Franchitti wins IZOD IndyCar opener

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There are multiple advantages to starting on the front row on IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course. In the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, one was avoiding the six-car pile-up in Turn 1 of the first lap.

Dario Franchitti and pole sitter Will Power were among those who kept their cars’ noses clean at the start and subsequent side-by-side restarts through 100 laps on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit by the bay, and that’s the way they completed the season opener.

Franchitti made a strong start in his bid for a third consecutive series championship (only two others in Indy car history have accomplished it) by running away from Power and the remnants of the 24-car field to win for the first time at St. Pete.

Power, the 2010 championship runner-up and Mario Andretti Road Course Championship Award winner, was 7.1612 seconds back. Tony Kanaan, who had four practice sessions in the No. 82 GEICO KV Racing Technology-Lotus car, finished third and second-year racer Simona de Silvestro finished a career-best fourth in the No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy/HVM Racing car.