By indycar.com staff

Five things to watch this weekend at the season-opening São Paulo Indy 300 on the 2.6-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit:

The boys (and girl) from Brazil

Tony Kanaan said he’s heard from relatives he didn’t even know he had who are seeking tickets to the opening race. The IZOD IndyCar Series’ first to Brazil is a national event and the native drivers are taking center stage.

Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves have previously competed in CART races at the 1.864-mile Emerson Fittipaldi oval in Rio de Janeiro. Both drivers competed from 1998-2000 with Kanaan’s best finish of fifth in 1999. Castroneves’ best finish was 23rd in 1998. Those races, however, are ancient history so expect to see plenty of motivation from these drivers and the other Brazilians to win in their home country.

Speed of the circuit

Cars will move down a straightaway (Reta dos Bandeirantes) almost a mile long 75 times in the race, so expect to see speeds topping 180 mph. “With long straightaways, it’s certainly going to be fast and you definitely will have challenges,” Castroneves said. But this race will not be about flat-out speed as a 180-degree turn at the end of the straightaway means some heavy braking and a chance for overtaking.

Get it right the first time

There are only two practice sessions on the circuit totaling 150 minutes before qualifications mid-afternoon on March 13 so an efficient effort to find the balance between speed for the straights and downforce to negotiate the tight corners in necessary. Which will teams choose: maneuverability in the corners to overtake or speed on the three straights? There’s also a 30-minute warm-up a few hours before the green flag.

New faces in new places

Every season means change and this year there’s plenty. Start with Ryan Hunter-Reay joining Andretti Autosport, Takuma Sato and E.J. Viso at KV Racing Technology, Hideki Mutoh at Newman/Haas/Lanigan, Justin Wilson moving to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Alex Tagliani at the first-year FAZZT Race Team, Simona De Silvestro at HVM, and Milka Duno at Dale Coyne Racing. There will be more changes to come later in the season, including Jay Howard at Sarah Fisher Racing and Davey Hamilton running three races for Luczo Dragon Racing/de Ferran Motorsports.

King of the road

Dario Franchitti was the series’ King of the Road in 2009, winning three of the seven street/road course races. Ryan Briscoe, Justin Wilson, Will Power and Scott Dixon each had one win each on a street or road courses. With the first four races on street/road courses, whoever posts solid results throughout will have a nice jump in the championship standings.

source http://www.indycar.com