Brazil Q: Franchitti on Pole in Sao Paolo

Dario Franchitti has captured the first pole for the 2010 Izod IndyCar Series season, besting a surprising push from Alex Tagliani to take the first grid slot. Tagliani and the FAZZT team continued their stellar debut and will flank the Scotsman on the front row. Justin Wilson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, and Tony Kanaan rounded out the Firestone Fast Six.

Other surprises were Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, and Helio Castroneves, all of whom failed to make the Fast Six, and will take the seventh, eighth, and ninth grid slots. Simona de Silvestro again impressed in her first career start and will start 11th, while Danica Patrick narrowly missed out on advancing from Q1; she’ll start 13th.

Mike Conway was due to advance out of Q1, but saw his fastest lap removed for causing a yellow flag. Raphael Matos was also under fire for potentially causing a caution period, but was not penalized after analysis showed he hadn’t.

Sao Paolo Indy 300 Starting Grid

1. Dario Franchitti
2. Alex Tagliani
3. Justin Wilson
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay
5. Will Power
6. Tony Kanaan
7. Scott Dixon
8. Ryan Briscoe
9. Helio Castroneves
10. Takuma Sato
11. Simona de Silvestro
12. Raphael Matos
13. Danica Patrick
14. Hideki Mutoh
15. Alex Lloyd
16. Vitor Meira
17. E.J. Viso
18. Dan Wheldon
19. Mike Conway
20. Mario Romincini
21. Marco Andretti
22. Ana Beatriz
23. Mario Moraes
24. Milka Duno

Full results of the 1st qualifying session on São Paulo