DIXON QUALIFIES 1ST, FRANCHITTI 9TH IN MOTEGI

IZOD IndyCar Series Qualifying/Practice for Indy Japan The Final

Qualifying
P1 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:38.3918 seconds
P2 Will Power (No. 12 Honda) at 1:38.4194 seconds
P3 Graham Rahal (No. 38 Honda) at 1:38.5946 seconds
P9 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:38.8738 seconds

Practice 1
P1 Will Power (No. 12 Honda) at 1:39.4745 seconds
P2 Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Honda) at 1:39.5965 seconds
P3 James Hinchcliffe (No. 06 Honda) at 1:39.8531 seconds
P7 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:40.3108 seconds
P15 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:40.7175 seconds

Practice 2
P1 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:38.7710 seconds
P2 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:39.1686 seconds
P3 Will Power (No. 12 Honda) at 1:39.3090 seconds

Practice 3
P1 James Hinchcliffe (No. 06 Honda) at 1:39.1074 seconds
P2 Oriol Servia (No. 2 Honda) at 1:39.1413 seconds
P3 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:39.3183 seconds
P5 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:39.3486 seconds

Notes
• This is Scott Dixon's second pole of 2011 and the 17th of his Indy car career. Dixon is now tied for 18th on the all-time list with Emerson Fittipaldi.
• This is Dixon's third career pole at Twin Ring Motegi (2003, 2009).
• This is the sixth pole for Team Target at Twin Ring Motegi (Jimmy Vasser-1998, Juan Montoya-2000, Bruno Junqueira-2002 and Dixon-2003, 2009).
• Today's pole is the 74th in Indy car racing for TCGR and its 29th pole on a road/street course.

TCGR Quoteboard
Dario Franchitti: “I just didn’t put a lap together to make the Fast Six.  That’s about it.  Couldn’t put a lap together and left it until the last one and made a mistake in Turn 3.  Then (James) Jakes went off in Turn 9 in front of me, covering the track in dirt.  It was a combination of those two things we missed the tenth and a half we were needing.”

Scott Dixon: “Cooling off seemed to be getting a little better. To be honest I was up on my quick lap from Q1 by two or three tenths but then I kept losing it in the last section here in Turns 12, 13 and 14.  It was a bit frustrating but we just got it. I think it was by a few hundredths or a few thousandths of a second.  We’re on the pole and that’s what counts.  It feels very special to be on the pole for the last race here at Motegi.”