Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Will Power takes pole for IndyCar opener in St Petersburg

Will Power set a new track record on his way to claiming pole position for Sunday's IndyCar season-opener at St Petersburg

The Penske driver secured the top spot with a 1m01.3721s, easily breaking the previous record - which he also held - of 1m01.6026s.

The race will be the third in succession at the Florida track that Power has started from pole.

Power's team-mate Ryan Briscoe made it a one-two for Penske despite suffering a battery problem during the final phase of qualifying. The Australian's best time was just under 0.2s off Power's, but comfortably clear of third-placed Ryan Hunter-Reay.

James Hinchcliffe, Helio Castroneves (who needed a quick rear suspension change after clipping the wall at Turn 9) and Simon Pagenaud completed the top six.

The big surprise of the session was the Ganassi team's failure to make the Fast Six.

Scott Dixon only just missed out, and indeed will be promoted to sixth due to the 10-place grid penalty issued to Pagenaud yesterday for an unauthorised engine change.

Reigning champion Dario Franchitti, meanwhile, could manage no better than the 10th-best time, although he also stands to gain a place at Pagenaud's expense.

There were encouraging signs for Rubens Barrichello, who came close to progressing from the first qualifying phase before eventually finishing up 14th on the grid.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                      Time        Gap
 1.  Will Power           Penske DW12-Chevrolet         1m01.3721s
 2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske DW12-Chevrolet         1m01.5357s  + 0.1636s
 3.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       1m01.9321s  + 0.5600s
 4.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       1m01.9701s  + 0.5980s
 5.  Helio Castroneves    Penske DW12-Chevrolet         1m01.9987s  + 0.6266s
 6.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt-Hamilton DW12-Honda   1m02.1095s  + 0.7374s
 7.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi DW12-Honda            1m01.7636s  Top 12
 8.  Marco Andretti       Andretti DW12-Chevrolet       1m01.7895s  Top 12
 9.  Tony Kanaan          KV DW12-Chevrolet             1m01.8699s  Top 12
10.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi DW12-Honda            1m01.9570s  Top 12
11.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi DW12-Honda            1m02.0233s  Top 12
12.  Mike Conway          Foyt DW12-Honda               1m02.5084s  Top 12
13.  EJ Viso              KV DW12-Chevrolet             1m02.5146s  Group 1
14.  Rubens Barrichello   KV DW12-Chevrolet             1m02.2009s  Group 2
15.  Takuma Sato          Rahal DW12-Honda              1m02.6015s  Group 1
16.  Justin Wilson        Dale Coyne DW12-Honda         1m02.2538s  Group 2
17.  Alex Tagliani        Herta DW12-Lotus              1m02.6506s  Group 1
18.  JR Hildebrand        Panther DW12-Chevrolet        1m02.4426s  Group 2
19.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Hartman DW12-Honda     1m02.7155s  Group 1
20.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne DW12-Honda         1m02.5271s  Group 2
21.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM DW12-Lotus                1m02.8218s  Group 1
22.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi DW12-Honda            1m03.0437s  Group 2
23.  Oriol Servia         Dreyer & Reinbold DW12-Lotus  1m02.8771s  Group 1
24.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter DW12-Chevrolet      1m03.3591s  Group 2
25.  Katherine Legge      Dragon DW12-Lotus             1m03.6048s  Group 1
26.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon DW12-Lotus             1m05.6858s  Group 2

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Simon Pagenaud fastest in final St Pete free practice
Next article Chevrolet drivers caution against over confidence after strong start in St Pete

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe