Justin Wilson qualifies 13th for the Grand Prix of St Petersburg

After struggling with understeer in Friday practice, Justin and Dale Coyne Racing made a number of set-up improvements to the No. 19 Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Honda during Saturday’s Practice 3 and their efforts were rewarded with a 13th place qualifying spot in Sunday’s Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne Racing Honda

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Justin was 7th quickest of the 12 cars in Group 1 in the first round of qualifying (1:02.1777s ) and was the fastest Honda-powered entry in the Group, but a continued lack of front grip left him two hundredths of a second off the pace needed to progress to Q2.

“I’ve got to thank everyone at Dale Coyne Racing for working so hard this weekend,” said Justin. “We’ve not been quick enough, but we’ve kept plugging away, trying to figure out how to make the Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Honda work with the new Firestone tire. We’re mid-pack right now, but hopefully we can keep making improvements. Our focus now is on having a strong race tomorrow.”

Will Power took pole position for Team Penske (1:01.2070s) and will be joined on the front row by Takuma Sato (AJ Foyt Racing). Ana Beatriz, Justin’s Dale Coyne Racing team-mate this weekend, qualified 25th in the No. 18 Ipiranga Honda (1:03.2551s).

Justin Wilson