Rice takes Indy 500 pole

Rice hadn't featured all that much during the practice days, but he knew his G-Force Honda was a pretty good package.

"We knew we had enough to go for the pole," Rice said, having scooped the $100,000 pole prize. "People say we've been under the radar all month; I just think that we don't cheat ourselves.

"There's a lot of work that goes into it," Rice added. "Some guys in the heat of the day were faster than us. Some of them dropped off in this weather, but our car picked up. It goes into just doing your homework."

Alongside Rice on the three-wide front row, will be current IRL series leader Dan Wheldon, and his Andretti Green teammate Dario Franchitti.

Wheldon sat on the pole for much of the afternoon having lapped in 221.524mph. "The conditions were difficult out there," Wheldon said. "It seems to take a little while for the tires to get up to temperature."

Wheldon's run was also delayed through an accident to his teammate Bryan Herta which sent the American driver to the medical centre. Herta spun backwards into the Turn 1 wall and suffered abrasions to his right leg and foot, but he is expected to be cleared for a second qualifying attempt on Sunday. Wheldon was the next car in line to qualify, but had to wait while repairs were made to the Safer Barrier.

"I was apprehensive after what happened to Bryan," Wheldon said. "It is more difficult when you're so close to someone and they crash. That's a new experience for me, and one I don't particularly like."

A front row starting position is more than Franchitti expected, the Scot having spent the week working on race set-ups and running lap times in the second half of the top 10. The team decided to wave off his first run, and the 221.471mph run bagged the third starting position.

"I'm a pretty happy guy. We waved off the first run because we didn't have much time yesterday to work on our qualifying car, but the guys did an excellent job getting the car ready. I had a little lift in Turn 1 because if I didn't I was going to go up into the wall. I had to take it easy on the first lap, but after that the car was really good.

"The last time I was here, I qualified on the second week in the back," Franchitti added. "I'm definitely happier than I was then. I'm surprised with it, actually."

Honda swept the first seven qualifying positions, with Bruno Junqueira, Tony Kanaan and Adrian Fernandez filling the second row, and Rice's teammate Vitor Meira on the inside of the third row.

Double Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves was fastest Toyota in eighth place. The remaining two British drivers in the field, making their Indy debuts, didn't fare so well, with Mark Taylor 14th for Panther Racing, and Darren Manning 15th in the Ganassi Racing entry.


1, Buddy Rice, G-Force Honda, Team Rahal Letterman, 222.024mph
2, Dan Wheldon, Dallara Honda, Andretti Green Racing, 221.524mph
3, Dario Franchitti, Dallara Honda, Andretti Green Racing, 221.471mph
4, Bruno Junqueira, G-Force Honda, Newman-Haas Racing, 221.379mph
5, Tony Kanaan, Dallara Honda, Andretti Green Racing, 221.200mph
6, Adrian Fernandez, G Force Honda, Fernandez Racing, 220.999mph
7, Vitor Meira, G-Force Honda, Team Rahal, 220.958mph
8, Helio Castroneves, Dallara Toyota, Marlboro Team Penske, 220.882mph
9, Kosuke Matsuura, G-Force Honda, Super Aguri Fernandez Racing, 220.740mph
10, Tomas Scheckter, Dallara Chevrolet, Panther Racing, 220.417mph