Front Row Start for Honda, Scott Dixon at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
• Dixon, James Hinchcliffe lead qualifying effort for Honda
• Three Honda teams, four drivers reach “Firestone Fast Six” final qualifying shootout
• 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series opens Sunday
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 11, 2017) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon again led the Honda effort Saturday at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, advancing to the “Firestone Fast Six” final qualifying round. Dixon will start Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg from the outside of the front row, second.
In all, three Honda Verizon IndyCar Series teams advanced through two rounds of “knockout” qualifying to make the final, led by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports James Hinchcliffe, who will start third. In his first race with Andretti Autosport, veteran Takuma Sato qualified fifth, with Dixon’s teammate Tony Kanaan rounding out the top six.
Honda drivers also dominated second-round qualifying. Max Chilton, making his second start at St. Petersburg for Chip Ganassi Racing, will start seventh, followed by defending Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi, Charlie Kimball and Graham Rahal rounding out the top 10.
Sunday’s 110-lap season-opening race starts at 12:30 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on ABC.
Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Qualified 2nd: “That was just on me, unfortunately. We have a super-fast car and should have been on pole. I just messed up a little on my fastest lap there. I’m obviously disappointed, but the team has four fast cars. We’re working together great with Honda and I can’t wait to start the race tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll have the GE car up front when it counts.”