This weekend’s IndyCar Series finale in St. Petersburg will play host to double Kiwi action with all sessions live on Sky Sport.
Scott Dixon has one hand firmly clasped on championship crown number six. All that is required of the Iceman is that he finishes in the top-nine or have his challenger Josef Newgarden finish fourth or lower.
Dixon is the favourite to clinch the championship this week. From the calculated 19,000 possible outcomes for how the title fight will unfold, only 1% work in Newgarden’s favour.
Meanwhile, incumbent Supercars champion Scott Mclaughlin is making his maiden foray into the series.
The 27-year-old was meant to make his debut with Team Penske at Indianapolis in May. He then starred in the official Eseries run during the lockdown period as the global pandemic dragged motorsport to a halt.
He has since flew to Penske’s home base in North Carolina where he will link up with the team before taking the 380 mile venture south to Florida.
“I’m super pumped to finally get a crack at my first IndyCar race,” said McLaughlin.
“Feels like it’s been years since I was part of spring training, but due to COVID-19, we had to hold off. But hey, sometimes the best things are definitely worth the wait.”
Unlike previous years, there only be one practice session this weekend. It will be broadcast live on Sky Sport from 3.50 am NZT Sunday, October 25.
“It’s so compact now on race weekends with one practice session,” said Dixon.
“There’s so much to get through that sometimes you can’t get through [all of it]. A lot of times you just hope you roll off in a good situation.”
What follows is a set of qualifying rounds, the first two of which set the grid for spots 13 and lower. The remaining 12 the progress to the second segment for a 10-minute session to set grid positions 7 to 12.
The remaining six then progress through to the Firestone Fast Six – a six-minute dash to determine pole position and the starting order of the first three rows.
Team Penske have started the race from pole position in nine of the past 13 St. Petersburg races, including eight of the last 10 poles by Will Power.
Qualifying will be televised live from 8.05 am Sunday morning.
The main race will be run over 100 laps (180 miles) and will kick off live on Sky Sport 5 from 7.30 am Monday, October 26.
Recap:
- Practice – 3.05 am Sunday
- Qualifying – 7.05 am Sunday
- Warm Up – 3.40 am Monday
- Race – 7.20 am Monday
