Dixon struggles to 8th in Edmonton Indycar qualifying

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Points leader Ryan Hunter-Reay set the quickest time in qualifying for this weekend’s IndyCar race at Edmonton, but the Andretti driver’s 10-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change means that Dario Franchitti will start from pole position on Sunday.

Despite a rain shower during the second qualifying segment, the track had dried sufficiently for all of the drivers who had made it to Q3 to head out on slicks, and the order changed constantly as conditions continued to improve.

Hunter-Reay was the last of the drivers in the Fast Six to post a lap, and moved to the top of the screens in the final minute with a 1m17.2338s effort that left him a scant 0.01 seconds clear of Franchitti.

“It’s unfortunate to be taking the grid penalty after our first pole for the year, and my first pole for a long time,” said Hunter-Reay. “But 11th is better than starting 15th or 16th.

“It was a strange session, going from full dry, to full wet, to a drying track on rain tyres, and back to reds again. You had to really keep on your toes.”

Penske’s Ryan Briscoe will join Franchitti on the front row, with Takuma Sato, Alex Tagliani and Helio Castroneves completing the top five.

The rain during Q2 made for a frantic scramble late in the session when the track was at its best. Those who lost out in the rush included Scott Dixon, who bumped Simon Pagenaud from sixth only to be knocked out himself by Ganassi team-mate Franchitti a moment later, and Will Power, who was bumped by Penske cohort Ryan Briscoe.

“Just a bad day after bad day after bad day,” said Power. “Got to have a good result [on Sunday].”

Meanwhile, Dixon and HVM’s Simona de Silvestro face 10-place grid penalties after both fitted their sixth engines for the season. Dixon’s engine change came after he suffered an in-race failure in Toronto, while de Silvestro’s penalty is a carry-over from the Toronto weekend. Series regulations restrict drivers to five engines over the course of the year.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
 1.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti Dallara-Chevy     1m17.2338s
 2.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi Dallara-Honda      1m17.2446s  + 0.0108s
 3.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske Dallara-Chevy       1m17.4238s  + 0.1900s
 4.  Takuma Sato          Rahal Dallara-Honda        1m17.5526s  + 0.3188s
 5.  Alex Tagliani        Herta Dallara-Honda        1m17.6139s  + 0.3801s
 6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske Dallara-Chevy       1m17.6401s  + 0.4063s
 7.  Will Power           Penske Dallara-Chevy       1m27.5666s  Round 2
 8.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi Dallara-Honda      1m27.7001s  Round 2
 9.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Dallara-Honda      1m27.8410s  Round 2
10.  Rubens Barrichello   KV Dallara-Chevy           1m28.2521s  Round 2
11.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi Dallara-Honda      1m28.6737s  Round 2
12.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Dallara-Chevy     1m28.7409s  Round 2
13.  Justin Wilson        Coyne Dallara-Honda        1m16.6190s  Group 1
14.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon Dallara-Chevy       1m16.9747s  Group 2
15.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Dallara-Honda       1m16.7533s  Group 1
16.  James Jakes          Coyne Dallara-Honda        1m16.9900s  Group 2
17.  Marco Andretti       Andretti Dallara-Chevy     1m16.9881s  Group 1
18.  EJ Viso              KV Dallara-Chevy           1m16.9920s  Group 2
19.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi Dallara-Honda      1m17.0078s  Group 1
20.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy  1m17.3906s  Group 2
21.  JR Hildebrand        Panther Dallara-Chevy      1m17.5285s  Group 1
22.  Tony Kanaan          KV Dallara-Chevy           1m17.5441s  Group 2
23.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM Dallara-Lotus          1m17.9789s  Group 1
24.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter Dallara-Chevy    1m17.6918s  Group 2
25.  Mike Conway          Foyt Dallara-Honda         1m18.8781s  Group 2

Dixon struggles to 8th in Edmonton Indycar qualifying

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