s traditional helmet and Wheldon’s racing helmet.
“Obviously, we're going to be driving with very heavy hearts because of Dan Wheldon,” said Andretti, driving the No. 26 RC Cola car for Andretti Autosport. “He was proud to call this place home, so we're going to go there and try to enjoy ourselves and we're going to compete because Dan was a competitor.
“The first thing I thought is I don't want to do too much because a lot of it is being thrown in Susie's face, his wife. But I called her and said I'd like to do something. And basically my painter worked with Dan's, and we came up with something.”
Bourdais commuting to work
Sebastien Bourdais rode his bike to his first day of work with Lotus Dragon Racing.
Bourdais and his family recently returned to their residence in St. Petersburg that they had rented out the past few years – a 10 minute bike ride from the circuit. Bourdais who led the first lap of the 2003 CART race on the temporary street circuit, is racing full time this season with the Jay Penske-owned team.
“My hometown is Le Mans (France), and to win there is very important to me,” said Bourdais, who won four consecutive Champ Car titles from 2003-2007. “But winning here in the States is equally as important. It would be great to win here in St. Pete.”