Iowa IndyCar qualifying called off

Although conditions today have been hot and sunny all day, heavy rain hit the area last night, and water from this downpour began to resurface in the form of 'weepers' just after Indy Lights qualifying was completed this afternoon.

The officials worked to clear the water and resolve the problem, which had developed at half a dozen locations around the short speedway.

Qualifying eventually commenced 75 minutes behind schedule, but with moisture still forming on track, the session was halted again after only Scott Dixon, EJ Viso and Hideki Mutoh had run.

Further efforts to dry the surface proved unsuccessful, and the decision was taken to call qualifying off and focus on addressing the issue properly to allow tonight's scheduled floodlit Indy Lights race and tomorrow's IndyCar round to go ahead as planned.

The decision means that the starting order will be formed based on the current entrants' points standings. Penske therefore takes both front row spots, with Helio Castroneves being given pole position ahead of his team-mate Ryan Briscoe as the Brazilian's car entrant points count both his own score and the result Will Power achieved while deputising for him in the #3 Penske Dallara-Honda in St Petersburg.

The Ganassi duo and Danica Patrick (Andretti Green) complete the top five.

Justin Wilson and Raphael Matos find themselves in 10th and 12th on the starting grid despite struggling for speed in practice, while Tomas Scheckter moves in the other direction. Dreyer & Reinbold's recent recruit had been solidly in the top ten all day, but will start 16th.

Pos  Driver             Team
 1.  Helio Castroneves  Penske
 2.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske
 3.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi
 4.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi
 5.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green
 6.  Dan Wheldon        Panther
 7.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green
 8.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green
 9.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan
10.  Justin Wilson      Coyne
11.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green
12.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon
13.  Ed Carpenter       Vision
14.  Robert Doornbos    Newman/Haas/Lanigan
15.  Mario Moraes       KV
16.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold
17.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt
18.  EJ Viso            HVM
19.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold
20.  Jaques Lazier      3G