But Power’s sole fast lap in that session put him top at 1m00.0658sec, 0.17sec clear of Scott Dixon, and simultaneously shattered his previous lap record by half a second. He has started the past 102 races in the series dating back to his 2009 accident at Sonoma Raceway. “First-class team, I love driving for Team Penske”, he said. Dixon has finished second at St. Petersburg three times but never won here.
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Team Penske racer Power’s lap on 1min, 0.9431 of a second at 106.329 miles per hour was the best for any of the 22 drivers set the compete for the crown, but still.
Will Power, of Australia, is helped out of his vehicle after winning the pole position for Sunday’s IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg auto race, Saturday, March 12, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Today’s race starts at 12:42.
The feature event will be the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29.
“Obviously this is a very hard decision to make in the first race of the season, but Will’s health and safety is the most important thing to consider”, said Penske Racing President Tim Cindric in a news release. His last full-time season in the IndyCar Series was in 2012.
Simon Pagenaud qualified second and was followed by Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya, the defending race victor.
Power won six poles last season and led the most laps in four races but only won once, at the Indianapolis road course race, while Montoya won only twice, at St. Pete and the Indianapolis 500.
Servia has made 197 starts in IndyCar.
“Car feels good, times seem decent and we expect a good weekend”, said Hawksworth, who crashed at Phoenix two weeks ago during IndyCar’s open test. “It is a matter of great drivers on a good team and maybe I get the credit, but it is all about our guys”. “If you look at trap speeds and stuff like that, I’d say it’s similar and I’d say they seem pretty competitive”.
Power, who paced the day despite crashing in the morning practice session with moderate right-side damage, confirmed that Chevrolet has not been standing still.
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Power will be in the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet at all 16 races this season, while Montoya will run the colors in nine events, including the first three.
