Briscoe thrilled with last gasp pole

The Australian lost provisional pole to Justin Wilson in the final moments of the session, but was able to respond and snatch the position back from the Briton with a 1:29.3456 lap.

"When I started that lap, I was about a tenth slower than I had been in the first sector," Briscoe said. "They came on the radio and told me I'd dropped down to P2 and told me what Justin's time was. I knew it was my last lap, so I just sucked it in and went for it."

He said he had backed off in certain sections in order to improve his time.

"I had to slow it down in order to go faster," Briscoe said. "I had been overdriving it a bit and going a little wide around those fast bends. So I slowed it down a little bit and saw that my splits were better. It was so close. To come down to the last lap was nice for me."

Wilson, whose second place marks his best starting position since his pole position at Long Beach, was satisfied despite losing pole so late.

"We came to this track completely blind," he said. "We haven't tested here. We still haven't tested on a road course. The team has done a fantastic job. I'm very excited to be able to challenge for the pole position."

Briscoe's pole position maintains Penske's run of having taken pole for every IRL IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen so far. All three previous poles at the track have gone to his teammate Helio Castroneves, who will have to start last on this occasion due to a throttle problem.

The result also marked Briscoe's first IndyCar pole position in almost three seasons, as he had not started from the front of the grid since taking pole for Ganassi at Sears Point in August 2005.