16 • RACE CONTROL
Joining TK for his second season in the NTT IndyCar series is
Matheus Leist “First of all it’s great to get back behind the wheel.
I feel like the off-season was a bit too long and I missed being
frequently at the track. St. Petersburg is a special place for me, it’s
my home track (due to the fact I have lived in Florida since I moved
to the USA) and probably my favourite street/road course track on
the calendar. Last year we had a great time when we qualified third
overall for my first ever IndyCar race. Our team AJ Foyt Racing has
been working very hard these past months and were all motivated
for the beginning of the season, and looking forward to a solid year.
Can’t wait to get going on Friday!”As for facts well at St Pete this is how A.J’s team have stacked up
in the past.
AJ Foyt Racing’s best start was from the pole position in 2014
with Takuma Sato and best finish is sixth in 2016 (Sato).
Tony Kanaan’s best start was also from pole position in 2008
and his best finish is second (2005) both before joining the team.
However, he has 11 top 10 finishes with six of those on the podium
so it was to bode well on paper for the season opener.
Matheus Leist qualified third in his IndyCar debut at St. Pete
last year. Several issues plagued him during the race which he did
not finish. l