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Pocono IndyCar: Sato on pole, Castroneves and Hunter-Reay crash

Andretti Autosport's Takuma Sato snatched his second IndyCar Series pole of 2017 with a wild run in a crash-strewn qualifying at Pocono Raceway

Indianapolis 500 winner Sato was the last man to run, setting an average speed of 219.639mph after a stunning 220.045 first lap.

No other driver broke through the 220mph barrier during a session that featured nasty crashes for both title contender Helio Castroneves and practice pacesetter Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Castroneves lost it going through Turn 1, while Hunter-Reay's car snapped into the wall exiting Turn 3.

While Castroneves was quickly cleared to drive again by the medical team, Hunter-Reay will be taken by road to hospital for further checks. He got out of his car unaided but limped as he was helped away by safety crews.

Reigning series champion Simon Pagenaud will join Sato on the front row after posting an average of 219.395mph.

Charlie Kimball sat top of the standings for much of the session before being edged down to third in an all-Ganassi second row alongside Tony Kanaan, the final man to break the 219mph average barrier.

Will Power and Alexander Rossi rounded off the top six.

Graham Rahal clung on to seventh place despite picking up a slow puncture late into his second lap.

Alongside Rahal will be Gabby Chaves, as the Harding Racing team made the top eight for only its third IndyCar start.

Championship leader Josef Newgarden had a poor run, losing 1.2mph on his second lap in windy conditions and ending up 14th.

Ed Carpenter missed qualifying entirely after a crash in practice.

Despite its best efforts, his Ed Carpenter Racing team missed the technical cut-off for qualifying by just six minutes.

Qualifying result

Pos Driver Team Car Speed
1 Takuma Sato Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 219.639
2 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 219.395
3 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 219.369
4 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 219.012
5 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 218.688
6 Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 218.622
7 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 218.099
8 Gabby Chaves Harding Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 218.020
9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 217.819
10 Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 217.748
11 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 217.565
12 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 217.556
13 Esteban Gutierrez Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 217.292
14 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 217.235
15 Sebastian Saavedra Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 216.943
16 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 216.801
17 Conor Daly AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 215.964
18 Carlos Munoz AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 215.115
19 J.R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 214.988
20 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 0.000
21 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 0.000
22 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 0.000


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