The opening round of the Verizon Indy Car series was held on the streets of St. Petersburg in Florida. The picturesque 14 turn street circuit is about 2 miles in length and encompasses the beautiful harbor front, the Al Lang Stadium, Dali Museum, and part of the Albert Whitted Airport. Will Power in the #1 Team Penske Chevrolet was at the top of the combined practice sessions with a time of 01:01.3621 and top speed of 105.603 mph after 74 laps. Hope you like the photos.

Friday

For the mid-day first practice session headed over to the inside of Turn 12 for front and 3/4 front shots of the cars. This would be a good opportunity to check out the new front aero kits and the different approaches taken by Chevrolet and Honda.

One of the simplest front wing aero kits was on the #8 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet driven by Sage Karam, with only two small wings above the main wing and simple side horizontal plates.

A more complex front wing aero package was on the #26 Andretti Autosport – HVM Racing Honda driven by Carlos Munoz, with three small wings above the main wing and more complex horizontal plates.

The yellow livery really coveys the complexity of the aero kit on the #28 Andretti Autosport Honda driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Will Power in the #1 Team Penske would eventually top the practice time sheets after combining the Saturday practice session

Saturday

For Saturday mid-day practice went to the outside of Turn 3 to get shots of the cars going through this narrow part of the course. To the right of Turn 3, you can watch the Indy Cars speeding through the Turn 2 complex. Here’s, Charlie Kimball in the #83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing.

This shot of the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda driven by Carlos Huertas shows how the signage at the Turn 3 wall was ripped off due to the “force” of the Indy Cars speeding by.

Here’s a wide shot of the long Turn 3 to 4 straight, with Juan Pablo Montoya in the #2 Team Penske.

“Explosion of dust” with Helio Castroneves in the #3 Team Penske Chevrolet long the Turn 3 to 4 straight.