Ryan Briscoe had seen enough of his Penske Racing teammates dominating the Indy Car series this year so he set out to do something big about it. Harnessing the advantage of Chevrolet power, Briscoe captured the pole for the biggest race of the year and quieted those who felt he was simply the team’s third driver.
“I cannot begin to tell you how great it feels to be on the pole at Indy,” said the polite Aussie just moments after receiving $100,000 for edging out Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe for the coveted starting spot. Briscoe circled the famed IMS oval at an average speed of 226.484, just 23 ten-thousandths of a second quicker than Hinchcliffe who took it quite diplomatically.
“Sure, I am a bit bummed, but I’m starting in the front row at Indy and that is awesome,” said Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliffe’s teammates, Ryan Hunter Reay and Marco Andretti followed suit to give Andretti Autosports three of the top four starting spots.
Penske drivers Will Power and Helio Castroneves captured the fifth and sixth positions to round out the top two rows. With much of the focus on the battle between engine manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda, it is clear that Chevrolet at this point is the superior power plant. Honda’s top qualifying effort came in the form of rookie Joseph Newgarden who qualified seventh at some two miles an hour slower than Briscoe. Perennial favorite and long time Honda partner Ganassi Racing could manage no better than the 15th and 16th starting positions for former winners Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, who were nearly two and one half miles an hour slower than the pole pace.
Lotus, the third engine manufacturer in the mix continued its woeful performance largely due to a lack of horsepower. Former F1 competitor Jean Alesi will start last in the field with Lotus power. Alesi, who won the Canadian Grand Prix in 1995 was a rather ridiculous 16 miles an hour slower than the pole sitter.
Look for Chevrolet to produce the race winner with the likely candidates being Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan. Former F1 great Rubens Barrichello will start his first Indy 500 from the 10th position. The popular Brazilian has 11 Formula One wins and was also the 2002 runner up in the F1 Championship standings.
Danny Bridges can be reached at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
