robert wickens Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Friday was the practice and qualifying day ahead of Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway, the first oval in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and it was a definite day of unpredictability. Preseason testing had Rahal Letterman Lanigan at the top of the time sheets, but after the first session Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato were 17th and 18th, respectively. Chevrolet had the top two positions with Simon Pagenaud first and Tony Kanaan second ahead of five Honda carsRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Jay Howard and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have announced their entry for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Howard returns to the team with which he competed in the 2011 and 2017 Indianapolis 500-mile races and will drive the No. 7 Honda with One Cure sponsoring the entry. One Cure is part of the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University that studies cancer treatments for various animal species. “To say I am excited is an understatement,” said Howard inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Controversial? Yes. Risky? Yes. Intentional? No. Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi reminded all of us what Verizon IndyCar Series drivers are made of on Sunday at the end of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. A late race caution came out when Max Chilton stalled his car after reversing it, prompting the field to bunch up behind the pace car. The field were given word that the green flag was coming out with two laps to go and Rossi got a good start. Wickens defendedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Robert Wickens intended to impress on his Verizon IndyCar Series debut and impress the rookie did, scoring pole position and nearly winning Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The 28-year-old Canadian beat Team Penske’s Will Power to the pole and led the first five laps until another rookie, Jordan King, took over after an early restart. Wickens repaid King’s favor on the next restart and led until the No. 6 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda made its way to pit lane on Lap 25. The 2011Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Reversal of Fortune Last season Sebastien Bourdais could only watch as Josef Newgarden drove off with a championship he appeared poised to contend for before misfortune befell him at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. In St. Petersburg he kicked off another championship chase in victory lane after the misfortune of others. Bourdais completed an emotional comeback with a victory in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – the season-opening race for the Verizon IndyCar Series. “This is emotional because I was able from aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer He almost became a late race hero in a daring overtaking maneuver on a restart, but Alexander Rossi instead became a hot topic of controversy during Sunday’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Rossi, who started 12th after a penalty in the second round of qualifying threw out his two fastest laps, moved up to eighth place after the first lap of 110 around the 1.8 mile street circuit. Rossi would move past Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud and Scott DixonRead More

By INDYCAR ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Sunday, March 11, 2018) – If the first race is an indication, the Verizon IndyCar Series is in for a wild, unpredictable and most exciting 2018 season. Sebastien Bourdais repeated as winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg today, but only after rookie Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi collided while battling for the lead on the next-to-last of 110 edge-of-your-seat laps. It was the first of 17 Verizon IndyCar Series races this season. FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG: Official results For Bourdais, theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Defending Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Sébastien Bourdais restarted in third with two laps remaining. One corner later, Alexander Rossi tangled with race leader and INDYCAR series debutant driver Robert Wickens, propelling Bourdais’ No. 18 SealMaster Honda on top of the leaderboard and captured a feelgood second straight win at the Florida street circuit, leading 30 of 110 laps. The victory was Bourdais’ 37th career INDYCAR victory and perhaps his most triumphant after surviving a horrific Turn 2 qualifying crash during Pole DayRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Saturday has come and gone for the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires on the streets of St. Petersburg and many storylines and other things have taken place that made for a full day at the track. IndyCar Robert Wickens getting pole position for Sunday’s race was massive for the Canadian. Stealing the top spot from Will Power on the final lap of the session made it all the sweeter. Wickens came from DTM, butRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Canada’s new hero came calling on his final timed lap as Verizon IndyCar Series rookie Robert Wickens secured pole position in his No. 6 Lucas Oil Honda for the 2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. One of his biggest assists in preparation? YouTube. “I was working hard over the winter, Monday to Friday, watching IndyCar races online on YouTube, anywhere I could find them, just trying to learn,” said Wickens. “Like I think I watched like eight years of St. PeteRead More