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Castroneves heads Penske 1-2-3

Helio Castroneves will start from pole at Motegi for the fourth time in five years after leading a Penske one-two-three sweep in IndyCar qualifying

Last year Penske had been unable to match its arch-rival Ganassi at the Japanese track, but so far this weekend it has emphatically turned the tables - leading both practice sessions and then showing dominant qualifying pace.

The team's main title contender Will Power took third on the grid, behind Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, for his first start at Motegi.

Power's championship rival Dario Franchitti was the best of the non-Penske drivers, claiming fourth for Ganassi.

A trio of Andretti Autosport cars follow Franchitti in the line-up, with Marco Andretti ahead of Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

EJ Viso maintained his strong form from practice to take eighth, but even more impressive was his KV Racing team-mate and local hero Takuma Sato. The Japanese driver only had 20 minutes of running in practice after a split oil line sent him spinning into the wall minutes into this morning's first session, but he shrugged off that lack of preparation to secure 10th on the grid with a bold qualifying run.

Dan Wheldon's Panther Racing entry will start between the KV duo in ninth.

Championship outsider Scott Dixon was a frustrated and confused 11th for Ganassi, sharing row six with Danica Patrick (Andretti Autosport), who won here in 2008.

Newman/Haas duo Graham Rahal and Hideki Mutoh only managed 16th and 17th - with Rahal catching a wild moment on his run. Last year's front row starter Mario Moraes struggled to 20th - a long way behind the other KV cars.

Paul Tracy (Dreyer & Reinbold) was back in 22nd after a slide on his first lap, just ahead of compatriot Alex Tagliani (FAZZT), who had been seventh in morning practice.

Conversely, underdogs Bertrand Baguette (Conquest), Vitor Meira (Foyt) and Alex Lloyd (Dale Coyne) did well to take 13th, 14th and 15th places respectively. Baguette's team-mate Roger Yasukawa was 21st on his one-off return to the series.

Pos  Driver               Team               Speed
 1.  Helio Castroneves    Penske             201.992mph
 2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske             201.594mph
 3.  Will Power           Penske             201.463mph
 4.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi            200.964mph
 5.  Marco Andretti       Andretti           200.187mph
 6.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti           200.011mph
 7.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti           199.623mph
 8.  EJ Viso              KV                 199.487mph
 9.  Dan Wheldon          Panther            199.225mph
10.  Takuma Sato          KV                 199.191mph
11.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi            199.020mph
12.  Danica Patrick       Andretti           198.935mph
13.  Bertrand Baguette    Conquest           198.794mph
14.  Vitor Meira          Foyt               197.950mph
15.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne         197.556mph
16.  Graham Rahal         Newman/Haas        197.402mph
17.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas        197.361mph
18.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold  196.850mph
19.  Raphael Matos        De Ferran Dragon   193.813mph
20.  Mario Moraes         KV                 196.460mph
21.  Roger Yasukawa       Conquest           196.296mph
22.  Paul Tracy           Dreyer & Reinbold  195.709mph
23.  Alex Tagliani        FAZZT              195.483mph
24.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                193.561mph
25.  Milka Duno           Dale Coyne         192.527mph

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