Ryan Briscoe put in a fantastic four lap qualifying run on a warm afternoon at
Ryan Briscoe at Long Beach
Indianapolis Motor Speedway to take the pole in next Sunday’s Indy 500. James Hinchcliffe had been fast all day, and he he had Briscoe beat until the final two corners of his last qualifying lap, but he fell short by 0.0023 seconds – the closest margin in the history of the Indy 500. That’s the equivalent of 9.168 inches over the four laps.
Hinchcliffe said that he went out too hot and was not able to maintain the pace throughout
James Hinchcliffe at Long Beach
four laps. He went out again later trying to beat Briscoe by starting slightly slower and trying to hold his pace throughout; however his first lap was slower than Briscoe’s pole taking average and his speed fell off from there. Nobody else was able to mount a serious challenge to Briscoe’s pole time, although Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti, and Will Power all tried.
The first three rows for running of the 96th Indy 500:
- Ryan Briscoe
- James Hinchcliffe
- Ryan Hurnter-Reay
- Marco Andretti
- Will Power
- Helio Castroneves
- Josef Newgarden
- Tony Kanaan
- EJ Viso
Notably, all three Team Penske drivers made the 90 minute, top nine shootout for pole while none of four Target Ganassi drivers did, and Andretti Autosport has three of the fastest four qualifiers. IZOD IndyCar points leader, Will Power, will start from 5th. Rookie Josef Newgarden of the underdog Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team qualified 7th. Newgarden is also the highest placed Honda powered car on the grid – the other eight of the top nine being Chevrolet powered. In the rest of the field, Dario Franchitti, reigning IndyCar champion will start 16th, and his teammate Scott Dixon will be 15th on the grid. IndyCar rookie and 19-year Formula 1 veteran, Rubens Barrichello will start 10th. SoCal’s Charlie Kimball will start 15th, while his teammate Graham Rahal will be 12th. Last year’s phenom and near winner, JR Hildebrand will start 18th.