By Tony Solorzano
(Long Beach) – Hitachi Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe claimed the pole for Sunday’s 38th running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, but thanks to the penalty issued to 11 drivers who had their engines changed out, Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti moved up to the top spot.
Franchitti, who finished fourth in qualifying, is powered by a Honda engine and benefitted from the penalty that was imposed on Briscoe, the pole winner, his Team Penske teammate Will Power and Andretti Autosports’ Ryan Hunter-Reay, who all finished ahead of Franchitti in qualifying.
Franchitti will be joined on the front row by Sarah Fisher-Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden, who finished seventh in qualifying, just missing the final round of qualifying by two-tenths of a second. Fellow rookie driver Simon Pagenaud also benefitted from the penalties incurred to the Chevrolet drivers, moving up to fourth position, joining Justin Wilson on the second row.
“When we got to the Firestone Fast Six, we knew where we would be starting regardless of what time we did, but we kind of wanted to earn it,” said Franchitti about his fourth place finish in the final round of qualifying. “We didn’t quite have it in the car, so we’ll go back tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”
Briscoe earned his first pole of the season, his first at Long Beach and his 12th pole overall, with his last pole coming in 2010 when the series raced at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Briscoe’s racing team, Team Penske, claimed their fourth consecutive pole at Long Beach, however, Power’s streak of consecutive pole positions ended at three, dating back to last year’s season finale in Las Vegas.
The Grand Prix will begin Sunday at 12:15 and will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.
UNOFFICIAL STARTING ORDER (courtesy Curt Cavin, Indianapolis Star)
1. Dario Franchitti, Ganassi Racing, Honda, 1:09.0327
2. Josef Newgarden, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, Honda, 1:09.0697
3. Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda, 1:09.0910
4. Simon Pagenaud, Schmidt Hamilton Racing, Honda, 1:09.2078
5. Scott Dixon, Ganassi Racing, Honda, 1:09.3658
6. Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda, 1:09.9000
7. Mike Conway, A.J. Foyt Racing, Honda, 1:09.8868
8. Graham Rahal, Ganassi Racing, Honda, 1:09.9796
9. Charlie Kimball, Ganassi Racing, Honda, 1:10.0188
10. Alex Tagliani, Bryan Herta Autosport, Lotus, 1:10.8168
11. x-Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske, Chevrolet, 1:08.6089
12. x-Will Power, Team Penske, Chevrolet, 1:08.7073
13. x-Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, Chevrolet, 1:08.7163
14. James Jakes, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda, 1:10.7579
15. x-E.J. Viso, KV Racing Technology, Chevrolet, 1:09.0634
16. x-James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport, Chevrolet, 1:09.2109
17. Simona De Silvestro, HVM Racing, Lotus, 1:12.0590
18. x-Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, Chevrolet, 1:09.0846
19. x-Tony Kanaan, KV Racing Technology, Chevrolet, 1:09.1987
20. x-JR Hildebrand, Panther Racing, Chevrolet, 1:10.3794
21. x-Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport, Chevrolet, 1:10.5939
22. x-Rubens Barrichello, KV Racing Technology, Chevrolet, 1:10.0651
23. x-Oriol Servia, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Lotus, 1:10.7579
24. x-Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet, 1:11.4519
25. x-Sebastien Bourdais, Dragon Racing, Lotus, 1:10.8154
26. x-Katherine Legge, Dragon Racing, Lotus, 1:12.1142
x-Team made unapproved engine change, docked 10 starting positions
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