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Pocono IndyCar: Marco Andretti takes pole ahead of team-mates

Marco Andretti will lead an all-Andretti Autosport front row for Sunday's IndyCar race at Pocono after claiming pole position at the 2.5 mile tri-oval

Andretti was the third driver to make a run, and his 221.273mph two-lap average was always going to prove a difficult target for his rivals.

Team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay came closest; his average speed coming in 0.3mph down on Andretti's, while James Hinchcliffe survived a wobble to claim the third-fastest time and give the team a lockout of the three-car front row.

"It all came together," said Andretti. "We were really focusing on every little detail in practice. It's tremendous [to be on pole here]. I really think the IndyCars are built for this track, and vice-versa."

It could potentially have been an Andretti 1-2-3-4 at the front of the grid when EJ Viso went fourth-fastest with his first flying lap, but the Venezuelan lost the rear of his car at the start of his second lap and looped up into the wall, prompting a 15-minute stoppage.

Later, Alex Tagliani met a similar fate when he understeered into the Turn 1 wall at the start of his first flying lap; the impact flicking his car back down into the inside barriers. Both he and Viso have been cleared to drive in the race.

Best of the non-Andrettis was Penske's Will Power, who was on target for a place on the front row before he incurred a boost penalty on his second flying lap and was relegated to fourth-fastest.

Tony Kanaan, who comes into the weekend looking to remain in contention for the Triple Crown after his Indianapolis 500 wn, also looked to have the pace to concern the Andrettis, but his super-fast warm-up lap came at the expense of his qualifying runs, and he ended up fifth.

Best of the Honda-powered runners was Scott Dixon, who will start from seventh on the grid.

Ryan Briscoe, who has been named as Panther's driver for the weekend, was unable to participate in qualifying due to his clashing American Le Mans Series commitments at Lime Rock, and he will line up for Sunday's race at the rear of the pack.

Pos  Driver               Team/Engine      Speed
 1.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy   221.273
 2.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy   220.892
 3.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy   220.431
 4.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy     220.286
 5.  Tony Kanaan          KV/Chevy         219.625
 6.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy     219.581
 7.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Chevy    219.500
 8.  Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda       219.124
 9.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda    218.859
10.  Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy         218.590
11.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda    218.575
12.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy     218.517
13.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Chevy    218.345
14.  James Jakes          Rahal/Honda      218.240
15.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy  218.100
16.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda     217.843
17.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda      217.457
18.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Chevy    217.047
19.  Pippa Mann           Coyne/Honda      216.980
20.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda      216.872
21.  Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy     215.570
22.  EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy
23.  Ryan Briscoe         Panther/Chevy
24.  Alex Tagliani        Herta/Chevy

All drivers use Dallara DW12 chassis
Order set by average speed over two laps

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