Andretti grabs pole for Fontana race

FONTANA, California (AFP) –

Marco Andretti, pictured, edged out Ryan Briscoe by a slim margin to earn the pole position for the season-ending IndyCar Series race on Saturday.

Marco Andretti edged out Ryan Briscoe by a slim margin to earn the pole position for the season-ending IndyCar Series race on Saturday.

Andretti, who is in 17th position in the points race, had a two-lap average of 347.61 kph (216.06 mph), beating Briscoe by just 0.0032 seconds at the Auto Club Speedway.

With temperatures soaring to 39 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) on the 3.21 kilometer track, Andretti claimed his first IndyCar pole in four years. It was just his second career pole.

Andretti’s teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay was one of 14 drivers who earned a 10-grid spot penalty for an unapproved engine change.

As a result Hunter-Reay, who won two weeks ago in Baltimore, will have to start from the back of the field on the Los Angeles-area track.

Hunter-Reay is 17 points adrift of points leader Will Power. Power qualified third but will start 13th after he was slapped with an engine change penalty.

Brazilian Helio Castroneves is 52 points out of the lead, while Scott Dixon trails by 53.

Dixon qualified fifth and Castroneves 10th, but both drivers will drop 10 spots for replacing their engines. Briscoe, Castroneves and Power are all teammates with Team Penske.