IRL: A third pole for Will Power

KV Racing's Will Power earned his third pole position in three years today at Surfers Paradise after having completely dominated all the previous practice sessions on the Australian circuit. IndyCar series champion Scott Dixon will also start on the front row having finished second in the Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda. Another local boy had a pretty good run as Penske's Ryan Briscoe takes third spot just in front of Dario Franchitti who has shown that his switch to NASCAR has not diminished his ability in an IRL car. Former winner in Australia, Ryan Hunter Reay (Rahal Letterman), will be in the front of the 24-drivers pack with a fifth place. Canadian Alex Tagliani could have made it for a Fast Six spot but, in the end, had to settle with seventh on the grid, Conquest's best starting position since they returned to the IndyCar Series. Starting grid Pos Driver Team Time 1. Will Power KV 1:34.94512. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1:35.76723. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1:35.80074. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1:35.93365. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman 1:36.40306. Helio Castroneves Penske 1:36.74257. Alex Tagliani Conquest 1:41.31228. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 1:41.40239. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:42.042910. EJ Viso HVM 1:42.918511. Vitor Meira Foyt 1:44.334812. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 1:51.505413. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:55.615514. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1:52.208415. Oriol Servia KV 1:55.662816. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1:53.335317. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 1:58.018318. Dan Wheldon Panther 1:53.916019. Ed Carpenter Vision 1:58.766420. Jaime Camara Conquest 1:54.051421. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 1:58.926422. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 1:54.348923. Danica Patrick Andretti Green24. AJ Foyt IV Vision photo: IRL - Shawn Payne