2006 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
| Race details | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2nd round of the 2006 IndyCar season
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Layout of the Streets of St. Petersburg circuit | |||||
| Date | April 2, 2006 | ||||
| Official name | Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | ||||
| Location | Streets of St. Petersburg | ||||
| Course | Temporary street circuit 1.800 mi / 2.897 km | ||||
| Distance | 100 laps 180.000 mi / 289.682 km | ||||
| Weather | 82 °F (28 °C), Sunny | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Dario Franchitti (Andretti Green Racing) | ||||
| Time | 1:02.2753 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) | ||||
| Time | 1:03.5842 (on lap 71 of 100) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) | ||||
| Second | Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||||
| Third | Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 2006 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was an IndyCar Series motor race held on April 2, 2006, in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the streets of St. Petersburg. It was the second round of the 2006 IndyCar Series season and the third running of the event. Hélio Castroneves, driving for Marlboro Team Penske, won the 100-lap race. Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon finished second, and Tony Kanaan finished third for Andretti Green Racing.
Dario Franchitti won the pole position and led the first fourteen laps, but retired early due to mechanical issues. Dixon inherited the lead and held onto it for 26 of the next 28 laps until an issue with the front wing slightly slowed his performance. Throughout the second half of the race, Castroneves was a dominant factor, leading a race-high 40 laps. Dixon was looking to challenge Castroneves for the win after his final pit stop, but a caution with less than five laps to go ruined his strategy and handed the victory to Castroneves, the eighth of his IndyCar career. There were eight lead changes amongst five different drivers, and two cautions which slowed the race for eleven laps. Due to the win, Castroneves also took the Drivers' Championship lead, while Dan Wheldon, who crashed under caution, fell to third. Dixon also improved to second.