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Dominant Power takes St Pete pole

Will Power continued his outstanding start to the 2010 IndyCar season by taking pole position in St Petersburg

Fresh from winning the season opener in Brazil a fortnight ago, Power was quickest in every practice session at the Florida street track and then earned a comfortable pole.

Penske driver Power breezed through to the decisive Fast Six session and set a 1m01.7s lap on his first run of the pole shootout. None of his rivals could beat it - and Power then cemented his advantage by improving even further, to 1m01.6026s, as the chequered flag fell.

Tony Kanaan gave Andretti Autosport its first front row start since summer 2008 as he claimed second, 0.2771s behind Power.

Scott Dixon was third for Ganassi - but his 2009 title rivals Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) and Ryan Briscoe (Penske) both had disastrous sessions and will start in 13th and 19th respectively.

Justin Wilson gave Dreyer & Reinbold fourth on the grid, despite a brake scare, with Penske's Helio Castroneves and Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti the other two top six contenders.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) was pushed out of the Fast Six session by a last-gasp run from Castroneves so will start seventh, alongside Alex Tagliani - who could not replicate his Sao Paulo front row start but still impressed for new team Fazzt.

EJ Viso (KV) and Mike Conway (Dreyer & Reinbold) completed the top ten, with Takuma Sato (KV) 11th ahead of Hideki Mutoh (Newman/Haas/Lanigan). Sato lost the right rear wheel from his car on his out-lap in round two, but he came to a safe halt in a run-off area. The safety crew reattached the wheel during the consequent red flag and he was able to rejoin, but could not get off the sixth row.

Franchitti and Briscoe were both eliminated in the ultra-competitive first qualifying group - failing to make it into the crucial top six despite both being within 0.4s of session pacesetter Castroneves.

Briscoe, who will start way back in 19th, felt he had used his softer red tyres too soon, before track conditions were at their best, while Franchitti blamed Briscoe for impeding him.

The second qualifying group was less fraught, with Graham Rahal the highest profile casualty in his first race for Sarah Fisher Racing. The American was briefly in the top six before being edged back to a row eight start, while HVM's rookie Simona de Silvestro came within 0.002s of making it into the top 12 shootout.

Starting order:

Pos  Driver               Team                    Time
 1.  Will Power           Penske                  1m01.6026s
 2.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti                1m01.8796s
 3.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi                 1m02.0820s
 4.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold       1m02.1991s
 5.  Helio Castroneves    Penske                  1m02.2117s
 6.  Marco Andretti       Andretti                1m02.3461s
 7.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti                1m01.8979s
 8.  Alex Tagliani        Fazzt                   1m01.9692s
 9.  EJ Viso              KV                      1m01.9806s
10.  Mike Conway          Dreyer & Reinbold       1m02.0433s
11.  Takuma Sato          KV                      1m02.4204s
12.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas/Lanigan     1m02.5112s
13.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi                 1m02.1944s
14.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                     1m02.4483s
15.  Dan Wheldon          Panther                 1m02.2556s
16.  Graham Rahal         Sarah Fisher            1m02.5043s
17.  Vitor Meira          Foyt                    1m02.2687s
18.  Mario Romancini      Conquest                1m02.7366s
19.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske                  1m02.3205s
20.  Mario Moraes         KV                      1m02.8293s
21.  Danica Patrick       Andretti                1m02.4904s
22.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne              1m03.4793s
23.  Raphael Matos        de Ferran/Luczo Dragon  1m03.0144s
24.  Milka Duno           Dale Coyne              1m08.5057s

Round 1 - group 1:

 1.  Castroneves   1m01.8881s
 2.  Tagliani      1m02.0521s  + 0.1640s
 3.  Wilson        1m02.0694s  + 0.1813s
 4.  Hunter-Reay   1m02.1101s  + 0.2220s
 5.  Viso          1m02.1253s  + 0.2373s
 6.  Andretti      1m02.1773s  + 0.2893s
 7.  Franchitti    1m02.1944s  + 0.3063s
 8.  Wheldon       1m02.2556s  + 0.3676s
 9.  Meira         1m02.2687s  + 0.3807s
10.  Briscoe       1m02.3205s  + 0.4324s
11.  Patrick       1m02.4904s  + 0.6023s
12.  Matos         1m03.0144s  + 1.1263s

Round 1 - group 2:

 1.  Dixon         1m01.7912s
 2.  Kanaan        1m01.9093s  + 0.1182s
 3.  Power         1m02.0439s  + 0.2528s
 4.  Conway        1m02.1081s  + 0.3169s
 5.  Sato          1m02.2969s  + 0.5057s
 6.  Mutoh         1m02.4472s  + 0.6561s
 7.  de Silvestro  1m02.4493s  + 0.6581s
 8.  Rahal         1m02.5043s  + 0.7132s
 9.  Romancini     1m02.7366s  + 0.9454s
10.  Moraes        1m02.8293s  + 1.0382s
11.  Lloyd         1m03.4793s  + 1.6881s
12.  Duno          1m08.5057s  + 6.7146s

Round 2:

 1.  Power         1m01.4816s
 2.  Dixon         1m01.6617s  + 0.1801s
 3.  Kanaan        1m01.8102s  + 0.3287s
 4.  Wilson        1m01.8727s  + 0.3911s
 5.  Andretti      1m01.8770s  + 0.3955s
 6.  Castroneves   1m01.8965s  + 0.4150s
 7.  Hunter-Reay   1m01.8979s  + 0.4163s
 8.  Tagliani      1m01.9692s  + 0.4876s
 9.  Viso          1m01.9806s  + 0.4991s
10.  Conway        1m02.0433s  + 0.5618s
11.  Sato          1m02.4204s  + 0.9389s
12.  Mutoh         1m02.5112s  + 1.0297s

Fast six:

 1.  Power         1m01.6026s
 2.  Kanaan        1m01.8796s  + 0.2771s
 3.  Dixon         1m02.0820s  + 0.4794s
 4.  Wilson        1m02.1991s  + 0.5966s
 5.  Castroneves   1m02.2117s  + 0.6092s
 6.  Andretti      1m02.3461s  + 0.7435s

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