Briscoe stuffs Franchitti in the wall

What a first hour of the inaugural Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg. As the first hour drew to a close, Marino Franchitti went from leading his first race with Andretti Green Racing to into the tire wall in Turn 10 following contact with Penske Motorsports' Ryan Briscoe. That gave the overall lead to Audi's Allan McNish, who had a busy opening.

McNish's day began by going from third to first on the opening lap and then back down the field after officials ruled he passed pole-sitter Romain Dumas before the start line. Following a stop-and-go penalty, it took McNish only 15 minutes to regain the lead.

Luis Diaz assumed the P2 lead when Franchitti brought the damaged Andretti Green Racing into the pit following the contact with Briscoe. Diaz, in the Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura-powered Lola, was ahead of Dyson Racing's Andy Wallace and his Porsche RS Spyder.

Oliver Gavin led GT1 for Corvette Racing following a broken halfshaft for Jan Magnussen in the sister car. Jaime Melo in the GT2 pole-sitting Risi Competizione Ferrari was ahead of Tom Milner in Rahal Letterman Racing's Porsche, which started from the final row.