2003 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 1 of 18 in the 2003 CART season | |
St. Petersburg Track Layout
|
|
| Date | February 23, 2003 |
| Official name | Grand Prix of St. Petersburg |
| Location |
Albert Whitted Airport St. Petersburg, Florida, United States |
| Course | Temporary airport & street circuit 1.806 mi / 2.906 km |
| Distance | 105 laps 189.630 mi / 305.130 km |
| Weather | Sunny with ambient temperatures reaching 79.0 °F (26.1°C); Wind speeds reaching 11.10 mph (17.86 km/h). |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Sébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing) |
| Time | 1:00.928 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Sébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing) |
| Time | 1:01.825 (on lap 29 of 105) |
| Podium | |
| First | Paul Tracy (Team Player's) |
| Second | Michel Jourdain (Team Rahal) |
| Third | Bruno Junqueira (Newman/Haas Racing) |
The 2003 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2003 CART World Series season, held on February 23, 2003 at Albert Whitted Airport and the surrounding streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
French rookie Sébastien Bourdais took pole position at an average speed of 106.710 mph (171.733 km/h) for the Newman/Haas Racing team. Paul Tracy lined up alongside him, with Adrian Fernández and Patrick Carpentier on row two.
The race began under green, with Bourdais leading into turn one ahead of Tracy. At the end of the first lap, an incident between Bruno Junqueira and rookie Mario Haberfeld occurred when Haberfeld pushed Junqueira along the pit wall, and nearly drove straight into Michel Jourdain Jr. when the Mexican was turning into the first corner. On the third lap, Alex Tagliani struck the tire wall at turn 10, bringing out the first caution of the race.
Bourdais led until lap 31, when he lost the lead to Tiago Monteiro in the first scheduled pit stops. Tracy had pushed enough laps to come out ahead of Bourdais when the pack was finally shuffled after the stops. On lap 42, the Frenchman damaged his car into a concrete wall and had to pit for repairs, leaving him several laps down. This left Tracy unchallenged, the Canadian scoring the first victory of the 2003 season in his first race driving for Team Player's. Jourdain was second and Junqueira finished third.
* Rodolfo Lavin's time from the first qualification session was withdrawn when he changed to a backup car for the second session.
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