markpenske

The season kicks off this weekend at St. Petersburg.
- Not much has changes with driver line-ups. Alexander Rossi & Max Chilton are in, Sage Karam is out.
- Phoenix, Road America & Boston (street) are added.

The Raptor

And Fontana is out, damnit!

Here is the St. Pete schedule:

Friday, March 11

7:30 – 8:00 a.m. USF2000 practice #2
8:05 – 8:35 a.m. Pro Mazda practice #1
8:50 – 9:20 a.m. Indy Lights practice #1
9:35 – 9:55 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge GT, GTA and GT Cup qualifying
10:10 – 10:35 a.m. USF2000 qualifying
10:50 – 12:05 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1
12:20 – 1:20 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge GTS race #1
1:35 – 2:05 p.m. Pro Mazda practice #2
2:10 – 2:40 p.m. Indy Lights practice #2
2:55 – 3:25 p.m Stadium Super Trucks practice
3:40 – 4:55 p.m Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2
6:30 p.m. Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 5K presented by MBA

Saturday, March 12

7:30 – 7:50 a.m. Pro Mazda qualifying
7:55 – 8:25 a.m.Indy Lights qualifying
8:40 – 9:20 a.m. USF2000 race #1
9:35 – 10:35 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge GT, GTA, GT Cup race #1
10:50 – 11:40 a.m. Pro Mazda race #1 11:55 – 12:40 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3
12:00 - 12:30 p.m. Public Event – USF2000 autograph session, Fan Village
12:55 – 1:45 p.m. Indy Lights race #1
1:55 – 2:40 p.m. Public Event – Verizon IndyCar Series autograph session, Fan Village
2:00 – 2:40 p.m. USF2000 race #2
2:55 – 3:25 p.m. Stadium Super Trucks race #1
3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Public Event - Indy Lights autograph session, Fan Village
3:40 – 4:55 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying and Firestone Fast 6
5:10 – 6:00 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge GTS race #2

Sunday, March 13

9:00 – 9:30 a.m. Verizon IndyCar Series warm-up
9:45 – 10:55 a.m. Indy Lights race #2
11:15 – 11:45 a.m. Stadium Super Trucks race #2
11:30 - 12:00 p.m. Public Event - Pro Mazda autograph session, Fan Village
12:06 – 12:45 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies for Verizon IndyCar Series race
12:45 – 2:50 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series race, green flag at approx. 12:52 p.m.
3:15 – 4:15 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge GT, GTA and GT Cup race #2
4:30 – 5:20 p.m. Pro Mazda race #2
* Schedule subject to change.

Nerd-Vol

Looking forward to the season. I am a Sato fan. Loved him since his F1 days. Also a fan of RHR, he's a class guy.

I am not sad about Sage being out, he was a meathead.

The Raptor

Helio Castroneves here.

Here's the 2016 schedule:

http://www.indycar.com/~/media/Files...t-Schedule.pdf

markpenske

I haven't seen any official odds for the 2016 title. Here's what I'm thinking.

Top tier (title contenders):
Power & Dixon.

Next tier:
Rahal, Newgarden, Montoya, Castro-Neves, Pagenaud, Hunter-Reay, Bourdais

3rd tier:
Sato, Hawksworth, Andretti, Kanaan, Kimball

4th tier:
Hinchcliff, Rossi, Munoz

I like Newgarden but I don't think his team is strong enough to contend for a title.
Watch out for Rahal. Honda & Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan looked a lot stronger as the year went on. Hunter-Reay had the worse luck last year. I'd think he could move up to top 5.
So, I'm thinking
1. Power,
2 Dixon &
3 Rahal
4 Hunter-reay
5 Montoya

A 2

Is Rossi in the 4th tier considering it's his debut season and also because he may not have any roundy round experience?

Nerd-Vol

I like Sato to impress. Then again I have said the same for the past 4 seasons.

markpenske

I see Rossi just signed as a reserve driver for Manor. I can remember anyone working in both series in the past

Nerd-Vol

I can't either. I wonder how that works? Is he a pay reserve driver for manor and he is employed with Andretti? Is he also a pay driver in Indy?

markpenske

I can't either. I wonder how that works? Is he a pay reserve driver for manor and he is employed with Andretti? Is he also a pay driver in Indy?
[/quote]
From Alexander Rossi's press release:
Alexander Rossi is back in the Manor Racing fold as Official Reserve Driver. Although he’ll be racing in the 2016 IndyCar Series, he will also be making history as the first driver to perform a Formula 1 role simultaneously.
Alex will attend 11 Grands Prix with Manor Racing, where he will work with the engineers and drivers to help develop the MRT05, contribute to team and partner marketing activities and be available to deputise should he be required to compete at short notice. His first F1 event will be the Russian Grand Prix in May.