The first race of the 2018 IndyCar season was run last Sunday and Sebastian Bourdais, who now calls St. Petersburg home, took the St. Petersburg road course win for the second year in a row. It was an exciting win for the 39-year-old driver originally from Le Mans, France. It was his 37th IndyCar victory which places 6th on the all time list. He looks as though he is fully recovered from injuries suffered during his horrendous crash when qualifying for last year’s Indy 500. Bourdais was obviously exhausted after the race and was almost too tired to get himself out of his car and go to the podium.
The big story was rookie Robert Wickens driving for Schmidt/Peterson. The 29-year-old Canadian driver won the pole and led the most laps of the race. With 2 laps to go, second place Alexander Rossi made a move for the lead and slid into Wickens, sending him into the retaining wall and out of the race. Rossi spun out but was able to maintain control and finish 3rd. Bourdais snuck by for the victory and Graham Rahal finished second.
It was a big day for Honda as the Japanese engine powered 8 of the top 10 finishers. Josef Newgarden, the defending series champ, finished 7th for Team Penske driving a Chevy powered racer and teammate Will Power wished 10th. Power started 2nd but hit a retaining curb early in the race and the in-pit repairs put him a lap down.
Six rookies started, the most since the 2016 Indy 500. This was also the debut of the new aero kits. The race featured 8 cautions, 366 track passes and 11 lead changes. The next stop is Phoenix for the Desert Diamond Valley Grand Prix on April 7th.
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